GGB Question Session | Girls Gone Bible

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Hallelujah.

Today is the day.

We haven't said thank you, Jesus.

Hallelujah in a long time.

Should I tell about Socrates?

Yeah.

Guys, guys, you're not going to believe this.

Socrates, by the way, the devil, I'm actually not kidding, did something to Socrates' phone where I can't call him.

I'm the only person ever.

He's checked it.

He literally took it to the store to see like, why can he calls me his daughter?

He goes, why can't my daughter call me?

I i can't call his phone my mom can john can everybody can call socrates except me so weird there's nothing wrong he didn't block me or restrict me or anything

i'm not getting socrates calls for like a week he has a stroke

socrates has a stroke he goes blind for like five days

he's he can see now right he told me he was blind for five days and then all of a sudden one day he's like weeping before god and is like lord Lord I can't even read the word like I can't read your words please like let me see he's like crying with his eyes closed for like two hours he said all of a sudden he opened up his eyes and he could see again

Jesus thank you Jesus hallelujah thank you Jesus hallelujah we could all just be praying for Socrates his name is Socrates Charos we love him so much oh Socrates he's like been a real dad he I remember Socrates came into my life and I literally go, he was probably the first, thank you, he was probably the first earthly representation of a father or like of the father that I had where I was just like, oh, okay, so this is like my relationship with Socrates is what allowed me the opportunity to relate to God as father.

Wow.

He's been such a dad to me.

He has.

He makes you feel so safe, too.

And he loves Arielle.

Arielle.

He loves Arielle.

I've never,

I don't know if I've ever heard you say my full name.

He loves Arielle.

Every time we see him, we go, you're my best friend.

I don't.

You're my best friend.

That's what I say the whole time.

Yo, the Lord, no goofy spirits in here.

You guys better rebuke the goofy spirits that try to come up at you.

You say goofy, goofy.

Oh,

oh, gimme, gimme, Jimmy, Jimmy.

When somebody is like a taker, we don't want no gimme, gimme, Jimmy, Jimmy.

No, gimme, gimme, Jimmy.

Oh, that guy wants you to pay for the gospel.

No, Jimmy, Jimmy, give me, gimme.

So anytime you feel like you're around some takers saying, no, Jimmy, Jimmy, gimme, gimme's over here.

What is the word that I'm looking for?

Goofy?

No,

when someone's a taker.

Like when they're about money.

Gimme,

la la!

Gimme laugh!

Hi, I'm Ange.

And I'm R.

And this is Girls Gone Bible.

We are a faith-based podcast where we talk all things, spirituality, mental health, relationships, but we talk specifically about the Bible.

We love Jesus so much.

If you're somebody who's new to faith or new to Christianity or you don't even know Jesus, I want you to know that you are so safe here.

Like whoever you are, wherever you come from, whatever place in life you're at, no matter what is taking place in your life and how far you might think you are from ever being a Christian, you're so safe here.

This is a great place to be because you're welcomed with open arms.

And like, all we want to do is go on a journey with you where you find Jesus and you learn to love Jesus as we find Jesus and continue to learn to love Jesus.

We always say, come as you are, just don't stay that way.

Yeah, we love you guys so much.

So happy to be with you today.

GGB gang forever.

It's my favorite intro, baby.

Yay!

I love that intro.

Before we continue, can I just say something so I don't forget?

Yeah.

Ari and I are going to do an episode on communion

eventually.

And so I just want to ask you guys if you will,

I'll like put something in the description.

Maybe on Amazon, there are these like little communion cups with the, with the grape juice and the wafer.

And I would love if you guys would get those.

so that we can all take communion together on that episode whenever it comes.

And if you don't have that, even obviously like bread and grape juice, communion, holy communion is so important and I think Ari and I have both learned the importance of communion the past couple of years so and a lot of people I mean that's we'll get on that on another episode but there's some sort of religious constructs that will encourage people to not take communion outside of church or outside of like you know Catholics and Orthodox

will encourage people that like you can only take communion in church with the priest.

I don't believe that that's true.

I think like you're supposed to take the body and blood of Jesus in remembrance of what Jesus did for us anytime you want, anywhere you want.

I take communion every single day almost.

So yeah, so if you could get that so we can prepare for that episode, I think it'll be really special for all of us.

I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I'm thinking about

I'm thinking about, I was on the phone with my friend and she's so like thoroughbred Boston.

And she goes, my dad's in the other room eating communion like it's like it's pita chips.

I'm like, she's just opening the thing and eating them.

My kids.

It's so ridiculous.

So ridiculous.

That is actually so insane.

Oh, there's us.

I know.

I love us.

What's up, Bob?

What's up?

Anything new?

I love when we do that.

What's new?

I've been getting a little bit of a tan.

Do you see this though?

This is actually like the natural tan.

I've been laying out by the beach.

Are you putting sunblock on?

No, on my face, I don't put my face in the sun, but not my

body.

I try to.

I don't always, but I try to.

Why are you laughing?

I think of you with a big old hat.

Yeah, you my floppy hat.

You should see me.

Okay, should we not talk about being rats out of the water?

Yeah, why not?

Oh, this is, yeah.

I

could literally put a picture.

I, and even John, who truly loves me so much and thinks that I am a princess angel, straight up said, What happens to you

when Ari and I, maybe it's because we're blonde.

Anybody else have this where we have some friends who like they get out of the water at the beach or like from a pool and they're just like gorgeous

like beachy super model, just like the skin is glowing, the hair is like straight back

And it like dries nice.

It dries nice.

That's so true.

We're like,

Ari and I get out of the water and we're like,

like we literally rumbling.

Steve Merchant like comes out of the water.

The hair is like George Washington comes out this way.

It's like, what happens?

Our makeup get, like, it's just the mascara.

Like, I look our lips turn blue for some reason.

We literally look like the girls from the, like, why?

I want, and we love fearfully and wonderfully made.

We're not even self-deprecating.

We're not even self-deprecating.

It's hilarious.

Does anybody else go through that?

Like, I'm telling you, John was, he told me that his favorite version of myself is when I'm in the water at the beach.

I go to the, we've been going to the beach like every single day this summer because I'm by the beach a lot now and I've never had this opportunity.

I mean, actually, just kidding.

I lived in Florida.

So

it is so when I lived in Florida, anybody else by the beach don't not go to the gym?

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah, I don't.

I don't go to the gym.

You know, I don't.

Okay, I am scared.

Can you help me?

Anybody by the beach don't go to the gym?

Yeah.

Seriously, though.

I'm scared.

What are you?

Dog, I'm good.

I don't need to say anything else.

We're making a cliff out of this.

No, you go on.

Does that ever happen to you?

What do you mean, does that ever happen to me, Anne?

That was freaking no.

That happens to me a lot.

I know.

But it's scary.

Kim, I thought Kim Won June came talking.

His name was Chris.

North Korea is going to bomb us if you don't stop talking about him and getting his name wrong and getting calling Abby Gamboa, Abby Gambino.

Michael Bouble, Michael Bubble.

I just found out his name was Michael Bouble.

I thought it was Michael Bubble.

I really thought it was Michael Bubble.

And then, yeah, it's a miracle.

Ari and I had a meeting today at 11.

And

both of us.

We missed it.

We miss every meeting.

I mean, it is truly, I'm telling you, the fact that we're sitting here two and a half years later is the grace of God himself.

You're still doing good, though.

I mean, you're so responsible.

Oh, sure.

Oh, okay.

You won't take a compliment.

You're so responsible.

You're so responsible.

Oh, you need me to double down to it.

You're so responsible.

I'm not very

athletic.

That's not even true.

Okay.

Whatever.

Well, I'm not, I'm not, I don't, I'm not really good at sports.

Sure.

But

you're very good at sports.

Sure.

Like when we played, when she got me to taekwondo.

No, it was Muay Thai, first of all.

Oh, yeah, Muay Thai.

And we were fighting, and my finger was bent for a week.

And I was trying to, yeah.

But

what else have I made you do that you didn't want to do?

You've made me do everything.

I just wanted to be with you and be on the ride because I just, I didn't care.

I would have jumped off a bridge with you if you jumped.

I just didn't know I wanted to be with her every day.

But

I

love

to surf.

It's like

such a big

surfing together.

I would love to.

We can go next week.

I get scared of going in California.

I love to surf in Hawaii, but I'm actually really good at it.

I'm sure you are, but why in California?

I don't know the sharks.

No, there are no sharks.

Don't say that.

How are there sharks?

It's just

better in Hawaii.

It's a little murky out in the oceans.

There was just a great white shark.

What do you mean in California?

I'm talking about.

There was a great white shark.

Yes, Ange.

Can I just say something?

The microphone is like this on on you.

Yes, Ange.

And we have to start watching the news more, mama.

We both do.

We don't have to.

What is going on?

We have to start watching the news more.

Yes, we don't know what's going on in the world.

Okay, why don't you watch the news and you can fill me in?

Okay, I technically do.

I know, but no offense.

Sometimes you relate the information wrong.

Like what?

Like when I ask you what somebody's name is and you say it's Denise and I go, hey, Denise, and she goes my name's Sarah.

I do do that.

You know

So you can't tell me that like

I was gonna say something really politically incorrect.

Let's not do that.

No, no, I don't want to get in trouble.

Oh when you do that what

Guys, before we get into today's episode, we want to remind you of our three major continual ongoing announcements, which is, first of all, we're going back on tour.

You can get your tickets at girlsgonebible.com/slash tour.

We're so excited to be with you guys again.

We are so excited for the cities that we're going into.

You can go in the description and we have all the cities listed that we have planned out right now.

We're so excited.

Please get your tickets and come see us on tour.

Next thing is that we have our book, our 31-day devotional, which is called Out of the Wilderness: 31 Devotions to Walk with God Through Your Hardest Seasons.

The book has just been really, really one of the most beautiful parts of all of this for Ari and I because

your guys' responses to the book, the way that you guys have encountered Jesus through the devotional, how every single person it seems have felt so seen and loved and spoken to through the devotional means the world to us.

So I would really encourage you guys to get your copy at girlsgonebible.com/slash book.

And last but definitely not least, you guys know that we are doing GGB Plus, which is our exclusive subscription-based platform where Ari and I get to go and have conversations that we don't have anywhere else.

It's so raw, it's so real, like nothing is planned.

And we just literally let you guys into our hearts in a way that we don't anywhere else.

And so yeah, you guys can go to girlsgonebible.com slash plus and subscribe.

We really want to see you on GGB Plus.

All right, guys, let's talk about a subject that seems like the world wants us to ignore.

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And don't forget to use our code GGB for for your exclusive discount.

This episode is sponsored by Glorify, the number one Christian daily devotional app, and literally one of our favorite ways to connect with God throughout the day.

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So I will answer this one.

Someone said, I'm struggling to pray.

I'm a mom of three.

I feel so distracted all day long.

And I just want to say, we have so much compassion and love for moms.

Ari and I are not moms.

So we, it's like, obviously not the easiest for us to speak on something we don't have experience in, but I can only imagine what it's like to try and, and even without children and without being married, the just like what it takes to still your mind and still your heart and zero in and focus on Jesus and on prayer when you don't have children.

I can't even imagine

what moms go through to try to get still and try to get focused when you have children who like depend on you and you're their life source and like they need you every second.

So to even like disconnect from that for a second.

So I think what I would say is I would remind you of the scripture that encourages to pray without ceasing and that like prayer can be just a continual thing that you do and it doesn't need to be like of course I love creating a sacred space for myself where like I focus in and I'm like this is where I'm gonna pray and meet God but like if you're a mom and you have three kids give yourself grace and understand that like first of all the Lord is with you and honoring every second that you're a mom it's the greatest most difficult most rewarding job you can have and so God is already with you he's already in you and like He's aware of your heart.

He's aware of the time that you don't have.

But I would just say pray without ceasing.

Pray all day.

Pray as you're doing the dishes.

Pray while you're breastfeeding.

I've heard that those moments in the night that you're breastfeeding your child, I've heard women be like, please don't get on your phone during that time.

You're missing out on this moment where as your child is so dependent on you to be fed, to be full, you, it like literally symbolizes and represents our relationship with God, where we are so dependent on him and he's our life source.

And so I've heard women say that like when they're breastfeeding is the moment where they connect with god the most and those like little quiet moments in the night um to just have a conversation with god and prayer doesn't have to be this long structured formulated thing where uh you have to get on your knees and like you can't do anything else like it's a conversation and i was even walking back from pilates this morning from pilates to my house and i had spent time with jesus in the morning and i was about to get on my phone and call someone and I felt the Holy Spirit be like,

hi.

And I literally put my phone in my pocket and I was like, hi, Holy Spirit.

I love you so much.

And I said, God, would you let the spirit of intercession fall on me?

Would you let the spirit of intercession come upon me right now?

All of a sudden, as I'm walking, five minutes.

Literally, the spirit of intercession comes on me.

I start interceding so powerfully for somebody in my life.

I am

going in warfare prayers five minutes on a walk, on the go.

And it was so powerful and so random, and I had no intention.

And yeah, I would just encourage you to take every, like every moment can be a moment of prayer, you know, and it doesn't need to look like something.

It doesn't need to look like I'm going to get rid of everything else and be in this still place.

Like if you're a mom, yeah, just pray without ceasing.

Just continually have a conversation.

Jesus, I need you.

I don't know what to do right now, so I need you.

That's a prayer, you know?

As you were saying that, I just got this picture of being so exhausted with like a baby on your arm and, like, Jesus, your loving father, who sees how exhausted you are, just like being your comforter with the baby on the arm, being like, I am so tired, like, comfort me.

Like, those are the sweet moments where he meets you, he knows, like, he sees it, he sees when you're tired, he sees how stressed you are, he sees that your life isn't your own anymore.

And so, those moments of just even like when you were saying, when you were walking, look at us rocking back and and forth

when you were walking back from Pilates I I'm walking a lot now too because I encounter Jesus so much just like looking up and just seeing the truth just the beauty you know I'm just like I've never really taken in the beauty on my walks I'm always going going going and so I just got another picture when you were talking of just when you're when you're walking your child or with the babies or whatever you're just like taking it in on your walks you're looking up and you're just smiling You're talking to him, telling him about your day.

Like, that's that's our dad.

Like, he sees, he's the God that sees us.

So, and he's already there.

He's already there.

You don't need to do something to get to him, he's already here, he's already within you, he's already around you, he's in your house.

You just have to become aware of his presence.

And it's actually not that hard to like get into his presence.

You call on him and then know that he's there, and you're right there.

You know, how should I be praying for my future husband?

You know, when I read this

today,

I thought to myself, wow, that's such a good question because I have no idea, first of all, and I never pray for my husband.

Do you know that?

I don't know if I shared that with you, but

yeah, I don't, I don't really pray for him.

I see it.

I see, I always have this one vision, but I never really talk to God about my husband.

Wow, yeah.

So I know that

that you do.

Well,

I

something that I'm working through, but

I just felt like the way God saved my life and I'm like, he's done enough for me.

Like, he saved my life.

It's okay.

Like, I don't want, I, you know, I think I also have really figured out this past couple months how hardened my heart has been.

I say I want to be a wife and I say I want to be a mom and all these things, but the truth is, is that there's been such a blockage of my heart.

Yeah.

You know, I've really, my heart is hard and I feel like it's a little bit closed off.

And so I think a part of me is scared.

Yeah.

And so now I'm just working through that of like opening my heart again.

And

yeah, I'm,

yeah.

And to be honest with you too,

I think I know what I need, but I don't really think that's what I really need.

Do you know what I mean?

And so,

yeah, I'm trying to work through that because I've had this idea in my head of what I think I want.

But I know Jesus is like, no, I know what you need.

Yeah, he knows what we need.

And so often, I think, yeah, God, he just, I love when he, I love when we think we know what we need.

And then he's like, you have no idea what you need.

I think.

Thanks for sharing that.

That's so beautiful.

And if I could maybe offer even another perspective, I, and I, and which doesn't mean what you just said is like not real, because I agree, like, if that your heart hasn't been hardened and all that stuff.

And I also think God has protected you so much.

I know.

Like, you're just the sweetest, most sensitive girl angel ever.

And like, I don't know, he's just made you strong.

Yeah.

You know, he really has in so many ways and like protected your heart.

And yeah.

What was the question?

Pray for your future husband.

It doesn't need to be

like, it it just, I remember you really did this so well,

letting your walls down and just being like, I want what you want from me.

And I think that's so beautiful because so many of us have this one-sided view of what we think we should have.

Yeah.

I think, and I wonder if that person means praying for your husband as in, because I know a lot of girls, and I didn't do this actually, a lot of girls pray

for their husband as in, like,

they pray for their husband as if they know their husband like they're like God protect them Lord like be with them comfort them wherever they are bless them and so that's something really important that even if you're not dating anyone to start praying about your husband or wife because they're out there they're alive somewhere and sometimes I've had the sweet thought obviously I'm not married or have like whatever I have thought so many times, I wonder if like the sovereign hand of God on my life, imagine I marry into like a really beautiful Christian family where the guy that I marry prayed for his wife his whole life.

His parents, because a lot of Christian parents pray for their children's spouse since they're babies.

And I've had the thought before, like, you know, how God has rescued me and like protected me when I was so far from him.

I always wonder if like my husband and his parents' prayers protected me a lot in my life, which is just like kind of a cute thought.

That is really

cute.

So I think it's so important to pray for your spouse and be like, Jesus, wherever they are, bless them, bless them, Jesus, protect them, like bring them close to you.

If they're thinking anything

off, if they're just like, if something is wrong, just help them, encounter them, keep them pure, keep them safe.

So if that's what you meant, I think we should all be praying for our people, our spouses like that, because our prayers are so powerful.

And then if you're praying for what you want in a spouse, if you a husband or a wife, I think, like what Ari said, I, I literally was like, yeah, I'm going to date a six-foot

basketball player with the tattoos.

Like, shut up.

Like, what are you talking about?

I was just like saying, I don't know.

I feel like, yeah, it was just so.

And I'm not saying that you can't do that and say what you want physically, but it's just like, who cares?

Yes, you need to be attracted to your spouse.

We don't know what we want.

We don't know what we need.

I never thought that I would be,

I always thought the person that I dated, I'm obviously not married, but like, I thought the person that I would date would have a past similar to mine, would be like me, because I always said

he has to be able to understand me.

And like John is,

has lived the complete opposite life as me, pretty much.

And we've had to fight to understand each other.

I love that.

And that's beautiful.

It's beautiful.

You know, and hard sometimes and uncomfortable.

And you even have thoughts like,

not like actually, but like you, yeah, it crosses your mind.

Like, wow, like it would be easier if it was different or if it was what I originally wanted, but I wouldn't change it for the world because what a beautiful foundation to a relationship when you guys have to fight for understanding.

And so I just encourage you guys to just pray for the things that you know God also wants in your spouse.

spouse.

And it's okay to ask for him to be this height and this hair color and this eye color.

That's okay.

But as long as it's not what you're actually focused on, like, what do you want to see him as spiritually?

Like, these are the things I feel like the Holy Spirit cares about.

Like, what are, yeah, do you, does that make sense?

Yes, absolutely.

Yeah.

It's so funny.

Did I tell you this?

That when I, um,

like, when I get a shot or like something is about to hurt, like, you, you know, you know, when you get a shot and you have to distract yourself,

I, I have a thing where I always block my ears for some reason.

It makes it hurt less.

But when I close my eyes, I get the same vision every time for years.

Wow.

And I'm in this beautiful church.

It looks like a Greek Orthodox church.

It's just a beautiful church.

And I have the veil over my head and I can see the back of my husband's head.

I see it.

Wow.

He's got dark hair.

And yeah, and I can only see like the side of him.

I can't see his face, but it's the same, this person, and he's at the end.

And he's just so kind.

And he's your protector.

He's so kind.

Wow.

That's so special.

You heard it here first, you guys.

Yeah, so that's so special.

I want to share that.

I can't wait to see sweet baby.

Ah, I know.

Oh, my brother.

Do you know how much I love him?

I know.

I love him so much.

I'm going to be so annoying.

He's going to, he won't be able to stand it.

How do you deal with unequally yoked friendships?

Yeah, I think Ari and I can definitely speak on this because we

came from the world

and had many friends and then become Christians and then your whole life changes and you change completely and the things that you want to do and the things that you like and the things that you care about completely change.

That's probably the one thing for me the most that I deal with is like

the things I care about.

specifically the things I care to talk about.

If I'm unequally yoked, that's where I get the most disconnect.

not because i'm like oh they're whatever not saved or

inappropriate or scandalous or anything it's not it like i don't even really struggle with that maybe i did in the beginning because i was like i had a little bit of fear of like oh no i don't want people to be a bad influence on me but As time has gone on, I don't struggle with that.

I just struggle at times there being a disconnect because the things that I care about are not oftentimes the things that someone who's not equally yoked cares about.

And there's beauty in choosing to care about what someone else cares about and being involved in those conversations.

But I think I would say that I

am, I just have an awareness of my friendships and what I get from each friendship and like how I relate to each friend.

And there are some friends that I might not necessarily take advice from.

And then there are some friends who I know are a friend of God and who I know I can trust their advice.

And I know that whatever they tell me is going to be spirit-filled.

And so my walls are let down a little bit more.

And then I probably, if somebody's unequally yoked, you're just more aware of the advice that's given or like the feedback and stuff like that.

Does that make sense?

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then, but with unequally yoked friends, you love them

so much.

And you, and like, it's just like not, it shouldn't be like a weird thing.

It's not like, oh, they're my unequally yoked friend and they like don't know Jesus.

And it's not like a judgmental thing at all.

It's just

like you love them and you keep loving them.

And then there's some friends that I play the long game with, kind of what's that mean where

you are gonna, you know, you're gonna have someone in your life forever or for a really long time, and you play the long game.

Like, it might not happen today, it might not happen in a year, but like, I feel called to be in this friendship that, like, I'm gonna play the long game, I'm gonna keep living like Jesus and keep talking about Jesus and keep trying to bring this person to Jesus.

Yeah, like that, you know?

Yeah, that's what he said.

I think, yeah, what you said, that's the long game.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's me.

It's hard because

my friends are just, they're everything to me.

Yeah.

Everything.

I mean,

they've gotten me through everything in my life.

They've, they would give their life for me tomorrow.

And

they're women of integrity and, and just, they're full of love and respect.

And I don't know what, what kind of friend is it?

I mean, I've had my friends since I'm like a kid, totally.

So they've been with me through the mud.

And you just, like you said, you got to just keep praying and keep loving them, loving them and keep

being a testimony for people.

Right.

That's so good.

And I even think like,

I even think, I don't know, and I just had this thought, but

like to make your faith strong and solid, I think it's so easy to have unshakable faith around

believers and other Christians who think exactly like you.

Like it's easy to stand firm in your faith because everybody around you, which is important and those are the people that you want around you, obviously speaking into your life.

But then I even think it's almost like the Lord could potentially use your unequally yoked friends to prove your faith.

And like if you're able to stand firm in your faith, and so if I'm able to be with an unequally yoked friend who is this and that and doesn't believe what I believe and maybe speaks differently or all these things,

or wants to encourage me to do something that I don't necessarily agree with.

I think it's a great way to prove even my own faith of being like, I'm able to be here and like not waver.

And that's not always been the case.

Like when I think when I first really started to go all in with Jesus, I would have, I always felt like left out.

And so it was a weird transition because you still like you have this pull where you're like, but I don't want to be weird.

I don't want to be left out.

I don't want people to,

I would experience a lot people being like, oh, we can't talk about this in front of Angela.

And I hate, I was just like, I don't know.

It just like bothered me so much.

I felt it like embarrassed me.

And then I'd be like, no, you like, talk about it.

Like, you can talk about it.

Instead of being like, thank you.

I appreciate it.

Right.

Right.

You know, that goes with long with people, please.

Yeah, exactly.

So I think I've tried to, or then even like,

And sometimes people can get in your head because I think I've heard people be like, well, if you talk like them, then they feel more comfortable with you and that then they'll listen about Jesus.

And I'm just like, I don't agree with, like, I don't agree with that.

I think people will relate to you if you share your heart and you share your life experience and your struggles and the things you've been through.

You don't have to start cussing and like all this stuff for them to relate to you and open up to you.

Do you agree?

Yeah.

And I'll give you in a little example.

I just went through this recently where I'm realizing that not everyone is going to have the walk that I have, basically.

And sometimes I think, no, it should be like mine, but I'm realizing.

Why I feel so secret?

But I'm realizing, like,

no, I remember when I felt judged.

Yeah.

And, like, why am I being like that?

And I called one of my best friends.

I've been friends with her for 17 years.

She's my first friend in LA.

And I was like, hey, I was like, do you feel that I judge you?

Like, do you feel judged by me?

I want to know the truth.

I'm someone like you.

Tell me the cold-hearted truth.

do not button it up like I like the truth and she goes you know what

yeah sometimes she goes and I go okay give me an example so I can change it thank you for telling me the truth and she was like you know like I'll tell you that I'm going on dates and the first thing that you say is well does he know Jesus

Okay, but can I just say, you don't make anyone feel judged.

You do things in such a way that like.

But you know, like for someone who isn't on the walk, I guess.

It's like you're frustrated to them.

But you're hilarious.

You're like, throw out the vape.

What are you doing?

Like, you can get away with it.

And so she said, you know, R, she's like.

Well, I know where your heart posture's at.

I know you're coming from a good place and you want the best for me.

She's like, sometimes I just need you to love me.

Wow.

Yeah.

You know, sometimes I just need you to love me.

And I was like, okay.

So I've been practicing that of really just, just loving them.

And

you really, you have to be careful because some people really, when they're so new,

they do feel so judged.

Yeah.

And so

the best way to get through people is through love.

Yeah.

Sorry.

I'm just thinking about

Just all the fights that I've gotten into with my mom about Catholicism and Christianity.

You guys don't know what

well because once you know the truth about something, you're like

well and then so this listen to what my mom always says because I used to do like I used to do like new agey stuff like if there was a full moon like you wrote on a piece of paper like all the things you want and you put it out in the moon like where the moon could see it and then you would burn a piece of paper of what you wanted to get rid of and my mom whenever she like says something that's theologically like inaccurate and I correct her she's like Oh, yeah, Angela, next week, we're gonna be in the moon writing, burning the paper.

And I'm like, No, mom, finally, I know the truth that doesn't change, okay?

And then one time, Ari comes in the bathroom.

No, we're in a hotel room, like on tour or something, and she hears me.

I'm in the shower on the phone with my mom, and I go.

All Ari hears is she was somewhere else.

She walks in like the hotel room, and then she's like,

All she hears is, Mom, Mary's a sinner, only Jesus was sinless.

Bye, I'm done with you.

And it's just like, why are we doing that?

Like, why are we fighting so hard to get a point across instead of just like, you know what I mean?

And there are, and, and there's like, you're always truthful, but you also just like love people and let the Holy Spirit do what the Holy Spirit does.

And it's hard sometimes.

It's so hard.

I'm going to tell you, I've, my, you know, the, the feeling where like that anger burns right here.

And you're like, when people start talking about like,

one of the biggest things that I, I just can't listen to is like how the Bible was written 2,000 years ago and all these things.

And I just, oh, but I'm just learning patience.

Joy the Lord.

Joy the Lord.

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What do you feel like Christians

should talk about more

that we don't talk enough about?

Good question.

What do you think?

First thing that comes to my mind,

and this is personal, but

and I don't even know if we've ever talked about it, but like

periods.

Yes.

I know it.

Periods.

Hormones.

Yeah.

How we feel things.

How,

yeah, we feel so much.

As women, yeah.

How we have like

thoughts sometimes that are unwanted.

Lustful thoughts.

How, yeah, we don't talk enough about it.

You know, I

recently just went through this and I was having thoughts and I was feeling all these things.

And

you guys know I struggle with PCOS.

So I don't really my my body as a woman works differently.

So it was like the first time in so long that I was having hormones and it was, I was out of my head

with thoughts and all these things.

So I don't think we talk about that enough.

Yeah.

I don't think we talk about grief enough.

Right.

How it truly.

changes you, how it, it, it's just, it's a lifelong journey, how even if we have Jesus and have all the faith in the world,

that grief just can sometimes feel so paralyzing,

even with walking with Jesus.

Yeah.

Yeah, I don't think we talk.

And I just don't think we talk about like,

I don't think we talk about how crazy the sanctifying process is.

I was just talking about this with a mentor of how fast I laid down my life.

Right.

The spiritual warfare, the feelings of like

feeling completely lost for a little bit, of feeling like I didn't even know who I was, of just when you're stripped, you're just like the refining period is so hard.

It's so difficult.

And you go through so much.

And I don't think we talk about that enough.

Totally.

It's worth it.

His glory is worth it.

But I think we do need to talk more about the process, about how hard it is, about how it's not easy to lay down your life.

I don't think we talk enough about how, when you come from the world and then you come into Christianity and you're in this push and pull of dealing with family dynamics of how they're in the world, but you're trying to live a different way, but you have to be in your family dynamic and you have to be around it and how difficult that is.

Totally, that is so difficult.

Yeah, and you go through so much

and you feel different and you have thoughts.

And I just,

yeah, I just feel like so many people feel

condemned at times because of all these thoughts and lustful thoughts and hormones and all these things.

And I think it would free a lot of people if we start doing episodes about it too.

Yeah.

And I don't think we talk about that enough as Christians.

Totally.

I love that you say that so much.

Something,

it's so crazy with the hormones and the emotions and the things that we go through, especially as women, but even guys.

I think like obviously we have always talked about mental health so much on here and just emotional health and what that's like.

Like

we all go through so much and having Jesus in your life doesn't mean that just like the negative patterns of thinking or being or feeling stop.

Actually, like it's a lifelong process of, like Ari said, sanctification, purification, and healing that has to take place.

I've been walking with Jesus for like what, a few years and I feel like now more than ever I am uncovering this world of hurt inside of me and dysfunction that I'm like, oh my gosh, I didn't even know that this was here.

Like I thought it was just the big things.

I thought I needed to get sober.

I thought I needed to live in purity.

And then like the Lord is like bringing all of this out.

That's like, actually, no, you are.

deeply hurt in all these ways.

You you operate out of a dysfunctional family system that you think that you're far away away from but the second you're in a close relationship with people in your life everything begins to come out and so something and i've realized so much recently that i'm way more emotional than i even thought and

emotions are insane at times and like you said emotions aren't a lie because they are or not that they're not a lie emotions are real but they're just not good counselors they're not good directors they're not good leaders

Every single day, you guys, if I could give you an exercise to do, this is what I do every single day.

Because what I'm working on the most with my therapist is not, is like allowing myself to feel emotion, but not being overtaken by emotion, not letting emotion be the driver.

Jesus has to be the driver.

The Holy Spirit is bigger than our emotions, way bigger, but we give our emotions so much

liberty and access to drive us.

And so, every single day, and it's actually this simple, like it really is, even with the thoughts, having lustful thoughts, all these things, it's just a refocus and reorienting back to Jesus and being like, and I know we say this all the time, focus on Jesus, but this is all it is.

It's actually not that complicated.

Every single morning, I put out my hands and I say, I declare, because there's a throne on my heart, there's a throne in my mind, and there's a throne over my body.

Jesus has to be Lord and on the throne of all of these things.

My body is going to feel things and I'm going to want things,

obviously.

When the Holy Spirit is Lord over your body, he empowers you to not give in.

Having impulses, having thoughts, I will say one thing.

Being so full of Jesus, so full of the Spirit, and specifically so full of the Word, you will have a lot less of these feelings.

Oh,

yeah.

So it's not something that you're just like, oh, I just have to live.

I'm just like turned on all the time.

You don't need to live like that.

Being full of Jesus causes you to not feel like that.

But like, obviously, you have hormones and you have all these things that are natural, normal.

You have thoughts.

You can even have thoughts while you're praying.

You have intrusive thoughts.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again.

If you're someone who has sexual intrusive thoughts, even while you're praying or you're at church or something or you see weird images, just know that you're not crazy.

You're not dirty.

You're not bad.

It's an attack.

It's evil.

And Satan, that's what he does.

And it's, and it's, it's not like, okay, but it's not, you are not bad.

It's not you.

And it's, and it really is okay.

And I would just say every single day I say, Jesus, you're on the throne of my heart.

So I'm not putting any of my relationships before you.

I'm not putting any of my

problems before you.

And I literally say anxiety is not on the throne.

My emotions are not on the throne.

Ari's not on on the throne.

John's not on the throne.

Ministry is not on the throne.

Nobody's on the throne except Jesus.

Jesus, you're on the throne of my mind.

Every thought has to be obedient to Christ.

I take every thought captive.

I have the mind of Christ.

The life of journeying with Jesus is so simple.

That's why, like we said last week, we'll come on here every day for the next 10 years and let you guys know that it's so simple.

We come back to the same things.

You declare the mind of Christ over your mind and take your thoughts captive and say, I'm not thinking this way.

Plead the blood of Jesus over your mind.

Plead the blood of Jesus over your body.

Plead the blood of Jesus over your emotional life and say, I am not governed by my emotions.

I'm governed by the Spirit of God.

I will not let my emotions take me on a ride where I'm just out of control.

And that's what I'm learning more than anything.

I want to let my emotions take me somewhere because that's all I've ever known.

That's all I've ever seen.

I don't have to do that.

I'm not a victim to my emotional life.

When I get triggered and I get upset, I actually have the ability to stop, take a second, think logically, ask the Holy Spirit to show me the truth, and then wait to react.

And that's what I'm learning more than anything.

With Jesus, I'm in control.

And I think so many of us feel so out of control to the impulses in our bodies, to the intrusive thoughts in our minds, to the emotions that are just going crazy.

You're not out of control.

No.

You are in control with Jesus.

Take every thought captive.

Take every emotion captive.

Plead the blood of Jesus, send to yourself and say, Jesus, you're on the throne.

You are on the throne.

Everything else must come off the throne in Jesus' name.

If you're feeling so anxious, say anxiety, you're off the throne.

Jesus, come back on the throne.

And also, one of the greatest gifts that God gives us is each other.

Yeah.

And so good.

And

sometimes I will say that sometimes, like,

my, I get so out of, like, my mind is spinning sometimes.

And

just picking up that phone and calling a friend, like, that's, that is the greatest gift he's given us is, is each other.

Right.

And sometimes we just, we sit in isolation

and we just, and that's why we feel crazy.

People heal, friends heal, Family heals.

Like, we have to be in community.

We have to talk about this stuff.

We cannot be buried in shame.

We have to confess it.

We have to talk about when we're feeling things.

And even if it's crazy, you talk about it.

And then you know what the other person says to a trusted friend?

That's so normal.

Or they'll talk it through with you.

Or they'll say, hey, me too.

Yeah.

And it just like loses its power.

Totally.

And so just having one another to talk up to to to to to yeah to grieve with to cry with to just talk about this crazy stuff

um

it's the greatest gift is we have each other so good friendships are everything they really are yeah and i would even encourage you guys i think what's been really good in my life is

because

Everyone wants to feel validated.

I want to feel validated.

I want to get on the phone and someone tell me what I want to hear and validate me and my feelings.

But I think one of the biggest gifts for me is having people in my life where I'll call them and be like, Hey, I'm feeling this.

I don't think it's right because I'm out of control.

Tell me the truth.

Even if it hurts me right now, tell me the truth.

Tell me I'm wrong.

I invite people to tell me that I'm wrong, and then it just puts everything into perspective.

And then the crazy emotions lose power.

That's what I'm walking through a lot right now: getting a hold of this emotional life where,

yeah, I just don't want to be ruled by emotions.

No, and they do lie so much, you know?

Yeah.

Great question.

I love this.

Someone said, How to deal with insecurity in relationships, feeling like other girls are prettier or better.

Can I just have a subject?

Yeah, of course.

Mahimato Soda.

Yeah.

Talk about it.

Okay, really?

I want to do everyone, you know, everyone's asking, can you talk about relationships?

Really?

Yes.

Relationships in the comments.

No.

People want to hear about relationships, how to navigate them, purity, everything.

I can't talk about it, buddy.

I feel like I don't know interviewer.

Yes, you can.

You have so much wisdom and so much knowledge.

Insecurity

in relationship, feeling like other girls are prettier or better.

Do you go through that?

Oh, like in a relationship?

Is that what they mean?

Yeah.

Yeah, in relationship, like in your relationship.

I don't,

I don't feel like I struggle with that specifically, feeling like other girls are prettier or better.

I don't want to say that, though.

I feel bad because people go through that.

Yeah, but it's the truth.

You don't, but it's okay.

You be honest.

You don't.

You're just a very secure woman.

You always have been.

Your mom raised you that way.

You're very secure.

Thanks for saying that.

You're welcome.

I mean, yeah, I think

I can speak to this that if you feel like, because I might not have that in my relationship, but I've had that.

It's, of course, I've experienced, both of us, all of us have experienced, you know, feeling inadequate compared to someone else.

Comparison's a killer.

It sucks.

My gosh, it sucks the life out of you.

It sucks the life out of your relationships and friendships.

Anytime you look at someone and think that they have something that you don't have.

And I think what's helped me in terms of security is learning that, like, people do have things that I I don't have.

You know what I mean?

Ari has things that I don't have.

Ari has things that I look at her and I could be jealous of, or I could be insecure about, or I could, like, really wish and want that I was like her.

And I do feel that at times.

And, like, that's normal, though.

Like, when you love someone, when you admire someone, when you respect someone, there are going to be feelings that come up when you see something in them that you don't have.

But it's about obviously taking it to Jesus.

With these feelings, I take it to Jesus immediately.

I hate these feelings.

I hate comparing myself.

I hate feeling less than because I see what somebody else has in them.

And I immediately take these feelings to Jesus.

And I'm like, please, Lord, just

like heal this.

It's good that it comes up so that God can tend to it and love on you.

And that I try to tell people what I'm feeling.

If I feel jealous of somebody, if I feel like,

I did this with Allie the other day.

I was like, I felt something where I was just like, I wanted to confess.

I was like, I was watching you.

And then I started to think, should I be more like her?

Maybe I should be more like her in this way.

She has that.

And I said that.

And it literally, and then she literally goes, I was thinking the same thing about you.

And it just like

loses its power.

And you realize that, like, we are all so different.

Of course, Ari is going to have things that I don't have.

Of course, I'm going to have things Ari doesn't have.

And so if we both choose to focus on what the other one has and not what we have, what God gifted us with, like the things in us that people love and what God loves, what type of life is that?

Yeah.

You know?

Yeah.

I just, I've always felt this

terrible insecurity

of

just not ever feeling enough.

Like I say this so much of just like not feeling smart and all this stuff.

And like,

ever since Girls Gone Bible, like he's truly taking me on such a journey of like, you need to accept yourself from who you are and really understanding how God really did intricately make each and every one of us.

Like when I read that he knows every hair on our head, I'm just like,

you

made us so specifically.

And so it's like we get, we compare and do all these things and then we forget that like Jesus made us just how he wants us to be.

And so I think that's a good gentle reminder, too.

So good.

The scripture talks about where you go.

Whenever I see your mouth, go, oh, I hear you.

Oh, we're about to say something.

The scripture talks about how we are the body.

But we're all different parts of the body.

You might be the leg.

I might be the arm.

And we're all, we make up different parts of the body.

Why would we both need to, I guess there are two arms.

Okay, why would we both need to be

belly buttons?

I don't know.

Why would we both need to be the same part, the exact same part of the body, rather than being another part of the body that completes and makes the body whole?

Why would you and I want to come here and be the same exact person

who thinks the same experiences, Jesus, the same?

Like the beauty and even what we do in our relationship and Girls Gone Bible is that we're so, so different and so similar, but so different.

And like, that's what makes it beautiful.

Why would we be the same?

And so, just continuously reminding yourself of that.

I've experienced this so much in ministry where I'm like,

Do I want to be like this person?

But I, or do I want to be like that person?

Should I be like that person?

Should I speak like that?

Should my voice sound like that?

Should I care about that?

And then constantly coming, it's helped me so much.

Spending so much time with Jesus has caused me to fully settle into it.

Not fully, it's always going to be a thing that I'm trying to get to and letting God take me into, but it's let me begin to settle into myself.

And that's where you develop a strong foundation in who you are and your identity is when you're alone with God.

You don't have anyone else to look at.

If you don't spend time with Jesus, you will go into the world and compare yourself to everybody else.

That's true.

Because you didn't get still and allow him to speak into you and show you who you are.

It's true.

And we're women, like, it's so normal.

I remember being at castings when I was a model

and

I would be sitting with eight other blonde girls that looked just like me, but that were taller and that got the part and that were skinnier and that were whatever.

And it was like brutal what I went through for so many years.

Constant comparison, constant getting the door shut on my face, constantly looking at that girl being like, but why did, you know, why wasn't I good enough?

Like it was, it was just like a roller coaster ride of competitiveness.

Yeah, totally.

And I look now and I'm just like,

if we're getting so poured into in the secret place, we're in the Bible, we're in worship, we're constantly seeking Jesus' face, we're not really so worried about

that.

We're just not going to think about it as much.

You're not.

We're like, we're just, and that is the beauty of walking with Jesus.

It's like you're,

everything changes.

Everything that you not saying that we don't compare and do all this stuff.

Yeah.

But like

it just, it just changes.

You're just, you don't care so much about that stuff.

And so

when I think about confidence, I'll go back to it.

I just think about being so filled up.

Right.

serving and then I'm confident and then I'm not so worried about the looks and is this one smarter?

And is this one prettier?

Is this one?

Because I'm so filled up that my outpouring is just serving and it changes.

And so, yeah.

And you love the uniqueness about you, and you begin to be like, I am special.

Yes.

I, do you know, for the first time in my life, and you guys play a big part of it, and so don't you.

You help me so much see myself of these little quirks.

Yeah, yeah.

And I want the things that I hated.

And it's like, no, you should love it.

That's what God

did.

That's what he loves.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

One more thing I think I'll say about that.

Something that I have struggled with a lot is obviously like body stuff.

Can be hard at times.

Not even comparing like that girl has a better body or like I like her.

Nothing like that.

It's always about the state of someone's like thinness

that has been a challenge.

I think social media could be hot, especially before I followed a lot of models and girls, and I was on social media a lot more.

And so, my algorithm was just different, obviously.

And I'd see girls in bathing suits, and I'd just see really, really thin girls.

And I would, I realized that there were times where I'd have, I'd be like praying, like, Jesus, just make me feel comfortable in my body at the weight that I am, the size that I am, what I look like, how much much skin is and me is on my bones, like just how I am when I'm healthy.

Just like, let me love that and accept that.

And then you go on Instagram and you see a girl and this is, and this could totally be her normal weight, but like you see girls with bones showing or like with like lines and muscles and all this stuff.

And then That has been probably one of my biggest battles of not even being like, I want that body.

It's like, I want that thinness.

And then it will send me into a spiral of like,

do I need to be that thing?

And I think my dream, and then I'll start this thing of like, my dream is to be that thin.

Like, so, and then I can get out of it, but that's what I deal with when it comes to comparison: is like body stuff where I'm just like, I try so hard to be okay with, like, you don't have to be so thin, you don't.

I want to have meat on my bones.

I want to be able to healthily take, like, conceive a baby, which means I need to be a healthy weight.

And I, I pray every day that God makes me happy

about

how my body looks at the weight that is my good weight.

You know, not me at like a major calorie deficit, not me at whatever.

Like when I'm healthy and I don't have to try to starve myself to be at a weight, my normal weight, I want to be happy at that.

That's what I pray every single day.

That's what I work on every day.

And I'll feel that.

I'll be good.

And then I get on Instagram and I see a body that is like

not realistic for me.

I can't look like that.

It's just not how I'm built.

I don't look like that.

And that's okay.

And I don't want to look like that.

But then it sends me into this thing.

So comparison is literally the most devilish, evil, scary, weird thing.

And you just have to consistently go back to Jesus.

And it's a daily fight.

Daily, daily, daily.

You go through it.

Because we all do it.

Yeah.

Especially with Instagram.

Instagram.

Yeah.

Thanks for sharing that.

Thanks, Louis.

I think I'm just walking through, like I talked about this last episode, but just really feeling loved and

freedom in my mind.

Yeah.

I think it's been really hard in my journey because I've struggled so much with religious OCD and just like, if I do one little thing, everything will be taken away from me, like these thoughts that are so far from the truth of Jesus.

And so,

yeah, and feeling like I have to climb the ladder for love.

Right.

And so I think he's really walking me through freedom, like freedom and the love of Jesus.

And

just,

I, I just,

he, I really go back to me being on that bathroom floor.

And like, I just, I find myself saying so much, like, you're the God God that picked me up off the bathroom floor when I was

drowning in depression and sin and couldn't clean myself up.

And I go back to that because that's when

he loved me.

And so I listened to Francis Chan say this and it hit me so hard.

And Francis Chan was like, John the Beloved said, I'm the, I'm the son that Jesus loves.

And that's so sweet.

And

I want to, to really know that.

Yeah.

I want to really, because when you, when you really know that, when you know you don't have to, to strive, when you know you don't have to, like, if I'm not in my Bible for this amount of time, then he's going to, like, I've had these thoughts.

This is true.

Like, I've really had these thoughts.

And that's not Jesus.

Yeah.

And

I've gone through so much in my mind.

I really have.

And it's taken away from my relationship with him.

And so, really, just, I'm in a season of just feeling loved, of remembering he's the God that got me off the bathroom floor.

He's the God I was sitting there when I was just drowning in sin and being like,

come home.

Like, I'm getting you off this bathroom floor and you're coming home.

That's who Jesus is.

Yeah, he is.

Isn't that so sweet?

He doesn't love me because I spend five hours in the Bible.

He doesn't love me because, you know, I'm worshiping at five in the morning.

He loves me because I'm his daughter.

He loves me because he just loves me.

That's who he is.

And so, like, learning about

Jesus as my father is something.

that I always preach about because I feel so safe and because I

did find true love.

But then I went back to this thing of having to strive to almost earn his love.

Yeah, totally.

And so, yeah, just like really

knowing Jesus just loves me because he loves me.

And like, he, yeah.

And like when I mess up or when I fall, like I picture like my dad,

when I fall or I mess up, my dad still loves me.

And my dad is still like, come on, come here, R.

And he like holds me.

And like, Jesus, that's Jesus.

And so, yeah, I'm just, I'm walking through that right now.

Just the, the, the love, the love, the freedom in my mind, just being, enjoying, just the joy, joy of the Lord.

Like, that is what

I'm really,

I really want to experience in this season of my life.

I love that, R.

Yeah.

I love that.

That is so beautiful.

And I think what people don't talk about a lot is just like mental, I mean, we talk about mental health, but like just like mental health struggles while walking with Jesus and how confusing that might be because you, maybe if you have a mind that works against you in some ways, maybe you have a mind that struggles with chemical imbalances and you are just like clinically, there's something not completely right or balanced.

it makes your life so much more difficult.

It makes the fight in your mind that much more difficult where you're like, but I want to love Jesus and I want to spend time with him and I want to experience his love, but like my mind is anxious and my mind goes through these things and it makes me feel like a bad Christian and it makes me feel like I'm not good enough and it makes me feel like I don't really know him.

And that's just not the truth at all.

Of course you know him and he knows you more importantly.

What Ari's talking about, the love of Jesus.

Look at the cross.

It is the most exemplified.

It is literally love manifested is the cross of Jesus, someone who gives up his life for others when he does.

He knows that they might never even accept him or receive him.

That's what you need to remember.

When you mess up and you fall and you think that Jesus is all mad at you and disappointed and doesn't love you anymore, you have to remember that on the cross, Jesus died knowing that you might never accept him and he still died anyways.

That's how much he loves you.

Is that even if you never accepted him, he still loves you?

So imagine if you're trying your best and you fall, how much he loves you and adores you and is in your weaknesses and is in your sin and helps.

Like, it's just not who he is.

It's, it's literally about going from Peter to John.

Peter, so impulsive, constantly proclaiming, I love Jesus.

I love Jesus.

I'll never deny you.

I'll always follow you.

I'll follow you wherever you go.

Peter, with a good heart, so impulsive, is focusing on how much he loves Jesus.

And where does that get him?

He denies Jesus three times.

He falls, he turns away, he runs away from him.

That's what, and then ultimately is completely redeemed in the end.

But like when you focus on how much you love Jesus, which is all performance, and we see that a lot in this day and age because we have Christian content and Christian social media, and it's all everybody telling each other how much they love Jesus when it's like that doesn't get you anywhere.

That's literally operating out of your own strength versus being John, the beloved, who says, I am the disciple whom Jesus loves.

I am his beloved and he is mine.

And John is faithful, steadfast, because he is constantly focusing on how much Jesus loves him.

It's the difference between in your own might.

or in the might of Jesus.

And so I love that you say that so much.

I've been on a long journey with becoming the beloved and I truly feel for the first time in my life, I feel like the beloved.

Yeah.

I don't feel like I have to do anything.

Yeah.

I still have to do it.

It's a beautiful feeling.

Yes.

Yes.

Freedom.

Yeah.

And you can still be disciplined and you can still want to get up in the morning and do these things and spend the time and all the, and you can still want to have routine and all this stuff.

But like, I don't do that because I feel like I have to.

I love Jesus and I want to spend time with him.

You know?

Well, I love that.

I love that you just brought up if you struggle, like mentally, because

one of my, the thorn in my flesh is flesh is,

you know, always,

I struggle with obsessive, compulsive thinking, indwelling.

Like that's my thing.

And so I think that goes hand in hand with the feeling like I never measure up and all these things with Jesus.

Yeah.

And so I.

I just love that you say that because

we don't talk about that enough.

Yeah.

We don't.

And I will say some people have a different journey than other people do.

Someone who grew up in a perfect Christian family, not saying by any means that they don't struggle or have problems because everybody does.

It's all about.

But there is a reality where some people suffer more than others.

There is a reality where some people come from such brokenness and dysfunction and they basically spend the rest of their lives trying to undo what happened in their childhood.

And

some of us have a different reality than other people.

Some of us have to fight harder.

Some of us do have to do that extra time or do that extra thing or stay even close.

Like some of us do because we can go back to what we know and how we were raised and the dysfunction.

And like for Ari and I, both who have struggled with mental health, who struggle with anxiety,

it's a different fight than somebody who doesn't struggle with anxiety.

Me and my emotions that have felt somewhat out of control and abandonment stuff and feeling really anxious and really unloved at times and just like believing lies that I am not worthy, struggling.

I've been struggling with self-worth for a while, it feels like, and

I am aware that I just have a different battle than other people.

I'm fighting things that other people don't have to fight right now.

I'm fighting this emotional life that God wants me to get under, that he's going to get under control for me.

And I'm just aware that like, yeah, I have a different battle.

When I was facing anxiety, like I had that battle.

And so just know that if you're facing depression or anxiety, it's not something that you bow down to and surrender to and just accept as your reality.

But you also just embrace that, like, okay, this is my reality right now.

And it doesn't make me a worse Christian, but it does make things harder.

And that's, and so we just want you to not feel alone in that.

That if you're struggling with your mental health, it, it will feel like it makes your relationship with Jesus a lot harder, harder to maintain, harder to focus.

When I get anxious, it's so hard for me to focus on Jesus.

I know.

It's so hard for me to want to like sit.

I don't feel like I adore you right now,

Jesus.

But that's good.

Yeah.

I love that.

I don't feel like I can sit with you.

You know, when you let that out like that, oh, it's like freedom.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So good.

It's freedom.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Someone said, what part of Christian culture do you think breaks God's heart the most?

And this is something that I'm thinking about a lot recently is that

just

like religious hypocrisy where people,

and this is like the issue with the world right now and Christianity and culture, is that like what we just talked about, how you can say so many things and so much of it is performative.

A lot of the time, like people want to tell other people how much they know Jesus and how much they love Jesus,

but like it might not even actually accurately reflect their personal relationship with him.

I think

we just so desperately have to break away from performative Christianity where we all want to be seen as something.

Like there are really trendy words right now like intimacy with Jesus is really trendy.

And I imagine there's so many people, and I'm talking to myself too.

Like I'm, I'm, I'm passionate about this for myself, but just like people talking about like intimacy with Jesus and like how to have it

when they might not even have intimacy with Jesus or talking about like the secret place

when they might not even be getting into the secret place.

So talking about the things of God rather than living them for yourself and then letting it be like an outward expression of what's already in you as opposed to like living your like expressing your lived experience and that's how and i just i think i can't imagine how much god's heart breaks when he's like why are my children talking about me rather than talking to me you know yeah they're talking about me online rather than have it there it literally reminds me of like depart from me i never knew you i did all these things but like i never even i focused on them more than i focused on you it's hypocrisy like to sit here and talk about things that

and and right you don't have to be an expert.

That's not what it's about, but it's about lived experience, like talking about things that haven't actually, that you're neglecting in your own life.

And you can still talk about them, right?

Like here, we talk about emotional health while maybe working through our own emotional health and letting them know we're not there yet.

There's so much healing that needs to take place.

Like we have outbursts and we have all this stuff, but there's a difference of coming on and being like,

Prayer life is the most important thing and you have to pray and then like never pray.

But, like, you don't pray.

It's just like a scary world to live in.

And I imagine it breaks God's heart so much, you know?

Yeah.

It's crazy.

Yeah.

Thanks for saying that.

All right, guys.

We love you so.

We love you guys so much.

Thanks for being here.

Thanks for being our sweet, sweet friends.

Thank you for letting us speak into your lives and going on this journey with you.

We can't tell you how much we love you.

And it's just one of the greatest honors of our lives doing this with you, letting us live a life with Jesus and then coming on to tell you what we're living in hopes that it helps you and pushes you towards Jesus.

We pray today that you just you encounter God, that you feel God's comfort and love, and that he fills you with love, and that he fills you with joy, and that the hope of God comes over your life today.

And that, yeah, I just pray in Jesus' name that the Holy Spirit would fill you afresh today.

And Holy Spirit, we pray that you'd possess us in Jesus' name.

Freedom in the minds.

Freedom.

Have freedom in the minds today as you go on your day.

Jesus.

In Jesus' name.

And we just want to say, thank you for letting us be so,

it's so vulnerable to talk about these things from comparison to depression to mental health.

But you guys don't judge us and you guys just love us through it.

And it's just.

It's so comforting.

It's an incredible feeling to know that we have you guys and you guys just love us through it all.

So thank you.

We love you guys so much.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

May He turn His face towards you and give you peace.

Shalom.

Shall

that was good?

Should we start it out?

What's a riff?

What was that?

Thomas, did you hear that?

Holy.

Okay, I was who.

Did you go to heaven?

I always have it.

Love you guys.