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Ephesians 2:1-3—And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Is this how you understand your life before Christ? When you reflect on who you were before you became a Christian, do you recognize that you were spiritually dead? When you tell your story, how do you tell it?

Some Christians have what some might call a “boring” testimony. You weren’t a drug addict or an alcoholic. You didn’t sleep around. You never experimented with Eastern Mysticism. You were never incarcerated. You weren’t an Atheist. You grew up in a Christian home, your parents taught you about Jesus, you went to church regularly as a child, and somewhere along the way you too believed the message your parents and Sunday School teachers taught you. Don’t be ashamed of that type of story, Christian. Before you met Jesus, you were no less dead than Paul was. 

Imagine you were in a room with two corpses, one from May 1920 and the other from May 2020. If by some miraculous power we were able to resurrect those corpses, which miracle would be greater? They’d be equally great! Why? Because you can’t get any deader than dead! One may be more decayed than the other, but they’re both equally dead. In the same way, every person is spiritually dead before Christ. Some lives may be more decayed by the effects of sin, but they’re not more dead. Every personal testimony is a miracle.

If you have one of those boring testimonies, make sure you when you tell your story you talk about your spiritual death. Don’t say things like “I’ve always been a Christian” or “I’ve always been a good person,” or “I’ve always believed.” Other Christians might understand what you mean when you say things like that, but unbelievers don’t. Tell them that you are were dead in your trespasses and sins.