Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener
podcast. I'm your host Danielle Townsend and
Today we are gonna be discussing love and honestly,
I I don't know the exact direction We're gonna
be going in with this podcast, okay? There are
so many, so many different avenues we can go
down. And when I was praying that the Lord revealed
to me what to discuss today in today's podcast,
I felt Him lead me to talk about love. And the
first verse that came to mind was John 3, 16,
which was, God loved the world this way, that
He gave His only Son. that everyone believes
in him will not die, but will have eternal life
and You know that that is such I just we're gonna
dive in we're just gonna dive right in y 'all
that Is such a wonderful example of God's love
for us and Jesus's love for us, right because
God loved Each of us every single one of us so
much in our imperfect state because remember
that that we are imperfect We're sinning, you
know, we have gone against God's will we are
not Deserving of this but he loved every single
one of us so much that he wanted us to have the
opportunity to have our sins paid for and to
have eternity with him. He loved us that much
that he sacrificed his only son so that we may
have the opportunity that we may have the choice
to choose to put our faith in Jesus Christ. And
look at how much Jesus loved us, right? Jesus
loved every single one of us so much that he
went through the pain. When I'm talking about
this, y 'all, right now I'm thinking about what's
coming to mind right now is the movie The Passion
of the Christ. And I recently watched that movie,
again, for the first time in a long time, and
just seeing how Jesus was beaten. like how he
was whipped and tortured and laughed and made
fun of and spit on and mocked in every way how
he was disfigured like how he took all of that
and then carried his cross and was crucified
he endured all of these false accusations He
heard himself called all of these things that
were not true like he He experienced suffering
in every single way and didn't deserve it and
he did it simply because he loves us and He loved
the Heavenly Father so much The reason why he
did it was love You know, it's so interesting
though last night I was I was at my young adult
group and we were talking about kings and how
jesus was a king and the pastor said something
that Really stuck out to me and is sticking out
to me more now We're talking about this is that
all the kings we see today Like all the kings
that we know in our history books, right? Have
other people suffering for them have other people
dying for them every other king has armies, has
people hired by them that will go to war for
them, that will, you know, spill blood for them,
that will put their lives on the line for them
to protect their money, their livelihood, their
peace, their land, their power, their whatever
and Jesus was the opposite of that. You know,
his kingdom wasn't of this world and what he
did was he laid down his life. He laid down his
life because he loved us. He spilled his blood
for our, for our eternity, for the forgiveness
of our sins. His spilling his blood when we put
our faith in christ when we're covered in the
blood of jesus We have an authority in christ
jesus. Yes his spilling of the blood Like that
that is what pays our debt for us to go Into
eternal life with the heavenly father But that's
also our protection as we're navigating life
now, right? You know, I have seen spiritual warfare
with and without Blood of Jesus. I've shared
this before y 'all when I was in New Age spirituality
I was experiencing warfare and I was trying to
protect myself and the ways that the New Agers
know to protect themselves which is wearing crystals
and wearing veils and using incense and evil
eyes and sigils and all of these things and None
of these things will protect you like the blood
of Jesus Christ will protect you Okay, I used
all of those things. I did all those things and
I still saw weapons Prospering appearing to prosper
after they formed I saw hit after hit suffering
after suffering but when I Surrender my life
to Jesus and when I put my faith in him and when
I was covered in the blood of Jesus y 'all When
I was covered in the blood of Jesus The weapons
that were forming started falling to the floor
There was another in the fire with me. I wasn't
facing these things alone I was putting on the
armor of God and the armor was Working Like I'm
telling y 'all Jesus Christ spilling that blood
is a protection. It is a covering for us, being
covered in the blood of Jesus. That is how you
step into the authority that's in the name of
Jesus, y 'all. You know that, and I'm, there
is, here in scripture, you can find it in scripture,
where there are men who tried to cast out demons
using Jesus's name. And the demons laughed at
them. The demons let me tell you all right now
the demons weren't rebuked the demons didn't
believe The demons stood their ground because
they said, you know Paul we know like these other
people we know Jesus we know But who are you?
Demons recognize when you when you are claiming
the name of Jesus When you are trying to use
the authority in Jesus's name, but you are a
true follower of Jesus When you aren't covered
in the blood Okay, when you have open doors When
you are playing both sides when you're lukewarm
the enemy knows these things So when people tried
to use the authority, but they weren't actually
covered in the blood the demons The demons didn't
leave. The demons laughed. They said, who are
you? We don't know you. We know Jesus. We know
Moses. We know Paul. We know these other people.
Who are you? Who are you? But Jesus loved us
so much that he spilled his blood so that we
may have the choice to put our faith in him.
and have His blood as a covering. Y 'all, the
love of Jesus, the love of the Heavenly Father
is sacrificial. There's a scripture that we've
been reading a lot in my church, and I'm paraphrasing,
I'm pulling out the depths of my mind right now,
y 'all. That there is no greater love than to
lay down one's life for one's friends. It's just
like dang. That's what Jesus did for us y 'all.
He loved us so much. He laid down his life for
us knowing The sins we were gonna struggle with
in this lifetime knowing that even after we submitted
to him even after You know, we gave our lives
to him and put our faith in him that we weren't
going to be perfect, that we were going to stumble,
that we were going to fall at times, and that
we were going to have to turn to him to be picked
up this entire life. You know, putting your faith
in Jesus and turning to him doesn't mean that
like one day you're not going to need him or
that you're meant to like get healed or fixed
by him and then go along your merry way. No,
we are meant to, it's a relationship that we're
going to be walking with the Lord for as long
as we're here on Lyser. There's a reason why
our Father prayer says give us a stay our daily
bread. We're supposed to be going daily for our
bread, which is our sustenance, what we need
to get through the day, our guidance, our provision,
our spiritual nourishment from the Lord. We're
supposed to be getting that daily. We're supposed
to be going to the Lord consistently. We're not
meant to charge up and just pop back in every
couple months. No, we're meant to go consistently
And I want to read some scripture y 'all that
I've been led to that talks about love and It's
in first Corinthians chapter 13 titled the way
of love and it says here if I speak in the tongue
of men and of angels but have not love I am a
noisy gong or a clanging symbol and if I have
prophetic powers and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge and if I have all faith so
as to remove mountains but have not love I am
nothing I want to pause there I want to pause
there I want to break that down you know reading
this I could have all of the gifts I could have
the prophetic powers i could have i could know
everything in the world i could have all understanding
i could have the answer to every single one of
your questions i could have all the faith in
the world i could have all my faith in jesus
christ that i i could say to this mountain move
and it would move i could have all of these things
but if i don't know the love the Heavenly Father
if I don't know Christ like love if I'm not moving
in love I am nothing all of those things mean
nothing if you can't do it from a loving space
from a loving place it is nothing y 'all this
was something and I know I'm not perfect in this
That the Lord has really had to work on me with
the past couple years y 'all. I just want to
share a little bit of personal testimony in this.
I used to have all truth, but no love. I used
to say things to people so bluntly of like, you
know, someone would be dealing with an emotional
thing or they'd be dealing with a pattern or
they'd be dealing with a thing. They would come
to me and I would just start speaking so plainly
to them. Like I would say well you're doing this
and you're doing this and this is a problem and
this is the source of all these problems and
This person is doing this and I think this and
this is what I think and I would just say it
so bluntly so bluntly and I would say that while
I'm just I'm not being fake. I'm telling them
what they need to hear Well, if I sugarcoat it
I would always call it sugar coating it y 'all,
you know, there's a reason I call this podcast
salt not sweetener just to sidestep a little
bit the Lord has reminded me of scripture that
you are the salt of the earth and he had reminded
me that I was not the sweetener and that was
because for a while I was too much watering things
down I was sugarcoating things out of not wanting
to offend or not wanting to hurt people but I
can tell you right now that to say truth with
empathy and with love and with thoughtfulness
is not sugarcoating things there is a difference
okay we should never water down the gospel What
God says is a sin is a sin Okay, what God says
to do you do you do not change the gospel do
not change the gospel But I'm telling you right
now y 'all that your delivery Your delivery is
important the way that you connect with people
is important Okay You have to be able to do things
with love and I want to be very clear that doing
things with Christ like life and we will go we
will Continue to read in the scripture in a moment.
Okay, y 'all but love is truth and honesty For
the longest time I was raised You know, I had
a lot of different ideas thrown at me of what
love is and one of the things was What someone
doesn't know won't hurt them you know, hide things
that might be harmful to someone. Even if this
thing is true, don't tell that person because
it might hurt their feelings or you know, like
just watering things that someone needs to hear
and someone needs to know. And I was told that
that was love and that's not love. Okay, that
keeps you comfortable and that keeps the other
person and kind of like a bit of a lala land.
I want to be very clear that truth and honesty
is a form of love. Jesus Christ spoke the truth
and he spoke with honesty and he spoke with authority
Right So we know that Jesus set an example right
there that speaking with truth and speaking with
honesty That is a form of love Okay, but we can
speak with truth And we can speak with honesty
and not be trying to cut someone deep. I feel
like someone needs to hear that today, okay?
There needs to be some love in your delivery.
There needs to be some love in the way that you
communicate it. Let's read further. If I give
away all I have, And if I deliver up my body
to be burned but have not love I gain nothing
and this is saying right and Where i'm going
with this next is you can You can be so self
-sacrificial how we just said a few minutes ago
that the love of god was sacrificial Right that
he sacrificed his only son and we see that jesus
sacrificed his life So we can see that sacrifice
Love But sacrifice Sacrifice is a way to show
your love right but sacrifice without there actually
being love behind it is Nothing saying you could
give away everything That you own you could give
away it all You could give up your body But if
there is not the love of Jesus behind it then
it's nothing. What is it pointing to? What is
it leading to if not the love of Jesus? Love
is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast.
It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist
on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful.
It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices
with the truth. Love bears all things, believes
all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will
pass away. As for tongues, they will cease. As
for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know
in part We prophesy in part. But when the perfect
comes, the partial will pass away. When I was
a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like
a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became
a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see
in a mere dimly, but then face to face. Now I
know in part. Then I shall know fully. even as
I have been fully known. So now faith, hope,
and love abide, these three, but the greatest
of these is love. And you all, I thought we were
moving past the speaking with love, but there's
an example. That I want to give y 'all of where
the delivery really matters Now i'm someone y
'all who like I I have a heavy gossiping conviction.
I have had a heavy gossiping conviction um before
I Talk about somebody if it's something I experienced
if I experienced it with just an example a family
member Or a co -worker or someone that i've seen
out and about or something like that And I feel
drawn to bring it up in conversation with someone
I I I feel convicted, and I'll be honest with
y 'all, I'm not perfect in this, but there is
a conviction of why am I talking about this?
Why am I bringing up this person? Why am I bringing
up the situation in this setting or in this scenario?
Is it to help this person? Is it to gain more
of an understanding? Or is it... for me to be
relatable is it for me to have something to talk
about is it for me to have something to discuss
is it for me to feel more righteous is it for
me to feel better is it for me is it for this
person to feel put down because y 'all when i
gossiped in the past those were the reasons why
one of the top reasons why i gossiped with people
i was um you know i i used to have a friend group
where that was what we did was gossip one of
the main reasons is it was a camaraderie builder
right so um It was just a thing where like everyone
could throw in something to say, you know, you
would have like one center topic. So if we were
talking about a person or a situation, everyone
could add something in. So it was kind of like
a bonding thing. We would use gossip to bond,
right? Gossip also in a way of relating when
someone would say, oh, I'm dealing with this,
you know, I would throw out, oh, I've dealt with
that, too. And this is what happened. And da
da da da da da da. And I start throwing out things
that I shouldn't be throwing out. I have no reason
to be talking about that. It turns into gossip
very quick to relate to someone, right? There
were times when you would disguise gossiping
as venting right of a one just talking about
I had to deal with this and Acting like you're
unpacking emotionally when let's be real that
wasn't bothering you too heavy an hour ago or
two hours ago Gossip is it's a very easily slid
in and disguise and before you know it you're
speaking death over a situation You know, there's
so many times people use gossip to feel better
about themselves, you know if they're able to
kind of talk about Well, this person's dealing
with this sin and this person's dealing with
this problem. This person's dealing with this
It makes me feel better about mine. It makes
me feel better about what I have going on it
makes me feel better about what I'm doing and
You have to be so thoughtful of it even as a
follower of Christ When you're a follower of
Christ and getting the conviction, it's important
that you listen to the conviction. Y 'all know
I share lots of personal experiences on here.
There was a time, there was one time when I was
with a group of other people who loved the Lord,
who loved Christ, right? And it was like a really
good conversation. And I was really vibing with
the conversation. I was really getting into it.
But I, not too long in the conversation, started
to get a gossiping conviction. And when I am
convicted of something, y 'all, I close my mouth
very quick. I have learned if I can't like immediately
exit the conversation or I can't immediately
redirect the conversation, I'm not going to feed
into the conversation. I've learned to really
zip my lips and keep my mouth shut. and the conversation
had started with people kind of discussing what
they, just kind of what they had going on personally,
but somehow it kind of shifted to talking about
someone who wasn't there, who was sinful, right?
We'll just say that someone started discussing
this person's act of sin that they had going
on in their life And then soon enough there were
other people who also started harping in and
talking about that specific sin and there's a
group of people who participate in that sin as
well say like that sin like There's a group of
people who I think that's the best way I could
word it. And before long, the conversation no
longer focused on the sin, but started focusing
on the group of people. And it started to feel
more of like, um, a shaming the sin of that group
of people. And it started to feel like, and I
don't think these people intended to, but the
way that the conversation started to feel is
that their sin that they have going on was separate
than these other people. That in some way these
other people were worse sinners than what they
were when sin is sin, right? You know, like even
there are some sins that were very much compared
and I really felt the conviction to pull myself
out of the conversation because I realized that
although the things that they were saying were
biblical, were accurate, that these things were
sins and that the scriptures that they were saying
were, the delivery of it wasn't it, right? The
delivery of it felt more judgmental and separating
and there didn't feel a love behind it, there
felt like more of a speaking from a high place,
an attacking, if you will, a kind of like trying
to poke And I don't know a better way to put
it, but although the message was biblical, although
what the people were saying was biblical, right?
It could be backed by the word and it was true
that these things were sins. The delivery that
they had with it, it didn't feel loving. It didn't
feel like they were actually trying to welcome
these people closer to Christ or trying to educate.
or trying to like gently teach and guide. It
didn't feel like there was an empathizing. It
really felt like there was a divider and a wall
up and instead of a love, it felt like more of
a distaste, right? It felt like more of a judgment,
a condemnation. So I felt very quickly convicted
not to feed in and just kind of wait on the conversation
to shift and move forward. And that's what I
did. And again, like these people, I don't believe
by any means that they actually like hate these
groups or that there was hate involved in that,
but the delivery matters. The delivery matters
just as much as the truth behind the message.
There needs to be love with that, right? So yeah,
that was one. And again, I'm not perfect in that
at all. I felt convicted of that time and time
again. It's something I'm still working on. I
still find myself sometimes when my view starts
getting a little short or I feel like I've been
repeating myself, I start to get very cut and
dry. I found y 'all that sometimes I'll start
saying something lovingly at first, but if I
feel like it's not being heard, I start to get
snippy and cold. And that's something that I
have to personally work on. But yeah, I want
to tell you all that love can be shown in the
delivery. And you can be truthful and honest
and not sugarcoating while also showing love.
Right? Now let's see this here. Love is patience.
Love is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not
boast. That goes directly against what our generation
glorifies as love. And I feel like right now
we're going to talk a little bit more in a romantic
sense and what we look for in partners, right?
Because I can tell you all that this right here,
this wasn't what I looked for in partners growing
up. And I can definitely attribute that. To a
lot of the content I consumed growing up a lot
of the TV shows I watched a lot of the movies
I watched a lot of things that were available
online to watch a lot of the books I read I was
a watt pad Middle school and high school or so,
you know, I read a lot of the stuff I shouldn't
have been reading and just about every like movie
and book modern day involves toxic romance and
like toxic couples, you know, I We can look at,
I don't know if I can say all of these by name.
There's a very popular book to movie series that's
about this billionaire dude that it's definitely
rated R. And I remember that was really popular
when I was in high school. And when you actually
look at it, it's the most toxic kind of love.
That man was not patient. Okay, that man was
not patient with her I Can tell you that right
now. He was not kind. He was kind to everyone
but her he was only nice to her He wasn't kind
to anybody else just about he was very cut and
dry with a lot of people He was very envious
Right, he would go out and buy all these things
just so no one else could look at her when there
are all these pictures When we see and and so
many people I know I used to glorify that as
the best relationship There are so many people
who I see talking on social media who consider
dumping their partners because they're not jealous.
There are trends constantly all going around
on TikTok of like girls playing sounds to see
if their boyfriend gets jealous, to see if their
boyfriend gets mad or guys playing sounds or
like talking about certain accounts to see if
other women get jealous and like people take
envy. as a sign of love of like well if they're
not jealous for me if they're not you know envious
of other people if they're not like overprotective
like there are people who will purposely try
to trigger envy or jealousy in a partner and
when that's not triggered they'll say oh they
don't love me there there are There are people
who say, well, my person doesn't post me all
the time and brag about me and boast about me
and go around boasts. So if they don't boast...
Then they don't love me and I'm and I'm not saying
that your partner supposed to be keeping you
secret Okay, your partner that that's not love
either is like keeping things hidden. But privacy
is powerful There's there's a powerfulness and
a certain level of privacy Okay, but our generation
glorifies. I remember y 'all grown up people
would always be posting woman crush Wednesday
a man crush Monday You know There was like literal
you were supposed to every week post your partner
and there are people who would literally break
up because they wouldn't get a woman crush or
a man crush it was crazy it was crazy patient
and kind let's go back to that there's so many
people who say i only want a partner that's kind
to me and no one else There are so many people
who actually love that where they're like, I
don't want someone who's nice to other people
I don't want someone who's kind to other people
I want them to be mean and all these things other
people but only nice to me only kind to me That's
toxic y 'all that's not the love of Jesus that's
not the love of Jesus Okay Patient Jesus is patient.
The Heavenly Father is patient with us So you
best believe. Notice how all of these things
that God shows, all of these things that Jesus
shows are what we should be looking for in our
partner and in our friendships and in our connections.
Because love is platonic to write love isn't
just romantic I know right now we're focusing
on romantic love But these are things you should
be looking for in friendships and close connections
as well Right someone who is patient with you
someone who isn't rushing you but notice y 'all
and we're gonna look at some fine lines with
this That God is patient with us, right? Jesus
is patient with us He doesn't rush us He allows
us to take our time. He allows us to check in
with him He allows us to move at the pace that
he knows we need to move out, but he also doesn't
condone laziness He also doesn't condone us.
Just you know, once we give our lives to Christ
He doesn't say okay now you stay perfectly you
you stay as you are continue that willful sin
continue doing all these things No, once we start
pursuing relationship with Christ and surrender
our lives to him. He starts changing us and improving
us, right? there he starts the sanctification
process and You'll notice that with people who
love you is they'll encourage you to grow and
they'll encourage you to be better Okay, they
may they may be encouraging you to branch out
to try new things to go to new places Things
are gonna be edifying your relationship with
Christ. I'm not saying leading you to sin People
who love you are going to be patient with you.
They're not going to be rushing you They're not
going to be trying to force you to cross boundaries
or to overstep or do anything like that but patience
isn't laziness, okay patients isn't also just
condoning unhealthy habits and unhealthy behaviors
and I think that sometimes we get that confused
in our generation with patients of someone who
Holy Spirit give me the words sometimes we mistake
patience with someone who has a lack of boundaries
or a lack of Standing up for themselves a lack
of communication a lack of speaking up when we
think of someone who's patient sometimes we think
of someone who is willing to And I want to be
so thoughtful with the way I word this Accept
treatment and behavior that they should not be
accepting or treating But they should not be
accepting right they shouldn't be accepting that
kind of treatment. They they shouldn't be accepting
that kind of behavior Okay, and that's why and
we'll get in on this a little bit more, too That's
why it's so important before we love others to
know the love of Christ Well when I look back
at how I and I used to think I was loving people
Well and loving people right those before I knew
the love of Jesus So I didn't know how to show
that love to other people and I can see just
how much I was incorrectly loving people. You
can't know the love of Jesus. You can't show
people the love of Jesus if you don't know it
and I'm gonna say this and I heard someone say
this a while back. I believe it was Pastor Bobby
Chandler and it struck a chord with me. You cannot
be, as a follower of Christ, you cannot be loved
correctly by people who don't know the love of
Jesus. They cannot love you correctly. no matter
how much they try or no matter how much you want
them to, if they don't know the love of Jesus,
they cannot love you in the way that you're meant
to be loved. Yeah, I want to say that our generation
has such a thing of like, I owe nobody nothing.
And these are all my boundaries. And I feel like
people confuse boundaries with just kind of like
being really selfish. Speaking as someone who
I used to have a major lack of boundaries and
not able to stand on them and the Lord has really
shown me how to set boundaries and Stand on boundaries.
There are some people who y 'all our generation
Will just say this uses boundaries sometimes
as an excuse for selfish behavior selfish behavior,
unhealed behavior, okay, and uses boundaries
as an excuse. Have the Lord help you set boundaries,
set biblical boundaries. I promise they will
be healthy. But let's go on and move forward.
Love does not envy, love does not boast. If someone
is envious or jealous all the time, I'm gonna
tell y 'all right now that person's not showing
you the love of Jesus. If it's a consistent thing
that isn't being grown, that isn't actually being
worked on, that isn't being developed, okay?
Have an open eye. And I'm speaking from experience
of someone who I used to love jealous men. I
used to love envious men, okay? I was one of
those people when I was... Because again, y 'all,
I had a very toxic view of love. And as someone
who I was always seeking attention for validation,
jealousy and envy was a way to get it. I remember,
especially when I was like 18, 19, 20 years old,
that was when, you know, you're posting all the
thirst traps on Snapchat and everything. When
someone's not texting you back or snapping you
back, you post something because you're hoping
that they'll see that and get jealous. You know
you go out and you post that you're out hoping
that they'll see it you trying to trigger someone's
jealousy Someone needs to hear the state you're
trying to trigger someone's jealousy That's not
the love of Jesus operating through you right
now Okay, if you find yourself consistently being
jealous or envious you need to take that to the
Lord and if the person you're with has a The
person you're romantically involved with, a friend
or a family member, you notice jealousy and envy
problems. These things aren't being adapted.
These things aren't being worked on. You need
to take that to the Lord on what to do in regards
to that person. Okay, there may be a boundary
that needs to be put up. But that's something
to be thoughtful of. Okay, let's move forward.
Let's move forward here. Love is not arrogant.
or rude it does not insist on its own way it
is not irritable or resentful wow that has me
thinking again y 'all to that series that i was
telling y 'all about earlier that book to movie
series because that's kind of describing the
main character of that book who was meant to
be like the most eligible bachelor ever um who
he was kind of like very rude and hurt to people
that didn't have anything that he wanted he was
very rude and very um Kurt to those people and
he very much insisted on his own way It was his
way or the highway and that's actually a thing
that our generation Seems to really be interested
in for some reason is kind of like being told
what to do and having someone else Execute their
will over ours and think about how God oh Lord,
thank you. I feel like you just kind of dropped
this on me God doesn't do that to us. He doesn't
execute His will over us. We have a choice. When
Jesus Christ went to the cross and spilled the
blood, now we have the active choice to put our
faith in Jesus or not. We have the active faith
to obey God or not. We have the active choice
to obey God or not. We have the active choice.
We have the free will. God gave us the ability
to choose to obey Him or disobey Him. to choose
to submit or not submit to choose to love him
or not love him and that is what heaven and hell
is essentially right um heaven eternity with
the heavenly father is when we choose to have
a life eternal life with the lord and when we
go to eternal separation that is because in our
free will we chose to live separately from the
lord so he's giving that to us for eternity that's
another thing jesus christ the heavenly father
showed us Free will he didn't execute his will
over ours So you best believe when someone is
showing you Christ like love they are not Executing
their will over yours. It's not my way or the
highway y 'all For though this was something
that I had to learn very heavily I have a lot
of people in my life and I tell you I had so
many different Examples of in quotation marks
love that I started later on to realize that's
not love That's control or that's dominance or
that's manipulation And I've shared with you
all before I grew up with people with addictions
and mental health problems so naturally Yeah,
if they especially if they don't know the love
of Jesus My my treatments and my relationships
are gonna look drastically different than the
love of Jesus and was very used to be as long
as you do what I Want you to do and what I'm
telling you to do all love you kind of love I
was very used to the my way or the highway kind
of love of if You know, this is what I expect
from you. This is what I want from you. This
is what I'm telling you to do This is my will
for your life follow all of this and you know,
I will I'll show you love That was honestly what
I was used to is do all this and then sometimes
I'd hear congrats, sometimes I wouldn't. You
know, I'll buy you things or I'll supply you
with this or I'll do this. Each person had different
ways of showing love. I knew some people that
the way that they loved you was by buying you
things. I knew other people that the way that
they loved you was by boasting different things.
Like each person had different love languages,
I guess you could say. But I was very used to
that conditional kind of love right as long as
you meet these requirements I'll show you this
love and if you didn't meet those requirements
It's usually when you would get in quotation
marks tough love which was I'm going to punish
you in some form Like I'm gonna take this away
or I'm going to say this thing about you or I'm
gonna do this thing Or I'm gonna withhold this
from you. Isn't that crazy that the love of Jesus
isn't withholding? You know what goes on here
next to say is like is not irritable or resentful
I've dealt with a lot of resentment in People
who claim that they left me of you know once
things wouldn't go the way that they wanted If
I stepped out of the box or the image they had
created for me if what I did or said went against
You know what they had envisioned There would
be a resentment there there would be a resentment
there. Like if they felt like what I was doing
wasn't, I remember there was this one time, this
person, you know, they're family. And they really
did, when I look back, like show love kind of,
and not price like ways. But there was one time
when they had voiced to me that they felt like
I was taking advantage of them when I was when
I was doing things when I tell y 'all I was checking
in with the Lord daily on what I was supposed
to be doing because I I was really new navigating
my relationship with the Lord and I wasn't perfect
and what I was doing but I was waiting on the
Lord in this time period. And I was talking to
a person who didn't have a relationship with
the Lord, didn't love the Lord like that. And
they had said to me very clearly that they felt
like I was taking advantage of them. They didn't
like the situation. And some of the things that
they proceeded to say to me and kind of like
threaten me with, it was very clear that they
were resentful over that, right? So they felt
like I was benefiting from the situation and
they were not. And there was a resentment that
was there. so they gave me some ultimatums and
they laid some things out that very quickly i
was like this doesn't feel like love this feels
like revenge this this feels like a way to kind
of make me feel bad this feels like a way to
kind of dig a knife in me this doesn't feel like
love um this definitely doesn't feel like an
unconditional love and that was really you know
one of my first that was actually really eye
-opening moment for me and when i think about
jesus i'm like That wasn't required from Jesus.
When I gave my life to Amnon, when I repented,
when I was coming out of New Age spirituality
and giving my life to Christ, he didn't require
me to like go and jump through all these hoops
to be forgiven and to experience his love. Like
I just had to admit to him like, hey, I'm wrong
and I need you. Like my way isn't right and I
need you and Asked for his forgiveness And I
was met with so much love and so much grace and
so much mercy from the Lord it you know He didn't
say I Didn't feel scolded. I didn't feel all
of this condemnation. It was like jesus didn't
tell me okay now you have to pay this money and
do this and do this and do this to get right
and for me to forgive you and like for us to
be on good terms or to experience my love to
be covered in the blood you have to do all of
these things he didn't make me clean myself up
and check all these boxes now of course once
i started living life submitted to the lord And
being repentant isn't just feeling guilty for
something being repentant is no longer being
able to defend That thing right repentant is
a change of a heart placement at its roots So
once you're repentant for something, it's not
just you feel guilty or feel bad. It's like you
actively Okay, I my heart position on this thing
changed. I no longer want this thing I no longer
desire this thing so your actions start to look
different So, of course my actions and my life
started to change You can't help but change when
you are truly submitted to Jesus. But just seeing
how, like, I didn't have to earn forgiveness.
I didn't have to earn love. Even when I did things
that went directly against God that I knew probably
angered him or upset him and I did feel I experienced
the wrath of God at times in my life in all honesty.
Like when I turned to him, he wasn't resentful.
it wasn't full of God trying to get revenge or
get a lick back or anything like that and That's
how I'm able when I see that in other people
I'm like that's not the love of Jesus being shown
to me in that minute and when I have a temptation
y 'all to be vengeful or to be You know wanting
a lick back or wanting feeling resentful I'm
able to pinpoint that and be like that's not
Jesus That's not a love of Jesus filled feeling,
right? To move on here, it says, love does not
rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the
truth. So I want to be very clear on this. The
love of Jesus is not bearing false witness. It's
not bearing false witness. It's not lying. It's
not deceiving. we said earlier in the podcast
where you know I was taught that what they don't
know won't hurt them to sugarcoat some things
to hide some things that's really just protecting
you in all honesty and your uncomfortability
and that's more just and when I look at it at
the very root that was things I would tell myself
so I wouldn't have to have hard conversations
or so I wouldn't have to have uncomfortable conversations
most of the time it wasn't actually to help someone
else because the truth is what's gonna help the
person, right? And it's confirmed right here
in scripture. It's confirmed right here in scripture
that love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but
it rejoices in truth. And we know so many places
in the Bible where it's stated like, and it's
actually a commandment, thou shall not bear false
witness, like, which means you should not lie.
You should not falsely accuse someone. You shouldn't
say this happened when it didn't happen. You
shouldn't wrongfully target someone. You shouldn't
wrongfully attack someone. You should be doing
good. You should be fleeing from evil. Where
in the Bible do we see Jesus rejoicing and wrongdoing?
Where in the Bible do we see God rejoicing at
people being deceptive and evildoers. We don't.
That's opposite of the character of God. That's
opposite of who he calls us to be and what he
calls us to do. Moving forward in here, it says,
love bears all things, believes all things, hopes
all things, and endures all things. And I feel
this endures all things. so heavily highlighted.
You cannot run away. You can't escape the love
of Jesus. You can't escape the love of the Heavenly
Father. You could sin every which way. And when
you repent and turn to the Lord, He loves you
just as much as He loved you before. I'm speaking
from experience, y 'all. I did so many simple
things. I had sex before marriage. I was a drunkard
at one point in my life, a stoner, which I'm
sure fits in with the drunkard. I was a liar.
I was a diviner. I was participating in the new
age. I was doing all these things. I was leading
people astray. I was a false voice for such a
long time. I was envious. I was jealous. Was
boastful I was arrogant all of these things all
of these things I know that God does not like
that are detestable to him But his love never
ran out even when I went through a season where
I ran away when I turned my back on the Lord
and Went deeper in the new age When he pulled
me out of that his love still endured he didn't
stop loving me During that time period it wasn't
oh She's going against my commandments. I don't
love her anymore. It wasn't oh She's doing this.
I can't love her anymore. I can't show her love.
I don't love her I don't love her now have did
the Lord show me wrath at a time Yeah, he turned
me over to the consequences of my own sin because
he knew that was the only way that I would turn
back to him God used it to get me to turn back
to him to see I needed him to put my faith in
him because he had big he had bigger plans for
me so he stopped showing me grace and mercy and
laying my sin work out and started laying the
weapons for me against me or you know like I
had a point where I was like dang I need God
but his love endured when I turned back to him
his love was there waiting for me And that is
what the love of Jesus is, is it's a love that
doesn't run out. And we can kind of take that
to tying it back to when Jesus said to when someone
forgive them 70 times seven. Like when it's like
an infinite forgiveness, our love should be infinite.
And of course, we can talk for hours too on boundaries.
okay because it is important to have boundaries
and to show someone the love of Jesus doesn't
mean that you let every single boundary down
or let every single wall down if someone is going
to mistreat you if the Lord has revealed to you
that you need to be having certain boundaries
with a person you can still love someone and
hold those boundaries It's important that your
love for someone does not in any way cause you
to be disobeying God or to overstep what he has
told you to do. You can show people the love
of Jesus and still be walking in God's will and
still be obeying him, right? So, yeah, love endures
all things. It's not I'll love you except for
A, B, C, D, E, F, G. But again y 'all, love doesn't
mean... I want to be very clear with this because
there's some people who have like this conception
that love means that like you can kind of be
like spit on and stepped on and all of these
kind of things and you're expected to just be
like puppy dog eyes, golden retriever waiting
to be hit again and yes we are supposed to turn
the other cheek. But when the Lord calls you
to set boundaries if someone is consistently
mistreating you and like it's not changing Take
it to God. Okay, because there's gonna be something
for him to say to you There's gonna be some kind
of guidance. There's gonna be some kind of advice
There's gonna be some kind of boundaries to set
because I can tell you right now that God loves
you so much He wants you to be around people
to also show you love and it is so important
You know, we are meant as Christians to show
people who don't know the love of Jesus the love
of Jesus Okay, but boundaries are important.
You know, I'm thinking back to the scripture
of you shouldn't cast Your pearls before swine
No less they trample on them Like it is so important
for you to have boundaries. Okay, because if
you if you're constantly over pouring or like
letting down certain boundaries and certain walls
to people who are purposely going to overstep
them, who are going to continue to hurt you and
do things like that, that can actually be really
damaging for you. Okay, that can be really kind
of setting back for you. So I want to be very
clear that like loving someone doesn't mean that
you're like a doormat to be walked on. And if
you're struggling with what boundaries to set
and how to set boundaries, take it to God. Take
it to God. He knows the relationship. He knows
what you need. He knows what this person needs.
And we know through reading scripture, right
now I'm sharing with y 'all different ways that
you can still show this person love. Okay, but
I just someone needs to hear that today and I
just want to make that very clear that loving
someone doesn't mean being a doormat Okay Now
to move forward love never ends as for prophecies
they will pass away as for tongues They will
cease as for knowledge it will pass away for
we know in part and we prophesy in part But when
perfect comes the partial will pass away when
I was a child. I spoke like a child I thought
like a child I reasoned like a child When I became
a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see
in a mere dimly, but then face to face. Now I
know in part, then I shall now fully, even as
I have been fully known. So now faith, hope,
and love abide, these three. But the greatest
of these is love. Now y 'all I want to I want
to share a little bit of personal testimony For
just how much the love of Jesus has truly changed
my life and I want to tell you all that I didn't
always speak like this and I didn't always view
God in this way and when I was first giving my
life to Christ it was actually really hard for
me to see God as a Loving father because God
was my first God and Jesus Christ y 'all was
my First ever there is one other person in my
life Okay, and I've talked about her before my
grandmother who took me to church growing up
who loved Jesus She loved the ward and when I
look back she was the truest example of Christ
like love I have ever seen like in this lifetime
She had every reason to be cynical and angry
and like but she was just full of love every
time when You know, I couldn't I wouldn't hear
her gossip. I wouldn't hear her saying mean word
Like she was always who she was not quick to
anger that woman was patient on patient on patients
She had the love of Jesus in her and she was
sharing it to everybody and that's actually how
You know now that I know the love of Jesus. I'm
able to look back and see that that's what it
was but Besides her y 'all there was so many
contaminated forms of love And I know that these
people believe that they were loving me and they
were probably loving me the best way that they
knew how to love. But I could not, in my brain,
fully grasp what this type of love was like and
that this type of love was really possible. Y
'all, in my mind, love had to be conditional.
Like, it was not, I will always love you. There
was gonna be some kind of exception. There had
to be some kind of exception. And even growing
up in the church, I thought, well, God loves
me unless I'm a sinner. so there is a part of
me honestly all that didn't believe that god
loved me because i experienced pain and suffering
again this was also y 'all i didn't have the
biblical literacy i didn't understand fully understand
the concept of the fallen world i had scabs on
my eyes they'd yet to fall off i was not seeing
things through a spiritual lens okay i had a
very skewed and cynical view of the world and
i struggled so badly actually believing that
there that God could be like an unconditional
loving father like a love that encompasses all
things and I think especially like when you don't
feel like you have truly seen that through like
your own parents again I believe I was shown
the love that they know how to love me best but
it wasn't the same love that Jesus has okay It's
really hard when you hadn't experienced that
growing up to Believe that you could experience
that when you're like in your mid 20s, right?
I was freshly 20 I was freshly 25 when I gave
my life to Christ and it was hard at that point
everything has been so ingrained in you and it
was really hard for me to grasp that fact and
I looked at God more as a the all -powerful being
in the sky that sure was graceful and merciful
but it was really hard for me to really know
that true love and I learned it through experience
because I read it all on paper you could read
it and I had so many people telling me how loving
God was how loving Jesus was but it was so hard
for me to understand it until I felt it myself
And you know the way I felt it y 'all was by
messing up and going to God You know, I I committed
all those sins being a terror reader being all
of these things and when I went to God and he
still loved me I was like what Like you're not
expecting me to like burn the cards I'm like
do all these then make all these like do all
these crazy things to establish like I don't
need to earn back your love in all these radical
ways I had so long learned like that forgiveness
you had to earn it earn back love and earn forgiveness
and work your way and with god I didn't have
to do that and that was such a foreign concept
to me of like you just want me you just want
my heart like you just want like it was so hard
for me to compartmentalize that right like it
was so hard for me to grasp that But when I started
putting that into practice of, okay, God, you're
telling me that my repentance right now is enough.
You're telling me that I am forgiven from just
confessing this to you. And then just listening
to what he called me to do. You know, with New
Age, it was throwing away the tarot cards. It
was, you know, slowly starting to use my platform
to speak about the Lord and different things
like that. He didn't tell me all those things
day one. Those things started happening over
like... period of time right and i started to
see wait god is blessing my steps i'm not happy
to go through all these periods of suffering
and pain like i truly am forgiven because he's
blessing this next step i'm taking he's showing
me love in this way y 'all there was recently
i had the biggest and i talked about it on my
ruth and boaz episode like not ruth and boaz
every time you like think about ruth i think
of ruth and boaz the um Like every time I've
talked about this before, when I read the story
of Ruth and Boaz, when I read the story of Ruth,
the book of Ruth, I just always immediately type
Ruth and Boaz. But this past time when I was
reading the book of Ruth, I was focused on her
commitment to God through her commitment to Naomi,
right? And I shared that I went through a time
when I honestly like I was crying out to God
and I was just upset and I was like, God, like.
You know, I don't have to obey like I have the
free will I could go the other way and I'm still
choosing to be here and it was like all these
emotions and they're things that like I was like
You know, I've said before like I'm not proud
because those things weren't righteous. I was
like You know, I'm looking out like okay. I'm
glad I took it to God That was what I was supposed
to do in that moment. At least I wasn't like,
you know Consuming and like pouring into all
these other vices or anything like that I was
taking my anger to God and I was angry at my
situation and I was directing that at God and
You know, I was getting a little bit vengeful
in my speaking of I don't have to be doing this
Which I was able to identify that's not the love
of Jesus speaking through me at that moment Those
aren't some Christ like things speaking through
me, right? but it was like Five minutes after
I had stopped crying that I felt the Lord say
okay now go get that stuff from the store that
you forgot at the store And when I go there,
it's already saying they're pretty packaged up
and they're so kind of me here you go and I just
felt like I Just felt like that was God saying
like I got you and then later that day like there
were some blessings that God delivered on some
little breakthroughs Which were for me confirmation
of God has already forgiven me And his forgiveness
doesn't come with suffering and restriction and
all of these things. He was already ready to
help me and he picked me back up and he was already
moving me forward. There are so many times y
'all when, because with love is forgiveness,
right? And so many times. I knew throughout my
life when someone would say, yeah, I love you
and yeah, I forgive you, but I'm going to restrict
this thing for me for right now. And I'm going
to withhold this thing from you for right now.
And I'm going to, I'm going to cause kind of
like, and I think for them that was, you know,
they would, they would say it to me as like trying
to teach me a lesson or like, you know, trying
to make themselves feel better. That when I look
at, I recognize that as type of resentment right
as a type of Trying to revenge whether or not
they feel like it's revenge when you try to hurt
someone who has hurt you that is Getting revenge.
Okay? Trying to prove a point trying to whatever
it is at the end of day That's you executing
your will over and I was so used to that. I was
so used to Well, yeah, I'll forgive you all of
you. But now these are the new Restrictions and
now here are the new all of these things Here's
the suffering and here's this withholding and
the Lord didn't do that to me and For so long
I learned that once you mess up if you want forgiven
if you want to get right like there is gonna
be another Suffering period there's gonna be
another hardship period. There's gonna be another
and that wasn't I'm telling y 'all like I saw
the love of God each time I messed up and went
back Each time I said that thing I said I was
never gonna say. Each time I acted that way that
I never thought I was gonna act. Each time I
did that thing I never thought I was gonna do.
Like... God, it's so amazing. I didn't know that
kind of love existed. I didn't know that kind
of love existed. I didn't think that kind of
love existed. I thought all love was contingent.
I thought that all love was, and that was the
kind of love I was showing people, y 'all, because
that was the love I was seeking. That was the
kind of love I was showing. And when I look back
at all the people that I thought I had loved
well before, and I'm like, I did not love them
well, because I was vengeful. I was resentful.
I was envious. I was boastful. I was executing
my will over them. I was like, I was doing what
I believed was right for them over what they,
over what they desired. Because I was like, this
is, this is, and not in a Christ -like way. I
want to be, I want to be thoughtful with the
way I word that. Things I thought was right that
weren't going to lead closer to Christ, that
I was executing my will over others. This is
not in regards to prayer or anything like that.
Okay. Am a full side note, but I am a full advocate
for I don't care whether or not they want me
to pray for them I'm gonna pray for them because
I'm I'm here today because other people prayed
for me even when I didn't when there are people
praying for me I'm talking about things that
don't leave you closer to Christ Okay Okay, I'm
not talking about prayer. I'm not talking about
prayer. I'm not talking about taking things to
the Lord But there are so many times when you
know, I would when someone would say like hey,
I don't want to do that thing I don't want to
be a part of that thing I don't want to do that
kind of thing But when I would think that I know
better than them and I would try to send them
things before anyway I would try to sign them
up for it. Anyway, I'm trying to do this and
it's like no God doesn't do that to me. Why am
I so tempted to do that to them y 'all? If if
anything I'm saying to do today you are noticing
some flags You're starting to think oh, I kind
of do that like oh, I'm kind of envious. Oh,
I'm kind of boastful. Oh I'm kind of vengeful
like oh, I'm kind of impatient take it to the
Lord and he'll help me fix it because he helped
me fix it. I was the most impatient person in
the past. I'd be talking to someone for like
two days and be like if you're so into me and
you love me, why aren't we like dating and married
now? Now that was more when I was like 1920,
okay. Because I went through a time period for
a good couple years after that where I would
be like, no, I need to be talking to you for
six months to determine whether or not I want
to take anything further. And that was when I
was really emotionally disconnected. I've been
on both sides of the spectrum. But yeah, love
is patient. It's not going to rush you into making
all of these huge decisions. It's not going to
rush you. Someone needs to hear this today. Love
is not going to tell you to make a decision before
you go to God. Love is not going to tell you
to make that choice to take that jump before
praying about it. And I used to be one of the
most impatient people. I wanted an answer right
now. I wanted results right now. And I actually
felt convicted about that. Not too long ago,
I was having a conversation with someone where
I was telling them, like, yeah about like the
little breakdown I had with God and saying like
one of the things was I was so mad but like you
know I felt like he hadn't fully delivered on
the promises yet and this person said and I'm
paraphrasing. This wasn't word for word. I can't
think of word for word, but the gist of what
this person said is basically like, you can't
rush the process. Like one day when you finally
get it, you're going to see why it needed to
take that time. And you're going to be appreciative
that it took the time. Like it's going to be
worth the wait. This person said, and I felt
like very convicted with that because that was
my problem in the past as well as you can't like
microwave things. With god god will take you
the long way god will take you the harder way
because it's going to build a firmer foundation
That can't be shaken when the winds come When
the rains come when the winds blow? And I felt
like convicted with that word is like yeah, like
i'm i'm trying to micro I'm mad at god for not
microwaving results when if he handed me those
microwaved results It wouldn't be what I wanted
anyway It would be it would be falling down in
like two months because that's the thing y 'all
is when I was saying To God the other day of
like I'll have to wait on you. I can go get those
things I felt an immediate conviction of but
that's not what you want though Like the reason
why Like I was sitting here saying God I've been
single for years. I've been waiting on the husband.
Where's he at? I could just go get one Like,
there's a lot of DMs I don't answer. There's
a lot of things like I don't, and I felt so convicted,
but why don't you answer them? I'm like, well,
cause that's not my husband. Why don't you entertain
it? Well, cause those aren't the, that's not
the man of God I want. I shared this in my single
season episode, y 'all. That like, even people
who were close to what I was looking for when
I knew that that wasn't who I was waiting for,
I turned it down. Because I knew that God had
something bigger in store and that was my that
was my immediate click of like yeah But whatever
I would go out and get would be settling compared
to what God has I wouldn't be happy like You
know, there are other things like when it comes
to you know, the way that I do my podcast and
the way that I post my content and honestly y
'all my lack of advertising right now is actually
more of a god -led thing my lack of posting it
up everywhere all the time I do a little bit
but that's a god -led thing too okay I'm listening
to God I'm listening to his instruction his guidance
now sitting there like I could I could could
figure out clickbait things I could probably
get like a lot more traction now I could at least
attempt for it but I'm not because I know that
that's not what God is calling me to do right
it's like all each of these things where I'm
upset of like God hasn't delivered on this yet
I don't feel like he's delivered on like the
big thing in this I could go grab it myself there
is that immediate conviction of yeah but it's
gonna be like half of what I actually want It's
not actually gonna be what I want. It's not actually
gonna be what I desire. It's actually gonna be
like and I would just end right back up at square
one Months down the road and maybe accidentally
pick up something that wasn't meant for the promise.
No, thank you That's the thing is anything that
we try to do outside of God is not gonna compare
to his promise is not gonna compare to what he
can develop and grow for us if we wait on him
and submit to him instead And the root of diverting
from that y 'all is usually newsflash, the lack
of patience, is an impatience, might be a lack
of gratitude, a lack of appreciation. I think
that's what was mixing for me, right? Like I
was, I want it and I want it now. And then also
unappreciative of what God had done in my life
thus far. I hit a moment forgetting what he had
already done and focusing on what I felt like
he didn't do. And notice how quickly a lack of
gratitude and impatience can be like a recipe
for disaster. Like it can be like a legit recipe
for a disaster. So if you feel like some of these
things, like if you're like, I relate, like I
feel like I'm impatient or I feel like... I'm
a big one is the truth and that's when a lot
of people like to dance around we've discussed
that today that God's Word It doesn't praise.
It doesn't glorify wrongdoing It It supports
truth and honesty There are so many people who
justify lying and sugarcoating and deceiving
and like withholding things And there are so
many people who say well, I'm doing it for this
reason I'm doing it for this reason like I got
a good reason for doing it I'll be the first
to say and I've said it in podcasts before y
'all when we sin it's not because we don't feel
like we have a reason to often times when we're
sinning We feel like we have a reason to defend
it, especially if it's an active sin in our life
Like if someone is doing something continuously
even after feeling conviction likely they feel
like they have a good reason for doing I'm not
saying that you do have a good reason there is
no good reason for the sin the sin needs to be
cut out period, okay, but There are a lot of
people who justify what they're doing and feel
like they have a just reason for what they're
doing I'm telling you right now the root of it
is identifying that you and knowing that you
shouldn't be doing it point blank period and
taking it to God on how can you break free of
that and how can you move through that sin is
Center like chains, right? They start to bind
us. We start to become bound by our sin Jesus
is the chain breaker the blood of Jesus Okay,
so you need to take these chains to Jesus and
I'm not speaking to you guys from like some high
place I'm speaking to you from experience Because
like I have had these convictions and I am not
perfect in this area Like I said y 'all the gossiping
one heavy heavy heavy heavy God started working
with me on that in 2012 and was it 2022 or 2023
actually, 2023, fall of 2020, we're going into
spring of 2023. I started feeling heavy convictions
and that was when I was still in New Age spirituality.
That was way before I gave my life to Christ.
And he was already working on my heart in that
one. I was already starting to realize that power
of life and death lies in the tongue and I need
to stop speaking death. I was like, it's crazy
when I look back how the Lord was actually starting
to plant seeds and work on certain things. before
I had fully stepped out of all my sin. You know,
before I'd thrown away the tarot cards when I
was a tarot card reader, when I was a New Age
spirituality, before I had stepped away from
those things, God was working in my heart and
other areas. And that wasn't perfect. Obviously,
when I threw out those tarot cards, there was
still a lot of work that the Lord just had to
do with me. but I when I look back I see he was
already making progress in my heart like before
then he was already starting to develop fruits
he was already starting to plant seeds that he
was going to use later on to teach me right and
I'll tell y 'all the gossiping one that was something
I did all day every day that was my main topic
of conversation and there are times when I would
do it and claim like oh I'm just trying to vent
or like I'm just like I can relate and God really
revealed me he's like that's still gossip If
that's still gossip, you're still hurting that
person. Like, what kind of healing are you bringing
into? That was where someone needs to hear this
say, these are a couple of questions I really
started asking myself when I really felt the
gossiping conviction, is when I felt... tempted
to bring up like if I felt like someone else
was sinning or someone else had something going
on and Like I felt tempted to bring that up.
My first question was why why am I bringing this
up? Am I saying this because someone else mentioned
because oftentimes y 'all the reason why gossip
is if someone would say oh my gosh I dealt with
like there's this person who does this thing
and it was so da da da and I would usually perk
up and be like oh my gosh I I have a similar
experience and I knew that I knew a person like
this too and then would start kind of mouthing
off about them gossip And that that was me personally
like I had like a gossip conviction with that
And I realized I was like, okay, I'm only talking
about this or discussing this so that way I could
be relatable in conversation This isn't worthy
of being brought up the big one was is our Who
is going to be? Healed or like experience any
kind of growth from this that was that was the
really big root of it because I was looking I
was like, okay Is me bringing this up? Am I gonna
have some kind of healing? Conversation with
us like is me talking about this person or the
situation like am I about to get Actual am I
actually seeking wisdom that I intend to implement
to be able to love this person better To be able
to fix things about myself like am I in an open
space right now? to be able to hear that I'm
actually speaking wrong or I'm actually handling
this wrong or like I have something to fix about
myself like I have something to reflect on I
have something to do am I actually in the space
or do I want to hear other people come into agreement
with what I'm saying like what am I seeking for
here like am I if someone tells me I'm wrong
if someone tells me to love this person this
way or to do this thing am I actually going to
leave and try to implement all these things like
what am I trying to gain from this Am I bringing
that person into the conversation so that way
they may hear because if this person like never
Hears some things that they need to change and
like they need to shift. How are they actually
gonna know? Right because we plant seeds, but
we don't do the work. We don't change people's
hearts. That's God's job But like are you having
these conversations but never involving the person
like how are they gonna know? And those were
just a couple of the big questions I had to ask
myself. Whereas when I'm having this, who is
being helped by this conversation? Is this person
that I'm focusing on actually going to be helped?
Or is this just making me feel better or keeping
a conversation going or making me seem relatable
or whatever? And I'm telling you all this because
again, I did it. This was a very big problem
for me and I am not perfect with it. And I'm
telling you all right now, when I feel that conviction,
if you're new and just trying to think, and you
need some ideas on how to handle it, these are
some of the things that the Lord really gave
me, is number one, redirecting. Redirect the
conversation. Change the direction of the conversation.
Bring up a different topic, redirect it. If you're
feeling led to rebuke, correct rebuke and correct
keep in mind not everybody is open to rebuke
and correction there are some times when it is
better not to cast your pill your pearls before
swine allow the Lord to guide you on is this
a situation where you are called to speak and
the plant sees I have been in both situations
I've been in sometimes where the Lord has not
told me to rebuke and correct and I tried it
anyway and I was Figuratively not literally and
it was a learning time for me. Okay There are
times when the Lord is more calling you to pipe
down and let him speak up and let him do his
thing There there are times when our light I
just I want to quote this for you Let your light
shine before others so that they may see your
good works and give glory to your father who
is in heaven That's Matthew 5 16 Okay, sometimes
it's not with our words, but it's with our actions
It's with our responses and the Lord has shown
me that sometimes the most powerful thing you
can do is like Be silent sometimes the most powerful
thing you can do is not be involved Sometimes
the most powerful thing you can do Is to just
sit there quietly and sometimes that's how I've
had to handle something like when someone's Gosping
or there is someone's speaking a lot of death
or something like that's happening And I'm just
sitting there quietly waiting on them to finish
talking and like letting it go from there and
Then there were some people that the Lord actually
really brought me to the bad Company corrupts
good morals and revealed to me that there were
some people that I was not going to be able to
be close with anymore and there are actually
some people that the Lord called me to Love from
a distance as best I can wear that is to not
have daily conversations and daily communications
with them Because no matter how many times I
would redirect that conversation or correct They
were not repenting they were not seeking the
Lord they were not they were going in a very
opposite direction right and There comes a point
in time when that starts to be an influence for
you or a stumbling block for you or a hindrance
for you And that's what that situation was for
me Okay, so there are so many and that's why
I tell y 'all when you recognize that something
isn't right and there are some kind of boundaries
that need to be set or something that needs to
be done take it to God because he knows the person
he knows the relationship he knows the best way
there were some Methods I was able to take with
some people that worked marvelously that with
others would have been more of a harm and a hindrance
for me or for Each person is unique, each relationship
is unique, and allow the Lord to help you navigate
that. And this isn't a night and day thing, y
'all. I'm not saying that all of these changes
are going to be made night and day. But I will
say that the more that you practice these things,
the more natural it starts to become for you.
avoiding gossip is a lot more natural for me
now compared to how it used to be okay patience
is more natural for me now than it used to be
I'm not saying I'm perfect at any of these things
again y 'all I'm speaking to you about these
things because I've been through these things
meaning I'm not like On some separate hill like
trying to talk down at you right now. I'm trying
to say like shame on you convict you point like
whoever you are listening to this podcast or
make you feel some type of way like From a loving
space I'm speaking to you today as someone who
has been there done that Okay that These things
no matter how much we defend them or we may glorify
them or romanticize them Going back just to the
love of Jesus a lot of things that we embrace
or look for or naturally gravitate towards especially
in this younger generation Isn't Christ like
you know the jealousy the envy all of these things
and I want to encourage you today To pursue Christ
and to pray to him and to ask him to show you
His love show you his love I want to challenge
y 'all listening to us to ask God God like so
I want to truly experience your love and Help
me to better show that love to other people Because
in order to show that love to other people you
need to experience it and to recognize that y
'all it was crazy It was about like a month and
a half ago. I was really going through it emotionally
and I was in this space where people pray for
each other There was someone who didn't know
what I needed but started praying over me and
they kept saying Lord, you love her so much like
show her your love She needs to see how much
you love her and I didn't feel like I needed
that in the time I was like, I know God loves
me like what I'm doing with this other stuff
and It was the next day. I was in the morning
getting ready for work and I felt the Lord call
tell me to like get in prayer and I went to get
in prayer and I felt like he told me like to
kneel so I got on my knees and started praying
and it was like It was just like the most loving
feeling that washed over me and I want to keep
some of these some of the things in this prayer
time private but I feel like I'm really led to
keep that between me and the Lord but I just
remember him saying like I'm so well pleased
with you and I love you so much and I started
like I was trying to hold in so much from crying
because I had just did my makeup and I had to
leave right like I had to go and it just it drastically
changed how I perceive things and how I felt
were because I didn't realize it but I was starting
to operate out of a space of the love I used
to experience in the past of where I felt like
I had to earn love I didn't realize I was in
a space when I was going through all these hardships
I started thinking maybe God's mad at me maybe
I'm experiencing these things because he's not
pleased with me maybe I'm experiencing these
things because I'm just not doing things correct
I'm not doing things right and he took that moment
to say like that is not that that's not my character
like that's not the love of jesus that's not
the love of the heavenly father that you know
you're comparing it to a worldly love a worldly
experience let me show you my love right here
right now and it was an amazing moving experience
and i was actually able to love people better
that day you know when you're poured into you're
able to share it with others and i just i want
y 'all to experience that too So I'm gonna encourage
you today to pray that God shows you That love
and that you're able to show that love to other
people I know this episode was a little bit longer
than we usually Go, so I am gonna go ahead and
end it here. Thank you all so much for listening
This was the salt not sweetener podcast if you're
not already. I do ask that you subscribe hit
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and i do appreciate your support thank you so
much guys i'll see you next time god bless