Yesterday I shared my 30-word manifesto which revolves around living and sharing our stories. I believe our stories matter. Identifying our can help us find love and truth. Embracing our story can help us find freedom from the hard and vulnerable parts. And sharing them can offer hope, truth, freedom, and love to others.
Before sharing our stories, we've got to identify and embrace them. This usually involves self-reflection and acceptance that can be found with a counselor and sometimes even a plain old journal.
If you've never talked a counselor, please at least try it. Ask around for recommendations. These are professionals trained in uncovering stories.
And if you don't think you're a writer, please don't rule out the power of pen and paper. You don't have to write anything eloquent or that make sense to anyone else. Just let the flow of consciousness come out on the page to help you find the gospel in your story, work through the challenging parts, and maybe even find a diamond in the rough worth sharing with someone else.
We all have diamonds in the rough of our lives. I hope these questions and journal prompts will help you discover yours.
10 Questions to Identify the Gospel in Your Story
1. When did you first meet Jesus? Or when has He felt the most real to you?2. What has God helped you overcome in your past? How did He show up?
3. What are some pitfalls you’ve experienced in your journey? How did you overcome those?
4. What is a bold leap of faith you’ve taken in the past? What gave you courage? How did God provide for you?
5. What story in the Bible resonates the most with you? Which Bible character do you admire and what do you admire about him or her?
6. Borrow God’s eyes to see yourself and your story. What do you see?
7. What do you feel in/about your story? What do you want to feel in/about your story? What’s keeping you from that?
8. What is the negative chatter going on in your head? What is the reality of God’s truth?
9. What areas of your life or your past seem impossible? How might you put those in God’s hands?
10. How have you personally experienced salvation in Jesus? What has He saved or healed you
from, what miracles has He performed for you, how has He shown up for you?
10 Questions to Embrace Your Story (even the hard or vulnerable)
11. What might your life look like if you exchanged your fear of the future or your regret of the past for faith in God?12. What specifically from your life—past, present, or future—do you need to give to God? What do you feel Him telling you to do with that?
13. What’s holding you back from fully living in freedom, truth, and forgiveness?
14. What is a memory you have of yourself as feeling whole or feeling a glimpse of who God made you to be? Write a letter to that past whole you.
15. What is a memory of yourself when you felt broken or detached from who God created you to be? Write a letter to that past broken you.
16. What is the most dramatic change you ever had to make?
17. Think of something in your life that you try to avoid—a past struggle, a current challenge, or a future fear—something that brings pain or discomfort when it comes to mind. Now complete the following: This makes me feel… It makes me feel this way because… My fears or regrets about this are… My hope, or the best possible outcome for it, is… I would feel better about this if I could…
18. How did God meet you in times of grief, sorry, or discouragement? How might He want to meet you now?
19. How have you found strength to overcome past challenges?
20. Your story is made of so many little pieces that all tell a different part of the Gospel of Jesus. List some of those pieces and experiences that are coming to mind.
10 Questions to Start Sharing Your Story
21. Have you ever shared your story with someone? What was their reaction? What was yours?22. What voices—people, media, circumstances, reactions—influence your life? What truth needs to replace these voices?
23. If you’ve never shared your story, what might you need to do first to start? (Hint: admit to yourself, write it down, talk to a counselor, read someone else’s similar story.)
24. How might your story help others find life—freedom, hope, truth, love, forgiveness—in Jesus?
25. Is there anyone you need to tell your story to that was involved in it somehow? Do you need to forgive them or ask forgiveness?
26. What is the worst that could happen if people knew the truth about your past or current struggles? What is the best that could happen?
27. Who might benefit from hearing your story? What specific person or what type of person?
28. If you shared pieces of your story, where might they best be shared? Which could be used in a social media post? Which could be a story on a blog? Which needs to be shared with a counselor? Which could be admitted to a close friend or a small group?
29. Think of someone you know that has a story they’re afraid to tell. Write a note to this person and encourage them with what you’ve discovered about your own story.
30. What do you feel God saying to you about your next steps?
Want these prompts in printable form? Sign up for my free Monthly Dose of Simple emails and you'll find the Your Story Matters printable in the free archives.
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