Living A Life of Integrity

Integrity. We hear this word mentioned a lot, especially as Christians. But, exactly, what is it and how do we live with integrity?

As I looked for a clear definition, I realized that it is not an easy word to explain. I didn't like the definitions I found, so I thought I would give it a
try myself.

I believe, in defining integrity, we need to look at some of the characteristics that are involved in being a person of integrity.

Honesty is essential. Others need to be able to trust what you say and do, and not have any doubt that you are being less than completely honest.

Being morally upright is another quality high on the list. You would never expect a person of integrity to be involved in pornography or adultery.
Integrity involves having high moral principles and sticking to them at all times.

Speaking of sticking to it, integrity includes consistency of actions. You aren't honest or morally upright only around certain people or just on Sunday
mornings. This is the way you live your entire life.

You embrace responsibility and dependability. When you say you will do something, others can forget about it and know it will get done.

Do you think it is important to God that we really walk with integrity all of the time? Let's see what He has to say about it.

"He who walks with integrity walks securely..." Proverbs 10:9;

"The integrity of the upright will guide them..." Proverbs 11:3;

"But as for me, I will walk in my integrity... Psalm 26: 11

I guess it is what He wants us to do! When we obey God, we not only please Him, but we are also blessed. Look at what these verses say about
someone who walks in integrity - they are secure and will be guided. I don't know about you, but I want that!

If you feel that you come up a little short on the integrity scale, don't worry. God is always willing to help you come more in line with His will for how
you live your life. Just ask Him.

Interested in finding out how you can run your business in a way that honors God? Visit http://www.christianhomebusinessconnection.com/christian-
business-ethics.html for details.

Author: Laurie Neumann

Twitter Tips

The other day while I was doing a search on Google I came across a blog of a pastor, Rev Trev.  I really enjoyed his website - there's a lot of good information on it.  One thing caught my attention though was his report, Twitter Tips from Rev Trev.  It is a blueprint to help Christian increase their influence on Twitter. Here's a video of Rev Trev talking about the report:

So I signed up to get the report and started reading it. I have to say, I was impressed.  I really enjoyed the section about how Christian should act on Twitter.

It's a free report and you can get a copy at http://revtrev.com/twitter-tips/.  I highly recommend it!

Faith Based Business Devotions

My online mentor and friend, Kelly McCausey, has just recently released a book of faith based business devotions.  I have read these devotions and they are wonderful!  In fact, I refer to them often in my day to day business dealings. Her book  is a ten week devotional that you can follow to help you reach your God size dreams.  And yes, I know it is called Business Devotions, but all the topics could easily be applied to blogging.

Check out these topics:

1. Praying for your business.
2. God's ecomony.
3. Your calling.
4. Your spiritual gifts.
5. Managing your time.
6. Business by The Book.
7. Your mentors.
8. Overcoming personal obstacles.
9. Pursuing excellence.
10. Sharing your faith.

You know I put God is in the forefront of my business and blogs and these devotions just help me to continue doing that even when I'm feeling down or depressed about the way things are going.  They remind me that God is in control and if I run my business and/or blogs according to His will, then by God sized dreams will come true - in fact, they already are coming true!  It's amazing to watch God work in my business and blogs.

You can get a digital PDF version  of Kelly McCausey's Faith Based Business Devotions for just $5 or you can even get a copy for your Kindle if that is what your prefer.

Online Ministry - Starting a Devotional Site

Have you ever wanted to start an online ministry by writing devotions?  It's pretty easy to get started with and can actually be done quickly. Of course, the first thing you should do is pray about it.  The only way a your devotional site will have any type of success is if God is involved. What is a devotional?

According to WikiAnswers:

"A devotional is short one-page writing about a topic related to the Christian faith and life. They usually have a Bible verse or two on which they are based and are not, due to their brevity on 'heavy' theological topics but provide words of encouragement or challenging and inspiring thoughts. Many devotional writings also contain illustrations from everyday life and then relate that to Christian living. "

What is a devotional website?

A devotional website can be found in many different formats.  The most popular format is using the written word.  Bloggers and content writers will write devotions and then publish them on their website.  However you don't have to stick to the written word.  You could have a devotional radio show (which is easy to setup on BlogTalkRadio.com), an audio podcast, a video podcast, a TV show (also very easy to setup with WordPress and plugins),or a combination of all the above.  There is no set way to publish a devotional site.  You just have to publish devotions in some form or fashion.

Remember though that it's not just enough to put up some devotions on a webpage and be done.  It's takes love, passion, and devotion.

1. Love – In order have a ministry, online or offline, you have to have a love for Christ.
2. Passion – You must have a passion to show God’s love to others
3. Devotion – You must be willing to devote your time and resources to the ministry.

What do I write about?

Since devotional writings usually contain illustrations from your everyday life you could pick a particular life issue to focus your devotional site on.  For instance, if you are a stay at home mom your devotions could be focused on issues you and other stay at home moms face.  

Some other examples would be:

• Single parents
• Marriage
• Homeschool
• Divorce
• Business

These are all topics you could write devotions around.  Your devotional site could touch on all these topics or you could concentrate on just one.  The choice is your to make.  Of course, there are lot more topics than just those I listed.

Do you have a devotional blog or website and have any tips for those who are interested in starting one as well?  If so, leave them in the comments!

courtneysig

Online Ministry - Different Types of Online Ministires

Having an online ministry can be a joy and done in a lot of different ways.  There is no wrong or right way to run an online ministry as long as you are going down the path the Lord leads.

"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." Proverbs 16:9

Below is a list of just some of the different types of online ministries you can have.  Through out the upcoming weeks, I will be discussing each type in more detail.

1. Devotions - This is probably the most common type of an online ministry and even this can be done a number of different ways.  Devotions sites online can be all encompassing, such as Faithful Devotions, or very specific in nature, such as Devotions for Moms. Devotions published in written form, audio, or even video.  Devotions are a type of worship and as such there are many different ways we can worship the Lord.
2. Bible Studies - Bible studies online can also be done in numerous ways - written, audio, video.  Bible Study for Her is a good example.  You could even create an e-course that delivers a specific Bible study via email.
3. Personal blog - When you think of an online ministry, a personal blog probably isn't what you think of, but they can be a great ministry tool.  Sharing your life struggles and accomplishes, along with the Word of God, can help others who are in the same situation as you.
4. Radio Show/Podcast - There are many online Christian radio shows and podcasts all on different subjects - such as Christian life, finance, Bible studies, etc.
5. Resources - Having a website with inspirational messages such as photos, screensavers, computer wallpapter, etc., can even be a ministry.  Breath of Life Online Ministry is a good example.

Just remember that as long as you are sharing the Word of God, have a love for Christ, passion to show God’s love to others, and the ability to devote your time and resources, you can have a successful online ministry.

Online Ministry - Is Your Blog Your Ministry?

People blog for different reasons.  Some say it is their hobby, their business, and many Christians claim it is their ministry.  Is your blog your ministry? What does it mean to have a ministry?

When people think of a ministry they usually think of a church, missionaries, Vacation Bible School, the bus workers, etc.  Some think of those who write books, speak, sing, and run Christian conferences when giving examples of a ministry.  A ministry can came in many different forms and fashions including the form of an online blog.

According to Acts 6:4, simply put, a ministry is the action of spreading God’s word. “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”

In my own opinion, though, a ministry takes more than just quoting Bible verses.  It takes love, passion, and devotion.

1. Love – In order have a ministry, online or offline, you have to have a love for Christ.
2. Passion – You must have a passion to show God’s love to others
3. Devotion – You must be willing to devote your time and resources to the ministry.

How can a blog be a ministry?

If you share the word of God on your blog, your blog could be considered a ministry.  Now there are a lot of different ways you can share the word of God online.

Usually when someone thinks about an online ministry, they probably think about devotions.  There are thousands of devotional blogs online and many of them are a true ministry. Anyone can post a devotional online, but that doesn’t mean they are running a ministry.  As I stated earlier, a ministry, takes love, passion, and devotion and while many bloggers have good intentions, they just don’t follow through.

Of course, devotions are not the only type of blog a ministry can be.  You could create a blog on almost any topic and as long as you are using sharing the word of God, you could turn it into a ministry.

Why do you blog?

Is it for hobby, fun, business, or ministry? Perhaps it’s a mixture of all of those.    It’s important to know why you blog.  It will help you keep focus on the purpose and give you the ability to give your readers the information they are seeking.  So what is the purpose of your blog?

Why Owning Your Own Blog Is Important

While approving blogs for our Christian blog directory, I have noticed that a large majority of the blogs submitted are hosted through the Google Blogger platform. I have made it no secret that I am not of fan of Google Blogger and prefer using a self-hosted version of WordPress for my blog platforms.  I understand that WordPress may not be for everyone but the most important aspect of using a self-hosted blogging platform is that I actually own my blogs.  I have total control.  I'm not giving some third party complete control over it.

You don’t have to be a control freak to want to have complete control over your blog. For a majority of us, your blog is part of your life and it makes sense to want to be able to design it, modify it and access it when and where you want to. Hosting it yourself ensures you have this control. And this control over your blog means you can create a blog that is 100% unique. You can focus on highlighting your brand personality and creating a strong image in your niche.

Hosting your blog yourself also means your audience won’t have to remember a long domain name and you can choose any URL you want.  When you’re hosting your website on a blogging platform, for example http://yourdomainname.blogspot.com, your domain name has two unique challenges. The first is that your blogging host may deny your domain name for myriad reasons and the other is that your audience has to remember your domain name plus your hosting site. They have to type the entire thing into their browser. If you host your blog yourself both of those challenges disappear.  (Yes, you can use your own domain with Google Blogger, WordPress.com, and other hosted platforms, but often times you have to pay extra to do so.)

Another issue when using hosted blogging platforms is that many of them restrict what you can do on your blog, especially if you are trying to make money. Many don’t allow affiliate promotions and they don’t allow you to sell ad space or participate in PPC to make money. Host it yourself and you can sell or promote whatever you want on your blog.

Blogs are hacked, often. And while security generally isn’t an issue if your blog is attacked you need to be able to get onto the blog and clean things up. If your blog is hosted by someone else, you can lose information or be locked out of your account and that is perhaps the worst thing that can happen to a blog owner.

Do you want to move from a hosted blogging platform to a self-hosted blog?   What's keeping you from doing so?  Is it the money for hosting, the technical know how, lack of time?  Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts and concerns about using a hosted service such as Google Blogger versus using a hosted blogging platform such as WordPress.org.

What's been going on...

I have gotten a few emails from some of you asking what happened to me!  Don't worry, I'm fine.  As most of you know, I was pregnant with  my 3rd child and was due July 13.  Well the Lord felt our new baby need to join us a little early, so on June 28th at 8:31am we welcomed Brandon into the world.  It was an emergency situation, so I was not prepared at all for it.  Then right after his birth, I got extremely sick.  I'm just now getting better and starting to get back into the swing of things. I appreciate all the emails and warm thoughts and prayers sent our way.

Brandon weighed in at 9lbs and 15oz and measured 21.5 inches.

Be Still and Know

Psalms 46:10 tell us to "Be still, and know that I [am] God..."  Most of us have heard that verse hundreds of times but how many of us actually put it into action?  How many bloggers apply it to their blogs? I hear this a lot - "I don't know what to do with my blog".  I've even been there too.  It wasn't until I stopped and waited on the Lord that I realized He wanted me to start Faithful Bloggers.  I've found that when I struggle with my blogs and online business, it's usually being I'm not waiting on the Lord to direct me and once I do that everything seems to get back on track.

Now I know waiting on the Lord is not always an easy thing to do - especially since there is no way to know how long it will take to know the Lord's will.  You could discover it immediately, the next day, the next week, or even the next year.  It's that waiting that can be discouraging.  But the waiting is so worth it.

Do you have issues with waiting on the Lord?  Just know that you are not the only one.  We all struggle with it at one point or another in our spiritual lives.

Have You Seen Calypso Studios, Inc.?

I was recently contacted by Erin from Calypso Studios, Inc. regarding their new line of comfort crosses - a handcrafted cross made out of clay for cradling in the palm of your hand. So why am I mentioning this on a blog about blogging as a Christian?  As bloggers we often get frustrated, overwhelmed, upset for various reasons - it could be an unwelcomed comment, technical issues, or just frustration from your blog not growing as quickly as you would like.

The comfort crosses are made to help individuals remember who is truly in charge and to bring comfort in those trying times as well as times of celebrations.  Sure it is meant to be used in times of various life events, such as baptisms, weddings, birth of a child, loss of a loved one, etc.

However bloggers can use it too.

--> If you get an unpleasant comment on your blog before responding you could grab the comfort cross and take a moment to ask the Lord how you should reply instead of doing so on impulse.

--> If you are have technical problems on your blog, you could grab the comfort cross and take a moment to ask the Lord to lead you in the correct direction to fix the issue.

Of course, it's not the comfort cross making the difference, but taking time to allow the Lord to direct your moves, but the comfort cross can help you to remember who is really in charge - the Lord.

Calypso Studios, Inc. sent me a Comfort Cross and Love Cross Necklace to review.  Both items are beautiful and wonderfully made. What stands out to me about these products is that they are made to show the importance of God's love and constant presence.

If you get a change check out Calypso Studios, Inc. They have an entire inspirational line and every item would make a great gift or keepsake.

Book Review Writing - Five Tips to Make It Simple

I've noticed that a lot of Christian bloggers write book reviews.  Writing book reviews is a great way to put useful content into your blog. The important thing to remember about writing book reviews is that there are some common courtesies that you should be aware of that will make your book review a lot better, as well as create a bond of trust between you and your readers. Trust between you and your readers is imperative if you want to build a large readership.

1. Book Information -- Always include all the book information that you can including the copyright information, the ISBN numbers, the title, and the author's name. Also include the cost of the book and where to buy the book.
2. Book Summary -- Make sure you include a summary of the book before you share your thoughts about the book. Do not give away any endings that would ruin the book for anyone.
3. Your thoughts --  Give your honest thoughts about book. Some ideas to include are why you picked this book, what about the cover or back made you pick it, and whether the book is useful or not. Always list some good things first, then some criticism, then the good again. Now, if you really hated the book, you'll have to say so, but try to give ideas about what could have made the book better. Always remember the what, when, where, why and how when you are writing your thoughts.
4. Full Disclosure -- It is very important, and in fact the law, that you disclose how you got the book. If you bought the book yourself, say so. If it was given to you for purpose of review, say so. If you got it from the library that's okay too. Always disclose how you obtained the book especially if it was given to you free specifically for purpose of review.
5. Where to buy -- Include where people can buy the book. This is a great place for your affiliate link to purchase the book.

If you stick to this format when you create book reviews or really any product reviews you'll find that people trust you a lot and will purchase the products and books that you recommend. It also makes it faster writing reviews if you have a template to work from.

Do you write book reviews?  Have any tips for other bloggers?

Finding Free Images - Free Download

If you have been following Faithful Bloggers for the last couple of weeks, then I'm sure you have noticed the posts on finding free images for your blog, the legal way. I ended that series of blog post last week, but I put it all together in a handy PDF download for you. Now you can just download the report and refer to it when needed. Just click on the download link below to get it!

If you have any problems downloading the report, please let me know.

Enjoy!

Using Zemanta to Find Free Images

Zemanta is a plugin available for Firefox, Explorer and Chrome. It is also available as a plugin for Blogger, WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and more.   In this post I'm going to show you how you can use Zemanta in Blogger to find free images for your blog posts. In my other tutorials I have mainly focused on WordPress because that is what I use and love, but today I'm going to use Blogger as an my example.  So in order to get started using Zemanta, you have to first install it.

Install Zemanta

The Zemanta website provides full and complete instructions for installing it in a browser or using it as a content management system plugin (which is what we are doing today).

Please make sure you are logged into Blogger before beginning in the installation process.

To start installing on Blogger, go to:

http://www.blogger.com/zemanta.g

Choose the blog you want to install Zemanta on and click “Add Zemanta”.

And that's it.  Zemanta is now ready to use on your chosen blog.  Now on to how to actually use Zemanta.

Using Zemanta

When you make a new post on your blog, the Zemanta Assistant will automatically appear on the far right side.

You can click the “Get Inspired” button and some images will appear, as will some recent topics that might inspire you to get writing.

We’re going to enter our own article instead and see what Zemanta comes up with instead. Once you start writing, Zemanta will analyze your text.

Suggested images will appear on the right side, as you can see above. If you change your text, you can click the “Update” icon on the far right side and it will update your selections.

If you don’t see anything you’d like to use, you can click “Refine” and enter some keywords.

We have entered “woman” and “stress”:

And are given new options. Now when we see an image we want to use, we can put our mouse over it to see the license information. You can also click through and see more license details.

To add the image just click it. Zemanta will keep track of the images you have added by marking them as “Clicked”. It will also insert the image, with proper attribution into your post.

Zemanta is relatively easy to use, but seems to be limited in the number of appropriate images returned, even when keywords are entered. It also displays a lot of images that are for non-commercial use.  That's it in a nutshell.  There are some additional settings you can customize such as: positioning of the image, code style, Amazon affiliate ID, and more.

This post concludes our series on finding free images to use on your blogs legally. If you missed any of the other posts in this series, they are listed below for you to read.

• Understanding Creative Commons License and Images
• Finding Free Images for Your Blog
• Google Images & Flickr
• Using the Photo Dropper Plugin to Find Free Images

If you continue to have any questions, please don't be hesitant to ask them in the comments.

Content Idea - Interview Someone Else About Their Testimony

Coming up with content ideas for your blog can be difficult. You've written about every last thing you can think of. You've shared your testimony online more than once in more ways than you can count, so what to do? How do you bring life to your blog?

A really great way to bring life to your blog is to interview others and share their testimony on your blog. 

You can do this many times without anyone ever getting bored. You can set up a Google Documents form. If you have a Gmail open up your account and click "Google Docs", create new, choose Form, then follow the directions to create a form. Once you've created this, you'll get code to embed on a page in your blog or website. You can create an announcement to ask your readers to fill out the form. Make sure you include instructions that let them know they are giving you permission to publish their shared testimony. Once you have at least one response you can then format it to become a post. You can make this a regular weekly or monthly feature on your blog.

Once you have someone else's testimony that can give you ideas for content for the week before or after the testimony. If you base your posts on the person's testimony you will know what verses to discuss, what worldly topics to bring up, and what to write about for at least a week if you break each thought up into separate posts. You can even turn all of your entries into an eBook full of testimonies to share for free, sell for a small charge, or a donation.

Additionally, you can turn each testimony into a podcast if the people who enter agree to an interview. You can use a program such as Audacity, or Pamela. You can use these programs with Skpe or simply use telephones to record interviews. You can ask the same questions you asked on the form, or you can just chat and talk about whatever comes up. Sharing other people's testimony can help you fill your blog with relevant content for years to come while still encouraging your readers.

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Using the Photo Dropper Plugin to Find Free Images

Photo Dropper is a Wordpress plugin that makes it easy for you to search Flickr for photos with Creative Commons License and insert appropriate images into your blog.  You can read more about the plugin at the WordPress.org Plugin Repository. *Obviously, this will only work self-hosted blogs using WordPress not on Blogger or WordPress.com blogs.

Install the Plugin

You can install the plugin by logging into your WordPress control panel and click on “Plugins -> Add New” on the left menu.

On the next screen, search for Photo Dropper. When you find it, click “Install Now”:

You may be asked for your FTP information in order to perform the installation, if so enter it in.

Next you’ll see a screen that indicates your plugin installation has begun.

When the installation is complete, click “Activate Plugin”:

Now the Photo Dropper plugin is installed and  ready to use.

How to use Photo Dropper

Now you can create a new post and use Photo Dropper. When you create a new post, you can see the Photo Dropper icon as one of your options at the top of the post.

Click the icon to search for images. In this example, we are searching for “red rose” and get the following results:

You can choose the image that you’d like, choose small (S), medium (M) or large (L) size and it will insert the appropriate attribution into your blog post.

Confirm Licensing Details

While ongoing use of Photo Dropper seems to indicate it’s pretty accurate in using appropriate images for commercial websites, you should always confirm the license allows you to use the photo for your website.

You can see the image information by clicking the arrow icon in the bottom left before you add the image:

This brings you to the image page and you can find the license information on the right menu:

Click the “Some rights reserved” and you’ll see the details about using the image. Make sure to read them completely.

I hope this tutorial will help you find free images you can use legally on your blog.  For a recap on other posts in this series, check out:

• Understanding Creative Commons License and Images
• Finding Free Images for Your Blog
• Google Images & Flickr

Next up is using Zemanta.

Blog Directory Suggestions

I'm in the process of revamping the Christian Blog Directory and adding some new features. Some of the updated featured will include:

1. The ability to sort through the directory in a more meaningful way
2. Featured listings
3. Updated category listings
4. The ability to leave comments on the blog listings you enjoy stating so
5. The ability to share the blog listings you enjoy with your social media friends
6. and more....

One thing that gets requested over and over is different types of categories.  With over 600 blogs listed, there is a large variety of  blogs. Do you have any suggested categories you would like to see in the blog directory?

Sharing your testimony - How to get started

Sometimes sharing such intimate details about our lives can be difficult. This is especially true if your personal testimony is especially full of darkness before you found Christ. Remember, this is your testimony, you can share as much as you want or as little as you want. You can also start slowly giving just a little bit of information at a time. For instance, if you read a passage in the Bible and it reminds you of something from the past, it's okay to share that instance at that moment in that post. This sharing will go far in bringing you closer to your readers. Not only that, you never know who will read it and have experienced the very same thing you did and decide to change their lives too. The fact that you're human is never something to be ashamed about. The past is washed away, and there is no reason to feel shame, and every reason to feel joy instead.

The best way to get started is to start from the beginning. You can even start all the way back to your birth and tell your story post by post, day by day, memory by memory. In addition to writing about your testimony you can also create podcasts and vlogs to put into your blog by simply pasting the code and giving it a description, so if writing seems overwhelming consider using digital video instead. You can do this with programs likely already on your computer such as Microsoft Movie Maker, or your webcam and the software provided by YouTube.com. Remember, you do not have to be perfect to share your testimony, you only have to be honest, and real.

Struggle is a normal human condition, and one that is made better by our faith, so never be ashamed to admit your faults and follies. Sharing your testimony can also be a way to renew your faith as you share you'll remember, and as you remember you'll be assured of your place in the world and the hereafter.

Google Images & Flickr

Continuing in the series of posts about finding free photos for your blog and understanding Creative Commons License, today is all about Flickr. Flickr is a common source of Creative Commons License images.   By performing a Google Image Search for “sad puppy”, “photo content” and “labelled for commercial reuse with modification” I find the set of images below:

I am interested in using the first image and notice that it is from Flickr. I click on the image and then click the X in the top right corner of the image to see the web page it came from.

To use an image from Flickr, check the License information on the right menu:

If  I click “Some rights reserved”, I can see the conditions of this license.  Always be sure to read the full terms prior to using the image.

To get the appropriate code to use the image, I just click the “Share” tab at the top of the page and then copy and paste the code into my blog post.

Flickr has millions of images on it's site and there is actually a WordPress plugin that helps makes finding images with the correct license easy to find and add to your blog post.  We will be talking about that plugin next week.

For a review of the other posts in series, visit:

• Understanding Creative Commons License and Images
• Finding Free Images for Your Blog

Death, Burial, and Resurrection Special Report

A couple weeks ago we started a new group writing project about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We ended up having 15 bloggers participate!  I have now complied all the entires into a downloadable special report.  Feel free to download and offer it on your blog as well. Just click on the ecover below to download.

If you would like to use the ecover on your blog to direct people to the download, just use the code below:

<a href="http://faithfulbloggers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/deathburialgwp.pdf" title='Faithful Bloggers' target='_blank' style='font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;'><img src="http://faithfulbloggers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/deathburialgwpecover.png"></A>

Thanks to all the bloggers who participated.  You all did a wonderful job!  Enjoy!

Share Your Testimony: Why it's Important

If you're writing a blog that is dedicated to your faith but you rarely talk about your faith or have never shared your testimony, then it can create a feeling of disconnection from you and your audience, which is the last thing you want. Sometimes when outsiders look at people of faith they get the idea we're perfect or think that we are perfect. So, the best way to get that connection of trust with you and your readers is to share your testimony. Creates a connection -- By sharing your testimony you create a connection with others who share your path, or who are on that path now. It makes people feel connected to your life and feel like they can have what you have too.

Humanizes your life -- At times we appear strange to the outside world. It's good to face that we are not perfect and never will be. We strive to be perfect like Jesus, but we often fall short, but that's okay because He picks us up and we continue on.

Promotes trust -- When you share your testimony you'll create a trusting environment for others to share their story too. In addition you'll probably touch someone who has not made a decision yet about spiritual matters and your story might encourage them.

Gives hope -- Your testimony gives hope to everyone who reads it. Even if your testimony is not that exciting (to you) it will be encouraging and hopeful to someone who reads it.

Even those of you who have known God your entire lives have a story to tell, everyone has a testimony to share. Whether it was a lifelong journey, or a moment in time that tested our faith, you have a story that can be shared with many people to create that connection, promote trust, and give hope to others.  We are called to share our story by God, and today we are blessed with ways in which to do this that did not exist in the past. Today, you can stay home, and share from your computer on your blog. What could be better than that?

If you would like help writing your testimony check out our guide "How to Write Your Testimony", it's available for free in our members area. It will walk you step by step through the process of writing your testimony. If you'd like to access the members area simply fill out the form below and you will be emailed a password.

P.S.  If you have shared your testimony on your blog, please leave your link in the comments.  I would love to come read it.