Story Time!

I love testimonies!
There's just something about hearing someone excitedly tell you how God has changed their life that sends chills up my spine every time. Testimony has power. It's something tangible that we can point to and say, "Why do I know that God is real and loves me like His own child? Because He cares so much for me that He took the dirty rotten mess I'd made of my life and turned it into something beautiful!" That touches people in a way that I think scripture sometimes can't, if they can know that someone else has been where they've been and made it through to something infinitely better then they can know that with God there's hope even in the hopeless.
That being said...I don't share my testimony. People don't know my story. Often times in small group or something, a question will arise that I can easily relate to my life...but I sit by silently because I don't want the people in that room to judge me.
Thinking about that now, I realize how terribly selfish that is of me...what if someone in that room is in the same place I've come from and they need to know that they can make it through? What if they need to know that there's someone who's been there that they can confide in?
It was a long while before someone said to me, "Hey, I've been there before and I'm here for you now to help you see the way out." And while I really wish that day had come sooner, I know it all played out exactly how it had to. I wouldn't be the same person now if not for the person I once was.
The reality is that I'm different, I know that. Some part of me feels like other people may want to associate me with my old self if they know about it though...mainly because some that were around to know that version of me still associate me with it even though I'm not the same.
It's one of those things that keeps tripping me up because I am constantly comparing myself to others saying, "Well, my sin was/ is waaaaaay worse than so and so, everyone will think I'm awful if they know!" or a whole variety of other things to scare myself out of sharing. There's that part of me has trouble remembering that it's all forgiven...that God doesn't even see all of that junk anymore,so why should I?
I am infinitely grateful for those people in my life who have had the courage to look me in the eye and tell me their stories! They have taught me so much about being real with people and how that plays out and what a beautiful thing it is.
Soooo, I think what I'm going for here is the idea that we should really all share our stories more. Let us not be silent because there is power in talking about that past as something God helped you to overcome rather than working to hide it and letting it still have control of us in that way. Not to mention how much accountability you create for yourself by letting people know what things you may be susceptible to slipping back to.
Someone out there needs to hear your story and you never know who that might be.