Why Story Is How Truth Sticks
What Jesus Knew About Getting Through to People
by Sam Kelly, Middays Host
I once had a dream where the words coming out of my mouth were bright colors, and my daughter Zoe—who couldn’t talk yet in real life—was smearing them into a blank canvas in front of her. I asked her what she was doing. She looked up and said, “It only sticks if you rub it in.”
It took me fourteen years to understand what that dream was really about. It’s about story.
Why Story Works
I’ve noticed story is how information sticks in your brain. And even more importantly, it’s how, what someone is trying to tell you, sticks in your heart. You can hear a fact and forget it by lunch. But if you hear a story, it moves in and stays.
Jesus knew that. It’s why He taught in parables instead of handing out bullet points. He didn’t say anything to the crowds without a story. He used as many as they could understand, and then explained everything privately to His own (Mark 4:33-34 paraphrased). He wanted truth to reach further than someone’s ears. He wanted it to deeply touch their life.
And it worked—it’s still working. To this day, if I say “parable of the talents,” something clicks in you. You know the concept. You know what it means. Maybe you even know what it means to you, specifically, because somewhere along the way God used that story to speak to your life in a personal way. Same if I say “prodigal son.” Same if I say “Good Samaritan.” A few words, and your mind goes straight to the whole story—and to what it cost, and what it’s worth.
That’s how God wired us. We’re made in His image, for His purposes and His glory, and that means we get to tell stories that change things too.
You Are Already a Storyteller
Now, maybe you’re reading this thinking, That’s nice for Sam, but I don’t tell stories. I just answer emails. I drive carpool. I do the numbers at work. I’m not a storyteller.
I’d push back on that gently. You are.
Every time you tell your kids what happened at your doctor’s appointment, every time you explain to a friend why today was hard, every time you try to help your husband understand what you actually need instead of just being frustrated that he doesn’t get it—you’re doing exactly what I do for a living. You’re taking something true and finding a way to make it land. The only question is whether you’re doing it on purpose.
The more your words connect to someone else’s story, the more they stick.
How to Tell a Story that Sticks
Here’s what I think that looks like practically: share the parts that matter and let the rest go. Don’t bury the truth under every detail. That’s not more honest, it’s just harder to hear. Use the words that paint the picture instead of the vague, safe ones. And remember that whoever you’re talking to already has a story going on inside them—a want, a fear, a hope—even if they haven’t said so out loud. The more your words connect to their story, the more they stick.
It Only Sticks If You Rub It In
That’s what God did for me the night He gave me that dream. He gave me a picture—colors, a canvas, a little girl who couldn’t speak yet finding a way to say something true anyway. And I still haven’t forgotten it, because He rubbed it in.
The next time you have something true to say, don’t just say it. Find the story underneath it. Let it sink in far enough that it doesn’t just get heard. It gets kept.
Today’s One Thing
Think of one true thing you need someone to really hear this week. Instead of stating it as a fact, tell it as a story—what happened, what it cost, what it means. Watch how differently it lands.
If it only sticks when you rub it in, gratitude works the same way. It’s a story you keep returning to until it reshapes how you actually see your life. That’s what A Grateful Life: Thanks in the Hard places offers—our a free fourteen-day YouVersion study that helps you rub thankfulness into even the hard places, one day at a time, until it becomes the way you live and not just something you feel on your good days. I’d love for you to walk it with Him.