Better Together

Understand Your Identity | Better Together Episode 1171

June 15, 2026 | S8 E1171 | 50:59

Who does God say you are? We are fully seen, fully known, and fully loved by our Creator. Imposter Syndrome, insecurity, and fear melt in His presence. Understanding your identity opens the door to healing and hope. | TBN Prayer Line: 714-731-1000

#IdentityinChrist #Purpose #Gifting/Talent #Stewardship #Calling #God'sWill #Intimacy #Freedom #Mentor #Insecurity #Fear #PersonalStory #Encouragement #Obedience #Rejection #LaurieCrouch #SheilaWalsh #DonnaPisani #BlyndaLane

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Better Together | Understand Your Identity | Better Together Episode 1171 | June 15, 2026

>> laurie crouch: you are god's masterpiece.
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He has already entrusted you with all the gifts and all the
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Talents that you're ever gonna need in this life.
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Today we're talking about how to understand our god-given
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Identity.
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Come on, join us.
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♪ music ♪
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♪ music ♪
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♪ music ♪
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>> sheila walsh: okay, this is gonna be an amazing week.
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I always say that.
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But there's something about understanding your identity in
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Christ that is life-changing.
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I had this interesting conversation the other day.
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I was in a coffee shop.
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A girl who watches "better together" said,
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Do you mind if i join you for five minutes?
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I'm like, sure, of course.
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She said, i wish i could be like you.
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I wish-- i thought, gosh, lord, when i think back to where i
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Was, and to the journey-- that's the amazing thing.
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Our overarching theme this week is god's masterpiece.
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But god takes us where we are, and then moves us to where he
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Wants us to be.
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Cuz i was very shy as a teenager.
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I did not do a lot of group things.
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I voted myself off the island, school trips,
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I tended not to go.
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I was just a very shy-- and i had really,
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Really bad skin as well.
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In scotland in those days, there's all sorts of skin care
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Now.
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Back then, we had this stuff called clearasil.
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Did you ever have that?
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Where you look orange.
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(laughter)
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Not only do you have a blemish, it's an orange blemish.
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It lasted into my 20s.
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After i graduated from seminary, and i'm working with
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British youth for christ.
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And my boss was a guy called graham kendrick,
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Who is a worship leader in the u.k.
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He wrote "shine jesus shine." he was the guy who started the
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Jesus march.
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A wonderful guy.
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I'm the back up singer.
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And i'm very happy cuz that's what i like to do.
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I'm behind him, and i support him.
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And i listen to everything he shares.
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And one day he sat me down in his office and he said,
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I feel like god has told me that i have to write a song for you,
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And you're to lead it off.
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I was like, i don't feel that.
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(laughter)
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I don't think that was god at all.
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He had this thing where he said, sheila, i've heard you sing.
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God has obviously given you a gift.
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My question is, do you want to give it back?
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Or do you want to do something with it?
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I was like, oh, okay.
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>> blynda lane: if those are my choices.
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>> sheila: i can think of a few others,
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But-- the first song he wrote for me,
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It was called "here with me."
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All i remember, the chorus was,
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"all i know is that you're here with me,
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And your love never changes."
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So i remember the first time i had to sing it.
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It was a camp called filey in england.
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And there were maybe 2,000 kids there.
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And graham led worship.
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And it was my turn.
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I literally thought i was going throw up.
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I was so nervous.
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And got through it.
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And at the end, i was just going to go back to my little cabin.
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And graham said, don't you want to hang and maybe chat to
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People?
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And i'm like, oh, yeah, sure.
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That night was life-changing for me.
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Because i suddenly got, this is not about me.
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People would say, that lyric you sang, or this,
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That's exactly where i was in my life.
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That's exactly what i needed to hear.
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I began to see this greater plan that god has that you bring this
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Little seed that you have, that you recognize,
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This will not cut it.
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And god does what only god can do.
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I read this verse in luke chapter 12 verse 48,
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And it says,
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"when someone has been given much,
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Much will be required in return;
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And when sun has been entrusted with much,
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Even more will be required."
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For some reason,
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I spent the last few days studying what those words
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Actually mean in the original language.
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Like what's the difference between given and entrusted?
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And it came out that given is something like, if i decide,
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Hey, you're coughing, here is one of my throat candies.
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I've given you something.
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And you can keep it or not keep it.
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Entrusted is different.
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Entrusted is god has deposited something in you and there's a
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Calling that comes with being entrusted.
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I wrote down a couple of things.
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Purpose, trust, accountability.
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Stewardship is not just about gifting.
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I discovered that god wants us to steward every area of our
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Life.
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Even suffering.
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And that was strange to me.
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I'm thinking, if you're entrusting me with something,
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It's gonna be something great.
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But sometimes you walk through something and it's really a hard
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Season.
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And the calling is to steward your suffering well,
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And to steward your gifts.
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>> dr. donna pisani: that's so good.
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>> sheila: and, i think a lot of people look at people on
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Platforms and think, well, if i could do that-- but i think if
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They got most of our back stories as to where we actually
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Started, and how nervous and how scared and unprepared.
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And now you come to this wonderful realization that it's
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Actually not about you.
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Because there's times when i would speak and think,
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That went well.
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And, maybe it didn't.
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There's other times when i think, oh, gosh,
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I don't think that made sense.
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Someone will say, god spoke so directly to me.
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That i really get the whole loaves and fishes principle of
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Christ's work.
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You bring your not enough to jesus,
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And he blesses it and he breaks it and he feeds his people.
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And, that's been such a relief for me.
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Because sometimes, some days you feel like,
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I can't wait to get in here and do this.
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Others days your like, please, let's me pull the covers over my
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Head.
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Then you realize, you know what?
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I just show up.
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I show up, and god does what only god can do.
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>> jenni wong clayville: every time you spend time
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Intentionally leaning into what god has given you and trying to
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Do the best you can with what he's given you,
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You will be drawn close to god.
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Because it's in his will.
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He wants you to come closer to him.
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Even though it's hard, even though you might not want to do
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It, intentionally lean toward the hard things.
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>> sheila: i wanted to ask you all about how did you come to a
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Place of understanding your identity?
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And what does that mean for you?
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>> donna: i think for me personally,
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I had similar issues like you did, sheila.
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I was so insecure.
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And i would rather cross the street than say hello.
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And i married a man who was very outgoing,
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And refused to allow me to stay in that place,
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And kept inviting me into spaces i didn't feel comfortable in.
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I'm very grateful now.
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But in those days i was like, if you keep asking me to testify or
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Share my story, we're probably going to get divorced.
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Because i hated it.
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Now i'm grateful that he pulled it out of me.
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I meet so many people that don't have somebody like my husband
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Pulling the gifts out of them.
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I think, what stops us the most, we compare our not enough with
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Somebody else's more than enough.
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Which is actually what the story of the talents is in the bible.
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I always felt like i was given the one talent.
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So i hid it.
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Because it wasn't the five talents.
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It wasn't as much as everybody else had been given.
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So yours is so sparkly and so pretty,
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And you're just so easy and like you were saying,
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People say to you, it looks so easy, sheila.
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If i could only be you.
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But we're never gonna move into the fruition of the seed.
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Seeds don't grow unless you plant them.
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I remember saying to god, when my gifts look like an oak tree,
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Then i'll use it.
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It's never gonna look like an oak tree until you start using
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It.
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And you're gonna make mistakes along the way.
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I can't tell you the number of times i've said things with a
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Microphone in my hand, that is recorded.
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>> laurie: welcome to my world.
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(laughter)
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>> donna: exactly.
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If i could go back and change it, i would.
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But, i learned through the process.
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The point is that you just have to start.
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The other part about this, you have been gifted something.
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Everybody's been gifted something to steward.
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Not comparing it to somebody else's,
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But also remembering that god isn't looking for perfection.
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He's just looking for obedience.
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For me, that was the gradual yeses that eventually open up.
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Like here i am sitting at "better together,"
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Having conversations with you all about identity.
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But finding my identity wasn't based necessarily defined by the
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Gift, it was defined by who he said i was.
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And i think sometimes we stop because we're like,
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I don't have a gift.
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But you forget the definition of your identity first has to come
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From him.
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Because you can't possibly use what he's given you until you
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Know who he says you are.
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>> blynda: when i was in fifth grade i had an experience with
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Some girls where i was bullied.
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And what ended up happening, it was a long story, but,
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Basically, they took me aside, and i thought it was to become
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Friends with them, but it was really for them to mock me and
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Make fun of me and to abandon me and leave me alone.
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And it was the first time that i ever felt true rejection from
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Someone.
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I just had not ever experienced that.
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And that was that moment that i was like, oh, it made me aware,
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Maybe people don't like me.
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Maybe i'm not enough.
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Whatever their motivation was to make me feel less than,
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They accomplished it.
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What's interesting though, that was the same year, fifth grade,
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That i was at a service at my church,
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And the minister had come.
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A worship guy had come to the church to sing,
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And he had given an altar call.
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It was at that moment, i had grown up in a christian home.
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But it was at that moment that it became super real to me what
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Jesus had done on the cross, and the sacrifice he made for me,
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And that i was a daughter of his,
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And that i was sealed forever in eternity if i would receive him
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As my savior.
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And it was at that moment that i had to choose which identity i
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Was going to believe.
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This is fifth grade.
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We don't even think someone that young could have those kind of
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Thoughts.
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But this is what the lord, i believe in hindsight when i look
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Back, was doing.
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And i'm so thankful for that moment in my church that i
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Walked down the aisle and professed my faith to jesus.
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Because i believe i was sealed at that time with him forever.
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And it changed the trajectory of my life.
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And what those girls meant to speak over me that i was less
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Than, actually completely died that day.
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And i decided in that moment to believe that my identity was in
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Christ.
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Now, did i go on and have a perfect life?
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No, of course not.
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I became a teenager, and then i became a young adult.
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All of these ways you start trying to find yourself in the
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World and the purposes of god.
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But it was that moment at fifth grade i was marked.
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And the encouragement there is, for you mothers who are watching
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And, fathers and grandparents that are watching,
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Don't believe that the younger kids,
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That your elementary and middle school kids are not listening
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And watching.
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They have an opportunity to be spoken truth to.
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I want to encourage you, speak truth into them.
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Because their little hearts are being formed and it could change
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The rest of their life.
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>> laurie: that's such a foundation of our faith is that
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It starts in genesis 1-1, so we are call created with a purpose
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For purpose to be entrusted.
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All of that.
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So if it we don't-- it's not a mix of our talents and our gifts
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And all that that gives us our identity.
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Scripture says, god is the owner, we are the stewards,
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Created for a purpose.
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I think people think maybe just some people were created for a
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Purpose.
00:12:34.977 --> 00:12:36.045
Oh, wow!
00:12:36.045 --> 00:12:37.379
They are on tv.
00:12:37.379 --> 00:12:38.180
They have a great purpose.
00:12:38.180 --> 00:12:40.049
I didn't get one.
00:12:40.049 --> 00:12:43.085
Well, he's given everybody, everybody has a purpose.
00:12:43.085 --> 00:12:46.188
This wasn't just an idea that god just thought i'll throw them
00:12:46.188 --> 00:12:50.626
Down to have company.
00:12:50.626 --> 00:12:51.360
We are all born for a purpose.
00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:55.231
And when we finally understand that god is the owner.
00:12:55.231 --> 00:12:59.001
He owns the world.
00:12:59.001 --> 00:13:01.203
Everything in it.
00:13:01.203 --> 00:13:02.538
Everybody in it.
00:13:02.538 --> 00:13:04.006
And that i'm here designed for a purpose.
00:13:04.006 --> 00:13:06.775
What is that?
00:13:06.775 --> 00:13:08.911
The more we know jesus, the more that opens.
00:13:08.911 --> 00:13:12.915
And we automatically-- i'm always thinking people are
00:13:12.915 --> 00:13:15.417
Looking for god's will.
00:13:15.417 --> 00:13:21.123
I think if we just get to know him,
00:13:21.123 --> 00:13:22.157
We automatically do his will.
00:13:22.157 --> 00:13:23.359
We automatically do our purposes.
00:13:23.359 --> 00:13:26.295
Not this big thing we're trying to search for.
00:13:26.295 --> 00:13:28.731
It's something that's gonna naturally flow through us the
00:13:28.731 --> 00:13:32.601
More we come into god's presence and seek his face.
00:13:32.601 --> 00:13:38.707
>> laurie: i think so many of us have a misconception that some
00:13:38.707 --> 00:13:42.278
People are born with a purpose and some people aren't.
00:13:42.278 --> 00:13:43.345
Let me just tell you.
00:13:43.345 --> 00:13:45.114
God created you before the foundations of the earth.
00:13:45.114 --> 00:13:49.785
He marked you, he called you by your name.
00:13:49.785 --> 00:13:52.688
You're not a mistake.
00:13:52.688 --> 00:13:55.758
You are his.
00:13:55.758 --> 00:13:57.726
You are not self-made.
00:13:57.726 --> 00:13:58.560
God made you.
00:13:58.560 --> 00:13:59.962
You can't change anything about yourself except how you act,
00:13:59.962 --> 00:14:04.733
What you think about.
00:14:04.733 --> 00:14:08.370
But god designed you just the way he wanted to.
00:14:08.370 --> 00:14:10.506
And so, with that, he had a plan for your life.
00:14:10.506 --> 00:14:15.611
Every one of us has something we are called to do.
00:14:15.611 --> 00:14:19.782
We have a purpose.
00:14:19.782 --> 00:14:21.350
We have been designed for an incredible purpose.
00:14:21.350 --> 00:14:25.421
You might not be on a platform.
00:14:25.421 --> 00:14:31.827
You might not have any idea what it looks like.
00:14:31.827 --> 00:14:34.730
But just know that you are a child of the most high god.
00:14:34.730 --> 00:14:38.000
And he loves you.
00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:40.302
He's created you for his own purpose.
00:14:40.302 --> 00:14:41.503
What we do is we learn to be like him.
00:14:41.503 --> 00:14:48.110
We start spending time with god.
00:14:48.110 --> 00:14:49.011
We start reading our bible.
00:14:49.011 --> 00:14:51.113
And god will direct your path.
00:14:51.113 --> 00:14:53.716
The bible says, we make our plans,
00:14:53.716 --> 00:14:56.452
But god is the one who paves our way and takes us where we are
00:14:56.452 --> 00:14:59.421
Supposed to go.
00:14:59.421 --> 00:15:01.156
>> jenni: i love hearing you all talk about it.
00:15:01.156 --> 00:15:04.660
Because i have imposter syndrome.
00:15:04.660 --> 00:15:06.261
I've talked about that on this show before.
00:15:06.261 --> 00:15:07.596
I think there is a balance, a good balance of being humble and
00:15:07.596 --> 00:15:12.901
Knowing that you are human, and also knowing that you were
00:15:12.901 --> 00:15:16.438
Created for such a time as this.
00:15:16.438 --> 00:15:18.207
In 1 peter chapter 4:10, it says, each has received a gift.
00:15:18.207 --> 00:15:23.278
Use it to serve one another, as good stewards of god's varied
00:15:23.278 --> 00:15:26.281
Grace.
00:15:26.281 --> 00:15:27.282
And just to your question, sheila, i grew up,
00:15:27.282 --> 00:15:29.651
My parents are immigrants.
00:15:29.651 --> 00:15:31.487
I was in an area where there's a lot of beautiful blond haired,
00:15:31.487 --> 00:15:35.958
Blue-eyed kids, girls, i never looked like that.
00:15:35.958 --> 00:15:38.761
I'm sure that's where it started.
00:15:38.761 --> 00:15:42.097
But also, for me to steward, to speak,
00:15:42.097 --> 00:15:46.668
To use it to serve one another, i think once it shifted,
00:15:46.668 --> 00:15:50.205
Started to shift.
00:15:50.205 --> 00:15:53.108
There are days i still struggle with this,
00:15:53.108 --> 00:15:54.643
If i'm completely honest.
00:15:54.643 --> 00:15:55.978
And i think if we said we didn't, that would be a lie.
00:15:55.978 --> 00:15:57.646
But the day that i realized, it's not about me.
00:15:57.646 --> 00:16:04.153
I've been placed on this earth to steward this time to love on
00:16:04.153 --> 00:16:09.024
Others and to serve another, that imposter syndrome can melt
00:16:09.024 --> 00:16:14.063
Away.
00:16:14.063 --> 00:16:15.364
Because it's not me, it's god's choice.
00:16:15.364 --> 00:16:18.500
If we look at it and go, i can't do this.
00:16:18.500 --> 00:16:24.106
You're basically saying what god created you for is null and
00:16:24.106 --> 00:16:26.642
Void.
00:16:26.642 --> 00:16:27.943
We just landed here and we get this opportunity to sit and talk
00:16:27.943 --> 00:16:30.546
To each other as friends.
00:16:30.546 --> 00:16:31.847
Just because it's not happening on tv doesn't mean it's not
00:16:31.847 --> 00:16:34.716
Important.
00:16:34.716 --> 00:16:36.051
Some of the most important work has been one on one that no
00:16:36.051 --> 00:16:38.353
One's ever heard about.
00:16:38.353 --> 00:16:39.588
I think we have to remember those things.
00:16:39.588 --> 00:16:43.659
>> laurie: the world needs you.
00:16:43.659 --> 00:16:46.762
They don't need another me.
00:16:46.762 --> 00:16:47.930
They don't need another sheila.
00:16:47.930 --> 00:16:49.631
They don't need another chris.
00:16:49.631 --> 00:16:51.834
They don't need another-- nobody.
00:16:51.834 --> 00:16:53.001
You can only be you.
00:16:53.001 --> 00:16:55.971
If he wanted you to be somebody else,
00:16:55.971 --> 00:16:59.608
He would have given you their grace,
00:16:59.608 --> 00:17:02.678
He would have given you there history, their feelings.
00:17:02.678 --> 00:17:04.847
All the things about what makes each one of us different is why
00:17:04.847 --> 00:17:09.318
He created you.
00:17:09.318 --> 00:17:10.619
We're so different from each other in so many different ways.
00:17:10.619 --> 00:17:17.359
So, we need you.
00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:18.861
We need every person to be a part of the kingdom of god,
00:17:18.861 --> 00:17:22.164
To do what they're called to do, what their gifts and callings
00:17:22.164 --> 00:17:24.066
Are.
00:17:24.066 --> 00:17:25.300
You need to get after it, because everybody else suffers
00:17:25.300 --> 00:17:28.470
Because you're not being who god created you to be.
00:17:28.470 --> 00:17:30.839
So come on, let us kick your cans down the road.
00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:33.809
Get your stuff together.
00:17:33.809 --> 00:17:37.412
And be on purpose for purpose.
00:17:37.412 --> 00:17:41.216
>> donna: we want to hear from you.
00:17:41.216 --> 00:17:42.618
>> sheila: connect with us on social media to ask a question
00:17:42.618 --> 00:17:44.786
Or share a prayer request.
00:17:44.786 --> 00:17:46.722
>> laurie: let's encourage one another and get
00:17:46.722 --> 00:17:48.023
"better together."
00:17:48.023 --> 00:17:50.225
Let's keep the conversation going.
00:17:50.225 --> 00:17:52.494
Can you find the "better together" podcast on your
00:17:52.494 --> 00:17:54.830
Favorite listening platform.
00:17:54.830 --> 00:17:55.931
Subscribe today.
00:17:55.931 --> 00:18:00.009
Subscribe today.
00:18:00.009 --> 00:18:04.173
>> sheila: stewardship it's a kind of word you think, yes,
00:18:04.173 --> 00:18:08.243
I'll steward it, but i have no idea what it is.
00:18:08.243 --> 00:18:10.579
It's the idea of being entrusted.
00:18:10.579 --> 00:18:12.681
Let me read that verse again.
00:18:12.681 --> 00:18:15.350
"when someone has been given much,
00:18:15.350 --> 00:18:18.520
Much will be required in return; and when someone has been
00:18:18.520 --> 00:18:22.357
Entrusted with much, even more will be required."
00:18:22.357 --> 00:18:23.859
The very fact,
00:18:23.859 --> 00:18:25.294
Like, your beautiful grand baby shai--
00:18:25.294 --> 00:18:27.629
>> laurie: yes.
00:18:27.629 --> 00:18:28.764
(laughter)
00:18:28.764 --> 00:18:29.898
Yes.
00:18:29.898 --> 00:18:32.935
>> sheila: you're not gonna give him to a stranger.
00:18:32.935 --> 00:18:36.605
You're not going to entrust him to a stranger.
00:18:36.605 --> 00:18:38.440
>> laurie: no.
00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:39.908
>> sheila: to me, it's the very fact that god would entrust us
00:18:39.908 --> 00:18:43.679
Says so much.
00:18:43.679 --> 00:18:47.916
That god looks in you, blynda, and said,
00:18:47.916 --> 00:18:48.984
I'm entrusting you with this.
00:18:48.984 --> 00:18:50.085
I'm entrusting you with this, donna.
00:18:50.085 --> 00:18:51.286
I'm entrusting you with this, jenni.
00:18:51.286 --> 00:18:53.188
I'm entrusting you with this, laurie.
00:18:53.188 --> 00:18:54.489
That to me is awesome, but it's also a relief,
00:18:54.489 --> 00:18:58.627
Because it was not our idea.
00:18:58.627 --> 00:19:00.095
>> blynda: what i love about that is the idea that we are his
00:19:00.095 --> 00:19:04.132
Workmanship.
00:19:04.132 --> 00:19:05.801
He crafted us in a way.
00:19:05.801 --> 00:19:07.603
When we are talking about identity,
00:19:07.603 --> 00:19:10.072
What does it mean that we're here to do?
00:19:10.072 --> 00:19:12.207
He has thought of every detail the way he crafted you,
00:19:12.207 --> 00:19:15.577
Is because it's to do the work.
00:19:15.577 --> 00:19:19.514
You're not going to be operating outside of something he made you
00:19:19.514 --> 00:19:22.651
A certain way and will be requiring you to steward
00:19:22.651 --> 00:19:26.054
Something completely different.
00:19:26.054 --> 00:19:27.356
He will craft you in a way, that the things you are meant to do
00:19:27.356 --> 00:19:32.261
Fall almost naturally into how you are designed.
00:19:32.261 --> 00:19:36.231
Now it becomes much more about being so secure in who he has
00:19:36.231 --> 00:19:41.069
Made you to be, and not what you're going to do for him.
00:19:41.069 --> 00:19:43.572
But i think we have to establish first that it's so much about
00:19:43.572 --> 00:19:47.909
Settling with the fact that he has just made you in his image,
00:19:47.909 --> 00:19:51.980
Crafted you so meticulously.
00:19:51.980 --> 00:19:56.351
We know that in psalm 139, he knows everything about us.
00:19:56.351 --> 00:20:00.322
To do the work on earth.
00:20:00.322 --> 00:20:02.357
Maybe we make it more complicated.
00:20:02.357 --> 00:20:04.593
What am i supposed to do?
00:20:04.593 --> 00:20:08.630
What brings you joy?
00:20:08.630 --> 00:20:11.867
When you are with the father, i really do believe so much of it
00:20:11.867 --> 00:20:15.337
If we can settle the identity thing is,
00:20:15.337 --> 00:20:18.473
I'm here to know him and to make him known.
00:20:18.473 --> 00:20:20.175
So let me work there first.
00:20:20.175 --> 00:20:23.879
Am i doing everything i can to know him?
00:20:23.879 --> 00:20:26.348
To know him intimately?
00:20:26.348 --> 00:20:30.018
>> jenni wong: understanding our identity is important.
00:20:30.018 --> 00:20:31.720
Because without knowing our true identity, our purpose,
00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:34.256
We won't actually know how to plan, how to make goals.
00:20:34.256 --> 00:20:37.125
We will make those goals that will benefit an empire that is
00:20:37.125 --> 00:20:40.696
Ours and not a kingdom.
00:20:40.696 --> 00:20:42.130
That is god's.
00:20:42.130 --> 00:20:44.866
So always lean in to what god wants and his purpose for you.
00:20:44.866 --> 00:20:49.504
>> donna: i think sometimes what happens, though, blynda,
00:20:49.504 --> 00:20:52.908
That is so powerful, because it comes out of intimacy,
00:20:52.908 --> 00:20:54.843
We tend to define ourselves by the battles we are walking
00:20:54.843 --> 00:20:57.946
Through or the difficulties.
00:20:57.946 --> 00:20:59.781
>> blynda: that's really true.
00:20:59.781 --> 00:21:01.850
>> donna: so paul wrote to timothy in 2 timothy.
00:21:01.850 --> 00:21:04.753
One of timothy's hardest points of his life.
00:21:04.753 --> 00:21:06.888
He is said guard, the good deposit that has been entrusted
00:21:06.888 --> 00:21:11.126
To you.
00:21:11.126 --> 00:21:12.627
You only guard things that are at risk of being stolen.
00:21:12.627 --> 00:21:16.365
So, to me, if-- i'm like, why is it so hard for me,
00:21:16.365 --> 00:21:19.701
And the other people don't have to go through?
00:21:19.701 --> 00:21:21.803
And part of my battles were, just spiritual battles.
00:21:21.803 --> 00:21:25.540
Part of it was my own stupidity.
00:21:25.540 --> 00:21:29.411
Because i didn't know what i was doing.
00:21:29.411 --> 00:21:32.748
But, it doesn't matter either way.
00:21:32.748 --> 00:21:35.817
God still says guard the good deposit.
00:21:35.817 --> 00:21:37.853
It tells me.
00:21:37.853 --> 00:21:39.588
It is an entrustment.
00:21:39.588 --> 00:21:41.857
Second of all, if he entrusted each of us with something
00:21:41.857 --> 00:21:45.394
Significant and unique, there's going to be a battle over it.
00:21:45.394 --> 00:21:47.696
I discovered over the last few years, it changed my life.
00:21:47.696 --> 00:21:52.567
The battle is an indicator of an entrustment not meant to
00:21:52.567 --> 00:21:56.671
Intimidate me and stop me from discovering what god has behind
00:21:56.671 --> 00:21:57.606
It.
00:21:57.606 --> 00:22:01.076
I think for a lot of maybe viewers watching right now.
00:22:01.076 --> 00:22:02.944
That stopped me.
00:22:02.944 --> 00:22:04.846
I don't want anybody waiting as long as i did to find your
00:22:04.846 --> 00:22:06.515
Identity.
00:22:06.515 --> 00:22:07.482
That's what the enemy is going after.
00:22:07.482 --> 00:22:10.385
He doesn't want you to see how loved you, and your bad deeds,
00:22:10.385 --> 00:22:13.722
Good deeds, nothing can hinder or give you access that you do
00:22:13.722 --> 00:22:18.794
To who he is and how much he loves you.
00:22:18.794 --> 00:22:20.962
That intimate-- he is never, ever going to leave us.
00:22:20.962 --> 00:22:24.065
Your life could have been horrific.
00:22:24.065 --> 00:22:26.902
I don't know what you walked through.
00:22:26.902 --> 00:22:28.537
Some of you i know what your battles have been.
00:22:28.537 --> 00:22:32.641
But your battles are part of the entrustment,
00:22:32.641 --> 00:22:34.075
Like you said initially.
00:22:34.075 --> 00:22:36.211
That's part of forming your identity.
00:22:36.211 --> 00:22:38.180
I was sexually abused when i was between the ages of three and
00:22:38.180 --> 00:22:41.183
Four.
00:22:41.183 --> 00:22:42.317
Which was horrific.
00:22:42.317 --> 00:22:44.119
I remember for years asking god why that happened?
00:22:44.119 --> 00:22:45.587
I may never know why that happened, except for,
00:22:45.587 --> 00:22:47.789
Out of that has come a revelation of who god is.
00:22:47.789 --> 00:22:51.560
The enemy was trying to shut me down.
00:22:51.560 --> 00:22:53.762
He was trying to stop me with shame.
00:22:53.762 --> 00:22:55.764
Don't allow the battles to bring shame that shuts down who god is
00:22:55.764 --> 00:22:59.701
Calling you to be.
00:22:59.701 --> 00:23:01.036
>> laurie: god is shaping the steward while he's directing the
00:23:01.036 --> 00:23:03.939
Assignment through us.
00:23:03.939 --> 00:23:05.240
So, all of the things that we're entrusted with,
00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:08.143
I had written down about the owners.
00:23:08.143 --> 00:23:11.112
If we are living as a steward or an owner.
00:23:11.112 --> 00:23:13.448
God is the owner.
00:23:13.448 --> 00:23:15.050
We are the stewards.
00:23:15.050 --> 00:23:16.351
Owners demand control.
00:23:16.351 --> 00:23:19.120
Stewards ask for instruction.
00:23:19.120 --> 00:23:20.121
Owners protect their kingdom.
00:23:20.121 --> 00:23:22.557
Stewards build god's kingdom.
00:23:22.557 --> 00:23:24.726
Owners compare.
00:23:24.726 --> 00:23:26.595
Stewards obey.
00:23:26.595 --> 00:23:30.665
The faithful life starts when you stop asking,
00:23:30.665 --> 00:23:33.235
What do i deserve?
00:23:33.235 --> 00:23:35.971
And start asking, lord, what have you entrusted me to,
00:23:35.971 --> 00:23:37.272
And how to you want me to use it for your glory and the good of
00:23:37.272 --> 00:23:39.174
Others?
00:23:39.174 --> 00:23:40.242
>> sheila: i love that.
00:23:40.242 --> 00:23:41.376
>> laurie: and that's what we're supposed to do.
00:23:41.376 --> 00:23:43.111
But that is so foundational.
00:23:43.111 --> 00:23:46.314
If we messed up our identity, it's messed up everything.
00:23:46.314 --> 00:23:48.416
It messes up our relationships.
00:23:48.416 --> 00:23:51.386
If we see ourselves as rejected and victims,
00:23:51.386 --> 00:23:57.425
And all the other words you can think of,
00:23:57.425 --> 00:23:59.261
That affects everything in our life.
00:23:59.261 --> 00:24:02.664
>> sheila: you might hear terms like a steward or an owner.
00:24:02.664 --> 00:24:06.535
What's the difference?
00:24:06.535 --> 00:24:08.770
I think scripture makes it really clear.
00:24:08.770 --> 00:24:11.640
The owner of life, of earth and everything is god the father.
00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:14.376
And we are stewards, which simply means we've been given
00:24:14.376 --> 00:24:20.148
The privilege of working with the lord to do whatever he gives
00:24:20.148 --> 00:24:23.885
To us, every single one of us, whether you're ten years old or
00:24:23.885 --> 00:24:27.556
90.
00:24:27.556 --> 00:24:28.857
If you accepted christ as your savior,
00:24:28.857 --> 00:24:31.359
He has given you gifts to steward.
00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:34.963
When you steward those gifts, he increases those gifts.
00:24:34.963 --> 00:24:37.632
But he is the one who owns everything.
00:24:37.632 --> 00:24:41.436
>> laurie: so if we know our identity in christ,
00:24:41.436 --> 00:24:45.373
Is the bottom line.
00:24:45.373 --> 00:24:46.074
Know who we are.
00:24:46.074 --> 00:24:47.208
I am loved.
00:24:47.208 --> 00:24:48.777
I am chosen.
00:24:48.777 --> 00:24:49.945
I am here for a purpose.
00:24:49.945 --> 00:24:52.647
God has given me gifts and talents.
00:24:52.647 --> 00:24:54.349
No matter if i have one or five, what am i doing with that?
00:24:54.349 --> 00:24:58.053
That is the whole point.
00:24:58.053 --> 00:24:59.754
It's not how much you have.
00:24:59.754 --> 00:25:02.691
It's what do you do with what you have.
00:25:02.691 --> 00:25:03.558
>> sheila: that's huge.
00:25:03.558 --> 00:25:04.726
>> laurie: that's huge for people.
00:25:04.726 --> 00:25:05.994
>> sheila: that is that story you were sharing about the
00:25:05.994 --> 00:25:06.995
Talents.
00:25:06.995 --> 00:25:08.263
Jesus said exactly the same to the guy that had two and
00:25:08.263 --> 00:25:10.065
Produced four, as he said to the guy who had five and produced
00:25:10.065 --> 00:25:12.033
Ten.
00:25:12.033 --> 00:25:13.268
>> laurie: what did you do?
00:25:13.268 --> 00:25:16.104
>> sheila: what's in your hands?
00:25:16.104 --> 00:25:18.406
Even when i think of feeding the 5,000,
00:25:18.406 --> 00:25:20.275
However many thousands there were on the hillside.
00:25:20.275 --> 00:25:23.044
And the disciple saying there's no way.
00:25:23.044 --> 00:25:25.547
If we work for the whole blooming year,
00:25:25.547 --> 00:25:27.916
We couldn't feed all these people.
00:25:27.916 --> 00:25:30.085
The only thing christ asked philip was, what do you have?
00:25:30.085 --> 00:25:33.688
I think that's what he asks?
00:25:33.688 --> 00:25:35.457
What do you have?
00:25:35.457 --> 00:25:36.391
It will never look enough.
00:25:36.391 --> 00:25:38.126
I remember the first time i ever spoke,
00:25:38.126 --> 00:25:42.430
And it put me off for life.
00:25:42.430 --> 00:25:44.499
I was young.
00:25:44.499 --> 00:25:45.800
I was 14.
00:25:45.800 --> 00:25:48.503
Our sunday school teacher who i adored was getting married and
00:25:48.503 --> 00:25:51.406
Moving away.
00:25:51.406 --> 00:25:52.474
I was asked to give the speech.
00:25:52.474 --> 00:25:55.477
We had this beautiful silver service tray with tea and
00:25:55.477 --> 00:25:58.079
Coffee.
00:25:58.079 --> 00:25:58.880
I was to present it.
00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:01.349
Our church, it was not a big church but it was packed.
00:26:01.349 --> 00:26:05.153
I practiced that thing in front of my mum's mirror.
00:26:05.153 --> 00:26:10.392
I practiced all the things i was going to say.
00:26:10.392 --> 00:26:12.594
Because she was an amazing woman, and i got on stage.
00:26:12.594 --> 00:26:16.431
I looked out.
00:26:16.431 --> 00:26:17.899
All these people looking at me.
00:26:17.899 --> 00:26:19.934
And my mind goes totally blank.
00:26:19.934 --> 00:26:23.004
I stand there for what felt like ten minutes.
00:26:23.004 --> 00:26:27.575
All i managed to say was, we're all really surprised you're
00:26:27.575 --> 00:26:28.743
Getting married.
00:26:28.743 --> 00:26:29.778
(laughter)
00:26:29.778 --> 00:26:32.013
It was awful.
00:26:32.013 --> 00:26:35.150
(laughter)
00:26:35.150 --> 00:26:38.720
After that, i will never do that again.
00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:42.157
So don't be afraid of failing.
00:26:42.157 --> 00:26:44.793
Don't be afraid of falling flat on your face.
00:26:44.793 --> 00:26:45.593
Just get up again.
00:26:45.593 --> 00:26:48.163
>> donna: this is my personal opinion at my age.
00:26:48.163 --> 00:26:51.232
I don't think there is such a thing as failure.
00:26:51.232 --> 00:26:53.501
Failure is not getting back up.
00:26:53.501 --> 00:26:55.203
I'm grateful for every mistake i made.
00:26:55.203 --> 00:26:58.139
I have more wisdom from that than i did from doing it right
00:26:58.139 --> 00:27:02.310
All the time.
00:27:02.310 --> 00:27:03.311
>> blynda: i like to say, i didn't fail,
00:27:03.311 --> 00:27:05.013
I'm just not fully formed.
00:27:05.013 --> 00:27:09.017
(laughter)
00:27:09.017 --> 00:27:09.617
>> sheila: amen.
00:27:09.617 --> 00:27:10.552
(laughter).
00:27:10.552 --> 00:27:11.720
>> blynda: i'm not fully formed.
00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:12.420
I'm still growing.
00:27:12.420 --> 00:27:15.990
>> donna: so some of the insecurities that i still deal
00:27:15.990 --> 00:27:18.159
With, i'm 67 this year.
00:27:18.159 --> 00:27:19.160
I still have things i wrestle with.
00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:21.196
I don't think you will end wrestling with those things.
00:27:21.196 --> 00:27:23.932
They are like silent ninjas that show up unexpected.
00:27:23.932 --> 00:27:28.670
Probably from me, because i'm a perfectionist.
00:27:28.670 --> 00:27:32.207
Probably some of the biggest insecurities,
00:27:32.207 --> 00:27:35.143
I didn't do it perfectly.
00:27:35.143 --> 00:27:36.811
Because i like everything in its proper place,
00:27:36.811 --> 00:27:38.713
And i can go back and reassess what i said, what i did.
00:27:38.713 --> 00:27:41.816
A million times i replay it in my head.
00:27:41.816 --> 00:27:44.352
I had to learn, whatever i do, i do it unto the lord.
00:27:44.352 --> 00:27:48.656
It becomes an offering.
00:27:48.656 --> 00:27:51.826
Lord, i'm offering you the best i have right now.
00:27:51.826 --> 00:27:54.362
Help me to learn to do it better for next time,
00:27:54.362 --> 00:27:56.498
And just release it to him.
00:27:56.498 --> 00:27:59.167
It is really important.
00:27:59.167 --> 00:28:00.301
Because otherwise your insecurity will stop you,
00:28:00.301 --> 00:28:02.904
Rather than allowing you to grow from it.
00:28:02.904 --> 00:28:05.073
I think we never stop growing.
00:28:05.073 --> 00:28:08.510
>> laurie: many years ago, holly wagner,
00:28:08.510 --> 00:28:10.178
Who is on the program a lot.
00:28:10.178 --> 00:28:11.880
We all lived in l.a.
00:28:11.880 --> 00:28:14.282
Our children went to school together.
00:28:14.282 --> 00:28:15.083
They started kindergarten.
00:28:15.083 --> 00:28:20.255
One day we dropped our kids off.
00:28:20.255 --> 00:28:22.056
We are all in our p.j.s in the parking lot getting back in our
00:28:22.056 --> 00:28:23.792
Cars.
00:28:23.792 --> 00:28:24.793
But we're talking to each other.
00:28:24.793 --> 00:28:29.264
We hear this horrible noise.
00:28:29.264 --> 00:28:31.032
We turn and we look.
00:28:31.032 --> 00:28:35.069
And there is a big laundry truck that has run over this precious
00:28:35.069 --> 00:28:40.675
Little ladies whose grandchildren were all in
00:28:40.675 --> 00:28:42.110
School.
00:28:42.110 --> 00:28:42.911
She worked there at the school.
00:28:42.911 --> 00:28:46.848
And we bolted out of the cars.
00:28:46.848 --> 00:28:48.750
And matt runs to her.
00:28:48.750 --> 00:28:51.586
He says, so look at all the gifts in practical terms of what
00:28:51.586 --> 00:28:55.824
Happened that day?
00:28:55.824 --> 00:28:57.826
He ran, he took the keys from the comatose driver who was
00:28:57.826 --> 00:29:00.094
Completely frozen.
00:29:00.094 --> 00:29:04.699
He ran to the little lady and held her while she took her last
00:29:04.699 --> 00:29:06.634
Breath.
00:29:06.634 --> 00:29:09.270
I'm over there comforting.
00:29:09.270 --> 00:29:10.071
There's people.
00:29:10.071 --> 00:29:11.406
Everybody automatically gets in the gift that god has given.
00:29:11.406 --> 00:29:15.743
It's mine to comfort this one.
00:29:15.743 --> 00:29:18.780
It's mine to keep the little eyes away.
00:29:18.780 --> 00:29:21.249
Am i called over to this driver?
00:29:21.249 --> 00:29:24.018
Philip, call 911, you know?
00:29:24.018 --> 00:29:28.223
All the things that happened that day.
00:29:28.223 --> 00:29:30.625
And we all have something to give.
00:29:30.625 --> 00:29:33.862
We all can walk out our gifts of what do we naturally do?
00:29:33.862 --> 00:29:40.134
Do we serve people?
00:29:40.134 --> 00:29:42.770
I've got friends that they have 50 people coming over tonight
00:29:42.770 --> 00:29:47.108
For dinner.
00:29:47.108 --> 00:29:48.243
They do it with such grace.
00:29:48.243 --> 00:29:49.811
And that's their calling.
00:29:49.811 --> 00:29:50.612
And their purpose.
00:29:50.612 --> 00:29:53.514
And so, i am not good at that.
00:29:53.514 --> 00:29:55.316
I love that.
00:29:55.316 --> 00:29:56.784
I love they do that, and i'll help you.
00:29:56.784 --> 00:29:59.153
But my call is something different.
00:29:59.153 --> 00:30:00.388
It doesn't matter what your call.
00:30:00.388 --> 00:30:04.926
If you were supposed to do someone else's assignment,
00:30:04.926 --> 00:30:06.294
You would have their anointing, you would have their history.
00:30:06.294 --> 00:30:08.529
You would have their grace.
00:30:08.529 --> 00:30:10.531
And god has not called you to be somebody else.
00:30:10.531 --> 00:30:12.200
>> jenni: i wonder how many times we are so busy trying to
00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:15.303
Understand our identity through someone else's life.
00:30:15.303 --> 00:30:23.745
We are trying to take on everybody else's.
00:30:23.745 --> 00:30:25.413
Can you imagine in that terrible scenario,
00:30:25.413 --> 00:30:27.715
If everybody just ran to the driver?
00:30:27.715 --> 00:30:29.751
What about everybody else?
00:30:29.751 --> 00:30:30.351
There is a calling.
00:30:30.351 --> 00:30:33.154
There's a purpose for all this other space.
00:30:33.154 --> 00:30:34.355
And i wonder if you are listener or you're a viewer,
00:30:34.355 --> 00:30:37.692
And you're watching and you say, that is easy for you to say.
00:30:37.692 --> 00:30:41.029
I wonder if you can slow down and ask god,
00:30:41.029 --> 00:30:44.699
What is it that you want of me?
00:30:44.699 --> 00:30:46.734
What is my specific calling?
00:30:46.734 --> 00:30:49.971
All of us have the same calling.
00:30:49.971 --> 00:30:51.739
How it is manifested is different.
00:30:51.739 --> 00:30:52.974
We are called to love god, love others, like disciples.
00:30:52.974 --> 00:30:54.442
But what does it look like in my life?
00:30:54.442 --> 00:30:57.278
Because have i spent my time trying to be like laurie?
00:30:57.278 --> 00:31:00.682
Have i spent my time trying to be like donna?
00:31:00.682 --> 00:31:02.116
Have i wasted every little bit of how god has created me to be
00:31:02.116 --> 00:31:07.922
Special for this world and this place?
00:31:07.922 --> 00:31:10.191
>> laurie: we need you.
00:31:10.191 --> 00:31:12.427
We don't need another one of me.
00:31:12.427 --> 00:31:13.594
We need each person.
00:31:13.594 --> 00:31:17.365
>> jenni: all that had to happen for us to show up in this place
00:31:17.365 --> 00:31:19.534
In this time.
00:31:19.534 --> 00:31:23.037
And we are wasting it because we're trying to be somebody else
00:31:23.037 --> 00:31:26.941
Or we're throwing ourselves under.
00:31:26.941 --> 00:31:29.410
Saying, i'm nothing.
00:31:29.410 --> 00:31:30.211
And that's so devastating.
00:31:30.211 --> 00:31:31.179
What a loss.
00:31:31.179 --> 00:31:34.315
>> jenni: when you walk in your own gifts,
00:31:34.315 --> 00:31:38.219
The beauty is that what can only be manifested through you will
00:31:38.219 --> 00:31:40.688
Happen through you.
00:31:40.688 --> 00:31:42.557
You can't do what someone else does.
00:31:42.557 --> 00:31:44.325
I can't do what you do.
00:31:44.325 --> 00:31:45.760
That would be a disservice to the world if i try to do what
00:31:45.760 --> 00:31:48.096
Did and if you try to do what i did.
00:31:48.096 --> 00:31:50.431
So, you got to lean into your specific dna creation, calling,
00:31:50.431 --> 00:31:56.504
Life, so that you can do the parts this world needs to make
00:31:56.504 --> 00:31:59.941
This place a better place.
00:31:59.941 --> 00:32:01.843
>> blynda: it makes me think about that scenario again.
00:32:01.843 --> 00:32:04.145
We sometimes equate at maybe a stage or someone else we are
00:32:04.145 --> 00:32:08.282
Looking at as they are walking in their purpose.
00:32:08.282 --> 00:32:12.186
And they know their identity.
00:32:12.186 --> 00:32:14.889
But i think about that day.
00:32:14.889 --> 00:32:19.761
And all of those people put their head on the pillow at
00:32:19.761 --> 00:32:22.830
Night, and they pleased the father that day with what they
00:32:22.830 --> 00:32:24.065
Did.
00:32:24.065 --> 00:32:25.133
With how they-- whatever it was they ran to do.
00:32:25.133 --> 00:32:27.835
Whatever function that was, they pleased the father.
00:32:27.835 --> 00:32:32.006
I want to make sure when i put my head on the pillow and i just
00:32:32.006 --> 00:32:34.409
Done that day.
00:32:34.409 --> 00:32:36.210
It is not so far out there.
00:32:36.210 --> 00:32:40.381
Big and stages.
00:32:40.381 --> 00:32:41.716
Today, did i submit my heart to him?
00:32:41.716 --> 00:32:43.918
Did i surrender all my minutes to him?
00:32:43.918 --> 00:32:47.922
For me, that is where it starts being more convicting.
00:32:47.922 --> 00:32:52.360
If i scale it down like that to the day, i'm like, okay,
00:32:52.360 --> 00:32:55.797
You know what?
00:32:55.797 --> 00:32:57.598
I might be wasting my time.
00:32:57.598 --> 00:33:00.968
I have to answer for it.
00:33:00.968 --> 00:33:01.702
I want to be a good steward.
00:33:01.702 --> 00:33:04.806
I think we get lost in the bigness of the identity or the
00:33:04.806 --> 00:33:07.008
Calling or the purpose, versus today.
00:33:07.008 --> 00:33:10.411
And what can i do today?
00:33:10.411 --> 00:33:12.547
>> donna: it's so good.
00:33:12.547 --> 00:33:13.915
It's the difference between feeling entitled or entrusted
00:33:13.915 --> 00:33:15.750
Simply because, i can go to a restaurant and feel entitled to
00:33:15.750 --> 00:33:19.954
Good service.
00:33:19.954 --> 00:33:23.291
And then the waiter or waitress comes over and they're having a
00:33:23.291 --> 00:33:24.492
Really hard time.
00:33:24.492 --> 00:33:25.359
And my entitlement is, wrong place.
00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:27.061
I'm never coming here again.
00:33:27.061 --> 00:33:28.863
But missing that i've been entrusted with a moment for that
00:33:28.863 --> 00:33:33.167
Waiter or that waitress.
00:33:33.167 --> 00:33:34.669
And i've had that happen over and over again.
00:33:34.669 --> 00:33:36.204
>> sheila: that's so good, donna.
00:33:36.204 --> 00:33:37.538
>> laurie: what happens when we go get in the car and we're
00:33:37.538 --> 00:33:40.575
Gonna drive home and there's a lot of traffic out there?
00:33:40.575 --> 00:33:42.310
What is our purpose then?
00:33:42.310 --> 00:33:44.545
Is it running people off the road?
00:33:44.545 --> 00:33:47.715
All that stuff.
00:33:47.715 --> 00:33:48.716
That daily walk.
00:33:48.716 --> 00:33:52.620
That living in purpose with everything we do,
00:33:52.620 --> 00:33:55.857
Every scenario consideration, every minute of the day of just
00:33:55.857 --> 00:33:59.727
Walking the way we're supposed to.
00:33:59.727 --> 00:34:01.929
>> donna: i had a situation yesterday.
00:34:01.929 --> 00:34:03.764
I was on the airplane.
00:34:03.764 --> 00:34:05.199
I don't know about y'all, when i travel,
00:34:05.199 --> 00:34:07.435
I had just been with family, had our granddaughter for a week.
00:34:07.435 --> 00:34:09.804
I was exhausted.
00:34:09.804 --> 00:34:11.139
I just wanted to lock in to nothing.
00:34:11.139 --> 00:34:15.443
But next to me was this businessman.
00:34:15.443 --> 00:34:19.914
He had his phone out the entire flight,
00:34:19.914 --> 00:34:20.915
And he had his window shade open.
00:34:20.915 --> 00:34:25.353
And the sun kept reflecting on his thing into my eyes.
00:34:25.353 --> 00:34:27.288
So i just very politely said, do you mind,
00:34:27.288 --> 00:34:29.190
You're giving me a migraine.
00:34:29.190 --> 00:34:31.392
He said, i'm so sorry.
00:34:31.392 --> 00:34:35.730
I won't do it again.
00:34:35.730 --> 00:34:36.497
But he did it the entire flight.
00:34:36.497 --> 00:34:39.767
And so, halfway through the flight i was so irritated.
00:34:39.767 --> 00:34:42.603
I was like, i bet his wife has problems with him.
00:34:42.603 --> 00:34:43.638
He doesn't listen to his wife, or his boss.
00:34:43.638 --> 00:34:44.805
I went on this whole thing.
00:34:44.805 --> 00:34:49.877
I don't like him.
00:34:49.877 --> 00:34:52.647
I hope he doesn't try to talk to me,
00:34:52.647 --> 00:34:55.316
Cuz i am sure i'm not talking--
00:34:55.316 --> 00:34:56.417
(laughter)
00:34:56.417 --> 00:34:57.385
Anyways, i go through this whole thing.
00:34:57.385 --> 00:34:58.085
You all too holy for that.
00:34:58.085 --> 00:34:59.253
>> sheila: been there done that.
00:34:59.253 --> 00:35:00.288
Been there done that.
00:35:00.288 --> 00:35:03.090
(laughter)
00:35:03.090 --> 00:35:04.225
>> donna: and i'm feeling irritated.
00:35:04.225 --> 00:35:05.560
Halfway through the flight, god said,
00:35:05.560 --> 00:35:09.897
What if i put him next to you to pray for him?
00:35:09.897 --> 00:35:11.165
So i spent the rest of the flight just praying for this man
00:35:11.165 --> 00:35:15.336
That god would touch him.
00:35:15.336 --> 00:35:16.470
As we were landing.
00:35:16.470 --> 00:35:18.139
I said, sir, is there anything i can pray for?
00:35:18.139 --> 00:35:19.140
He said, no, i'm good.
00:35:19.140 --> 00:35:19.974
So i was irritated again.
00:35:19.974 --> 00:35:21.742
I'm just going to pray for the fact that you think you're good.
00:35:21.742 --> 00:35:25.179
Because every person is going through something we don't know
00:35:25.179 --> 00:35:27.281
About.
00:35:27.281 --> 00:35:28.149
Right?
00:35:28.149 --> 00:35:29.183
I have been entrusted to steward a moment.
00:35:29.183 --> 00:35:31.419
I get so busy trying to feel-- i feel entitled to accomplish
00:35:31.419 --> 00:35:35.456
What i want to accomplish, that i miss this moment.
00:35:35.456 --> 00:35:40.228
I think we forget.
00:35:40.228 --> 00:35:41.996
The whole thing about the talents is,
00:35:41.996 --> 00:35:45.299
We sometimes don't feel like we have enough to give.
00:35:45.299 --> 00:35:46.400
But prayer is enough.
00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:47.101
That may be enough.
00:35:47.101 --> 00:35:48.603
Maybe you don't talk to the person.
00:35:48.603 --> 00:35:49.637
The guy hid his one talents.
00:35:49.637 --> 00:35:52.473
Because he assumed that the master was harsh.
00:35:52.473 --> 00:35:57.511
And when we lose sight of who god is, and that he's good god,
00:35:57.511 --> 00:36:00.281
We lose sight of our identity and what he has entrusted us
00:36:00.281 --> 00:36:03.284
With.
00:36:03.284 --> 00:36:04.018
He's not a harsh taskmaster.
00:36:04.018 --> 00:36:05.720
He loves us and is holding on to us.
00:36:05.720 --> 00:36:08.389
If i hadn't prayed for that guy, god still loves me.
00:36:08.389 --> 00:36:11.459
But he's faithful and he's good.
00:36:11.459 --> 00:36:13.527
Sometimes we make the entrustment and the stewardship
00:36:13.527 --> 00:36:15.763
So big, and then we have executive function issues.
00:36:15.763 --> 00:36:20.268
We can't figure out where to start.
00:36:20.268 --> 00:36:21.602
What if we just start by, god, who am i supposed to see?
00:36:21.602 --> 00:36:24.705
What do you want me to hear?
00:36:24.705 --> 00:36:26.707
We will start with that daily prayer.
00:36:26.707 --> 00:36:28.342
>> jenni: what i love about your story is that it's an ordinary
00:36:28.342 --> 00:36:31.646
Story.
00:36:31.646 --> 00:36:32.680
We are always expecting the extraordinary.
00:36:32.680 --> 00:36:34.815
And that guy came to know jesus.
00:36:34.815 --> 00:36:35.783
We don't know what's going on with him.
00:36:35.783 --> 00:36:37.952
But that's normal.
00:36:37.952 --> 00:36:40.254
>> donna: we can pray for him right now.
00:36:40.254 --> 00:36:42.023
In jesus' name.
00:36:42.023 --> 00:36:43.391
>> jenni: in jesus' name.
00:36:43.391 --> 00:36:44.025
I love that story.
00:36:44.025 --> 00:36:45.426
>> laurie: i think we have the misconception that stewards
00:36:45.426 --> 00:36:49.597
Steward big things and, big events.
00:36:49.597 --> 00:36:51.966
And big moments in our life.
00:36:51.966 --> 00:36:55.936
I find the smallest moments in my life are the ones that
00:36:55.936 --> 00:36:59.607
Probably are the most important to steward over.
00:36:59.607 --> 00:37:00.975
Those times when god uses you, your time, your influence,
00:37:00.975 --> 00:37:07.315
Maybe your resources.
00:37:07.315 --> 00:37:09.617
Your hug, your smile, your encouraging word to somebody
00:37:09.617 --> 00:37:14.622
That needs it.
00:37:14.622 --> 00:37:15.423
That's how god helps people.
00:37:15.423 --> 00:37:20.194
That's how god shows himself through us.
00:37:20.194 --> 00:37:23.497
So we need to take every moment and steward well over the sweet
00:37:23.497 --> 00:37:27.101
Moments in our life.
00:37:27.101 --> 00:37:29.904
Over the important moments of our life.
00:37:29.904 --> 00:37:31.972
To speak words of encouragement.
00:37:31.972 --> 00:37:34.909
To love people.
00:37:34.909 --> 00:37:36.544
Love people well.
00:37:36.544 --> 00:37:38.446
I find that's the best stewardship of my time are the
00:37:38.446 --> 00:37:42.883
Small moments in my life.
00:37:42.883 --> 00:37:49.690
>> donna: so 1 peter 4:10 says this.
00:37:49.690 --> 00:37:52.860
"as each one has received a special gift,
00:37:52.860 --> 00:37:55.763
Employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the
00:37:55.763 --> 00:38:00.034
Manifold grace of god."
00:38:00.034 --> 00:38:02.136
So, for years, i felt like,
00:38:02.136 --> 00:38:05.005
The story of the talents, the five, the three and the one.
00:38:05.005 --> 00:38:08.409
I felt like i was the one talent person.
00:38:08.409 --> 00:38:10.811
I had nothing to give.
00:38:10.811 --> 00:38:15.116
God has created each of us with a gift, and discovering it,
00:38:15.116 --> 00:38:18.552
Is part of the joy and journey.
00:38:18.552 --> 00:38:21.389
I want to encourage you.
00:38:21.389 --> 00:38:23.124
You are not giftless.
00:38:23.124 --> 00:38:24.425
If you have the ability to smile.
00:38:24.425 --> 00:38:26.460
If you have the ability to encourage.
00:38:26.460 --> 00:38:29.163
The word encourage means to give somebody courage.
00:38:29.163 --> 00:38:32.099
That in itself is a gift.
00:38:32.099 --> 00:38:33.401
Start there.
00:38:33.401 --> 00:38:36.337
Watch what god does as you begin to step out day by day.
00:38:36.337 --> 00:38:38.205
Ask god, how can i discover, and use the gift you have given me?
00:38:38.205 --> 00:38:41.375
Don't wait as long as i did to discover it.
00:38:41.375 --> 00:38:45.479
Because we all need what you have.
00:38:45.479 --> 00:38:49.350
Somebody is on the other side of that gift whose life is going to
00:38:49.350 --> 00:38:53.087
Be transformed by one act of obedience.
00:38:53.087 --> 00:38:55.055
>> laurie: be the first to know all of the latest "better
00:38:55.055 --> 00:38:57.558
Together" updates.
00:38:57.558 --> 00:38:59.393
Visit bettertogether.tv to sign up four our weekly emails,
00:38:59.393 --> 00:39:02.496
And never miss the latest news.
00:39:02.496 --> 00:39:05.008
And never miss the latest news.
00:39:05.008 --> 00:39:07.034
♪ music ♪
00:39:07.034 --> 00:39:09.336
>> blynda: so my husband and i are involved in our young adults
00:39:09.336 --> 00:39:12.239
Ministry at our church.
00:39:12.239 --> 00:39:12.973
And i love this age.
00:39:12.973 --> 00:39:16.644
It is 18 to 29.
00:39:16.644 --> 00:39:19.447
I love it.
00:39:19.447 --> 00:39:23.584
So we had a couple come into the ministry that both of them are
00:39:23.584 --> 00:39:27.154
New believers.
00:39:27.154 --> 00:39:28.722
Hungry, hungry.
00:39:28.722 --> 00:39:32.560
And one of the weeks the girl came up to me and said,
00:39:32.560 --> 00:39:34.428
I've got great news.
00:39:34.428 --> 00:39:37.531
She said, me and my boyfriend got an apartment together.
00:39:37.531 --> 00:39:40.835
And she was saying this to say, they made a great financial
00:39:40.835 --> 00:39:45.873
Decision to save money.
00:39:45.873 --> 00:39:46.674
And in that moment, i'm like,
00:39:46.674 --> 00:39:49.543
Lord, what is the way to steward this moment in love.
00:39:49.543 --> 00:39:56.917
I don't even know what i said to her.
00:39:56.917 --> 00:39:58.352
I loved on her.
00:39:58.352 --> 00:39:59.487
>> laurie: we want to know what you said to her.
00:39:59.487 --> 00:40:04.191
(laughter)
00:40:04.191 --> 00:40:05.125
>> blynda: i didn't congratulate her.
00:40:05.125 --> 00:40:06.494
But then they faithfully would come every tuesday.
00:40:06.494 --> 00:40:08.729
I would watch them.
00:40:08.729 --> 00:40:10.831
And they would both be raising their hands.
00:40:10.831 --> 00:40:11.932
And when the message was being presented,
00:40:11.932 --> 00:40:15.302
They would be in the word.
00:40:15.302 --> 00:40:17.371
I could see a hunger.
00:40:17.371 --> 00:40:18.405
So i just began to pray.
00:40:18.405 --> 00:40:20.274
I thought, my mothering them is not going to be as effective as
00:40:20.274 --> 00:40:23.511
My praying for them.
00:40:23.511 --> 00:40:25.246
So i began to pray.
00:40:25.246 --> 00:40:27.715
Lord, i love what you are doing in them.
00:40:27.715 --> 00:40:29.216
I love that they're hungry.
00:40:29.216 --> 00:40:30.384
They are a little misguided.
00:40:30.384 --> 00:40:31.418
Because they don't know you.
00:40:31.418 --> 00:40:32.419
They've not walked with you very long.
00:40:32.419 --> 00:40:34.522
About a week and a half later, my phone rings.
00:40:34.522 --> 00:40:36.590
It was a number i didn't recognize,
00:40:36.590 --> 00:40:38.726
Which i don't normally answer.
00:40:38.726 --> 00:40:40.261
I have to be honest.
00:40:40.261 --> 00:40:41.362
But i it answer this time.
00:40:41.362 --> 00:40:43.531
It was both of them on the calling together.
00:40:43.531 --> 00:40:46.600
Hi, miss blynda.
00:40:46.600 --> 00:40:48.736
I was like, it's so great to hear from you guys.
00:40:48.736 --> 00:40:50.271
What's going on?
00:40:50.271 --> 00:40:51.605
We wanted to know if we can talk to you about something really
00:40:51.605 --> 00:40:53.340
Quickly.
00:40:53.340 --> 00:40:53.874
I said, of course.
00:40:53.874 --> 00:40:55.643
Which is another thing.
00:40:55.643 --> 00:40:58.312
I had a lot going on that day.
00:40:58.312 --> 00:40:59.680
And i had to be okay to pause it.
00:40:59.680 --> 00:41:00.781
But it was like i knew lord was doing something.
00:41:00.781 --> 00:41:03.751
I wanted to be part of the conversation.
00:41:03.751 --> 00:41:05.819
And, they said to me, we've just been praying after tuesday
00:41:05.819 --> 00:41:10.658
Nights.
00:41:10.658 --> 00:41:12.092
We've been going home and praying,
00:41:12.092 --> 00:41:14.328
And just asking the lord to show us what we are supposed to learn
00:41:14.328 --> 00:41:16.330
From that.
00:41:16.330 --> 00:41:17.698
And, i think we are hearing god say we're not supposed to live
00:41:17.698 --> 00:41:21.168
Together.
00:41:21.168 --> 00:41:22.202
At this moment they signed a six-month lease,
00:41:22.202 --> 00:41:25.573
And they have only been in the lease one month.
00:41:25.573 --> 00:41:27.274
They have a lot to lose to make this phone call.
00:41:27.274 --> 00:41:30.110
We don't think we are supposed to.
00:41:30.110 --> 00:41:32.246
Do you think it sounds right that we're not supposed to be
00:41:32.246 --> 00:41:34.481
Living together?
00:41:34.481 --> 00:41:36.083
So i got to share with them on the phone god's design for
00:41:36.083 --> 00:41:40.321
Marriage.
00:41:40.321 --> 00:41:40.888
It was so beautiful.
00:41:40.888 --> 00:41:42.389
They then left that conversation.
00:41:42.389 --> 00:41:44.959
We talked to the benevolence area of our church to see how we
00:41:44.959 --> 00:41:48.195
Could set up.
00:41:48.195 --> 00:41:49.763
It was a financial burden to make this tough decision.
00:41:49.763 --> 00:41:52.366
We wanted to walk alongside them.
00:41:52.366 --> 00:41:54.568
It was-- the lord worked it out.
00:41:54.568 --> 00:41:56.437
They found a different place for her to go.
00:41:56.437 --> 00:41:57.972
They finished out the lease.
00:41:57.972 --> 00:41:59.807
And they are doing so great.
00:41:59.807 --> 00:42:01.875
They come every tuesday.
00:42:01.875 --> 00:42:02.776
They are on fire for the lord.
00:42:02.776 --> 00:42:03.711
They surrendered their lives.
00:42:03.711 --> 00:42:05.779
It's that kind of thing.
00:42:05.779 --> 00:42:08.749
Did i know when we began working with young adults that i would
00:42:08.749 --> 00:42:12.820
Have an opportunity for those two people to be changed by what
00:42:12.820 --> 00:42:14.622
God was doing and to be part of it?
00:42:14.622 --> 00:42:15.956
I maybe helped them in some way, but i was way more blessed being
00:42:15.956 --> 00:42:21.095
Part of their journey than me being part of theirs.
00:42:21.095 --> 00:42:24.798
>> sheila: the wisdom god gave you as to how to approach that
00:42:24.798 --> 00:42:28.435
Is huge.
00:42:28.435 --> 00:42:31.772
>> donna: i think it's so important to ask god for wisdom
00:42:31.772 --> 00:42:34.274
When you walk out your calling.
00:42:34.274 --> 00:42:35.376
I think all of us are called to follow jesus.
00:42:35.376 --> 00:42:38.579
That's the ultimate thing we are called to.
00:42:38.579 --> 00:42:40.047
Attached to that calling, there is usually an assignment.
00:42:40.047 --> 00:42:42.883
That usually is determined by the season you are walking in.
00:42:42.883 --> 00:42:48.122
When i had kids at home, my season was being a stay-at-home
00:42:48.122 --> 00:42:52.793
Mom, speaking into their lives.
00:42:52.793 --> 00:42:54.962
And if i saw another mom or i saw somebody else that needed
00:42:54.962 --> 00:42:58.165
Encouragement.
00:42:58.165 --> 00:42:59.199
That's what i used in those moments.
00:42:59.199 --> 00:43:01.468
Because if we are not careful, what happens,
00:43:01.468 --> 00:43:04.004
You can become unsatisfied with the season you are in,
00:43:04.004 --> 00:43:07.307
And wish for something else.
00:43:07.307 --> 00:43:09.209
I think it is important to be present where you are.
00:43:09.209 --> 00:43:13.213
Ask god to show you how to use the season you are in right now
00:43:13.213 --> 00:43:17.651
Best at encouraging, ministering,
00:43:17.651 --> 00:43:20.554
Or speaking into someone else.
00:43:20.554 --> 00:43:21.789
Don't let your failure stop you.
00:43:21.789 --> 00:43:23.991
How you push past those failures is the wisdom god gives you for
00:43:23.991 --> 00:43:26.060
Somebody else.
00:43:26.060 --> 00:43:27.795
>> sheila: when i was in my, gosh, late 30's, ruth graham,
00:43:27.795 --> 00:43:33.233
Billy graham's wife was a huge mentor to me.
00:43:33.233 --> 00:43:37.671
She would sometimes invite me to the house when mr. graham would
00:43:37.671 --> 00:43:41.108
Be off at a crusade.
00:43:41.108 --> 00:43:42.476
And, when she passed, i was really sad.
00:43:42.476 --> 00:43:47.881
I went to where she and mr. graham are buried together.
00:43:47.881 --> 00:43:51.218
On her tombstone, i read it and i laughed.
00:43:51.218 --> 00:43:56.957
It was so ruth.
00:43:56.957 --> 00:43:57.891
It said construction finally complete.
00:43:57.891 --> 00:44:00.461
Thanks for your patience.
00:44:00.461 --> 00:44:03.263
That is the absolute truth.
00:44:03.263 --> 00:44:04.431
Right to our last breath.
00:44:04.431 --> 00:44:07.434
I'm still not done yet.
00:44:07.434 --> 00:44:09.002
God is still teaching me.
00:44:09.002 --> 00:44:11.572
I think there is something beautiful about that.
00:44:11.572 --> 00:44:13.607
>> laurie: you had to steward time, influence, your resources,
00:44:13.607 --> 00:44:17.911
Everything that you did was stewardship of what god has
00:44:17.911 --> 00:44:24.284
Given you to do.
00:44:24.284 --> 00:44:25.219
>> sheila: absolutely.
00:44:25.219 --> 00:44:27.755
>> blynda: it's for the purpose of affecting lives.
00:44:27.755 --> 00:44:32.526
It is not just for tally marks, for god to be like,
00:44:32.526 --> 00:44:34.595
You've done enough.
00:44:34.595 --> 00:44:36.230
Here are more jewels for your crown.
00:44:36.230 --> 00:44:37.831
We are here for others.
00:44:37.831 --> 00:44:43.604
To lead them into a deeper relationship with christ.
00:44:43.604 --> 00:44:49.109
That is where the reward is.
00:44:49.109 --> 00:44:51.245
>> laurie: faithfulness matters more than visibility.
00:44:51.245 --> 00:44:53.380
It is not what we do to self-promote ourselves.
00:44:53.380 --> 00:44:57.451
It's god doing something on the inside of us,
00:44:57.451 --> 00:45:03.290
And giving us what's in our hand,
00:45:03.290 --> 00:45:07.227
What we already have in stewarding over that well.
00:45:07.227 --> 00:45:08.428
I love that story.
00:45:08.428 --> 00:45:10.230
That is exactly what we are talking about.
00:45:10.230 --> 00:45:13.433
Knowing your identity.
00:45:13.433 --> 00:45:14.334
Spreading it out.
00:45:14.334 --> 00:45:15.869
Letting everybody know theirs.
00:45:15.869 --> 00:45:17.037
>> blynda: and letting people be where they are.
00:45:17.037 --> 00:45:19.139
Trusting god.
00:45:19.139 --> 00:45:20.307
>> laurie: trusting god to take care of that for you.
00:45:20.307 --> 00:45:23.477
You didn't have to come down and go,
00:45:23.477 --> 00:45:28.248
Y'all shouldn't be living together before you're married.
00:45:28.248 --> 00:45:30.651
You prayed and god moved on their hearts.
00:45:30.651 --> 00:45:32.452
They'll never forget how they felt.
00:45:32.452 --> 00:45:34.588
They'll never forget hearing from god.
00:45:34.588 --> 00:45:36.456
>> blynda: rather than a person telling them.
00:45:36.456 --> 00:45:37.291
>> laurie: totally.
00:45:37.291 --> 00:45:42.262
And maybe, man, i think maybe god's stirring my heart.
00:45:42.262 --> 00:45:43.430
They'll never forget that.
00:45:43.430 --> 00:45:45.032
>> sheila: that's beautiful.
00:45:45.032 --> 00:45:50.504
And when we look at somebody else.
00:45:50.504 --> 00:45:51.805
You talked about that, jenni, almost trying to mimic their
00:45:51.805 --> 00:45:52.840
Thing.
00:45:52.840 --> 00:45:53.907
One of the most embarrassing experiences ever,
00:45:53.907 --> 00:45:55.309
Was when i joined a woman's conference,
00:45:55.309 --> 00:45:57.177
And one of the speakers was a woman called patsy claremont who
00:45:57.177 --> 00:46:00.747
Is very funny.
00:46:00.747 --> 00:46:02.783
She does very physical humor.
00:46:02.783 --> 00:46:04.651
And for some reason, my husband and i got in our heads that that
00:46:04.651 --> 00:46:10.624
Would be good for me.
00:46:10.624 --> 00:46:14.194
(laughter)
00:46:14.194 --> 00:46:15.195
I'm not into physical humor.
00:46:15.195 --> 00:46:16.430
I like to laugh.
00:46:16.430 --> 00:46:19.700
I still couldn't believe i let him talk me into this.
00:46:19.700 --> 00:46:22.269
You have this book that talks about being wonderful in god's
00:46:22.269 --> 00:46:27.207
Eyes.
00:46:27.207 --> 00:46:28.308
Why don't you go on the stage like wonder woman.
00:46:28.308 --> 00:46:29.376
Have a cloak.
00:46:29.376 --> 00:46:32.579
And so, they introduce me.
00:46:32.579 --> 00:46:34.581
It's in the round.
00:46:34.581 --> 00:46:35.916
There are like 14,000 women.
00:46:35.916 --> 00:46:38.785
And i start to run around-- the second i'm on the platform.
00:46:38.785 --> 00:46:41.321
I'm like, jesus, return now.
00:46:41.321 --> 00:46:42.389
I beg you.
00:46:42.389 --> 00:46:43.156
I beg you with everything in me.
00:46:43.156 --> 00:46:45.158
I just knew this is awful.
00:46:45.158 --> 00:46:50.397
But it was realizing, why would you try to have the gift of
00:46:50.397 --> 00:46:52.499
Somebody else?
00:46:52.499 --> 00:46:54.534
If she had done it, it would have been hilarious.
00:46:54.534 --> 00:46:56.036
I felt like a nut case.
00:46:56.036 --> 00:46:58.405
>> blynda: i'm sure you looked really cute.
00:46:58.405 --> 00:47:00.974
>> sheila: no, not so cute.
00:47:00.974 --> 00:47:03.944
Not really.
00:47:03.944 --> 00:47:05.345
Because i didn't know if i was suppose to be flying.
00:47:05.345 --> 00:47:08.548
No, she just flies.
00:47:08.548 --> 00:47:09.616
It was tragic.
00:47:09.616 --> 00:47:12.119
>> jenni: like in the same breath if we tried to do what
00:47:12.119 --> 00:47:14.621
You-- if i tried to do what you do, i would look like a fool.
00:47:14.621 --> 00:47:17.424
So we need to be okay, staying in our own lanes,
00:47:17.424 --> 00:47:22.162
And loving how god created us.
00:47:22.162 --> 00:47:24.698
Which is easier said than done.
00:47:24.698 --> 00:47:26.133
If we keep telling ourselves.
00:47:26.133 --> 00:47:32.239
I had to write certain verses as a reminder with an expo pen on
00:47:32.239 --> 00:47:36.643
My mirror as i was getting ready in the morning.
00:47:36.643 --> 00:47:38.779
I would say it out loud.
00:47:38.779 --> 00:47:40.714
Not just read it, but say it out loud.
00:47:40.714 --> 00:47:41.682
Even to this day, it's hard to believe.
00:47:41.682 --> 00:47:43.650
I have to keep doing it.
00:47:43.650 --> 00:47:44.952
I believe it more now than i did ten years ago, 20 years ago.
00:47:44.952 --> 00:47:47.688
So it is something we have to take on actively.
00:47:47.688 --> 00:47:51.258
>> sheila: i think one of the biggest pitfalls for many of us
00:47:51.258 --> 00:47:56.463
Is comparison.
00:47:56.463 --> 00:47:57.798
You might look at somebody else in your church or someone in
00:47:57.798 --> 00:48:00.667
Your small group and think, they do things that way.
00:48:00.667 --> 00:48:02.102
I should try and do thing that way.
00:48:02.102 --> 00:48:04.771
That is what i was like.
00:48:04.771 --> 00:48:06.239
When i first began speaking with a conference called women of
00:48:06.239 --> 00:48:07.975
Faith, i can remember listening to the first two speakers
00:48:07.975 --> 00:48:11.678
Thinking, there's no way i can do that.
00:48:11.678 --> 00:48:12.312
I tried to be like them.
00:48:12.312 --> 00:48:16.750
And god said something so liberating to me.
00:48:16.750 --> 00:48:18.752
He said, sheila, run in your own lane.
00:48:18.752 --> 00:48:20.287
God has made you unique.
00:48:20.287 --> 00:48:23.357
You can admire other people and pray for them and bless them,
00:48:23.357 --> 00:48:26.293
But be who god called you to be.
00:48:26.293 --> 00:48:29.296
>> laurie: you are interested, not overlooked.
00:48:29.296 --> 00:48:31.198
You are appointed for faithfulness,
00:48:31.198 --> 00:48:33.400
Not for comparison.
00:48:33.400 --> 00:48:35.969
You are god's workmanship with a real assignment and not an
00:48:35.969 --> 00:48:37.571
Accident.
00:48:37.571 --> 00:48:38.438
>> donna: beautiful.
00:48:38.438 --> 00:48:39.706
>> laurie: so we all have an assignment.
00:48:39.706 --> 00:48:41.241
I always have cringed when someone has said-- then we had
00:48:41.241 --> 00:48:46.480
Our accident, maybe another child.
00:48:46.480 --> 00:48:48.415
I just thought, oh, man, that's probably the biggest blessing in
00:48:48.415 --> 00:48:52.986
Your life.
00:48:52.986 --> 00:48:54.755
Nobody's an accident.
00:48:54.755 --> 00:48:58.291
Nobody's not here by design, no matter how you got here.
00:48:58.291 --> 00:49:00.927
>> sheila: and we have the whole week to talk about this.
00:49:00.927 --> 00:49:02.829
Can't wait.
00:49:02.829 --> 00:49:04.197
So let's pray god's people.
00:49:04.197 --> 00:49:08.735
Lord, jesus, how we love to be in your presence.
00:49:08.735 --> 00:49:15.275
You just welcome us.
00:49:15.275 --> 00:49:17.778
On our best days and our worst days, you're always the same.
00:49:17.778 --> 00:49:21.715
You welcome us.
00:49:21.715 --> 00:49:23.050
So lord, i want to pray right now for this whole week that you
00:49:23.050 --> 00:49:30.490
Would help us unpack in a way that would be helpful,
00:49:30.490 --> 00:49:32.559
And build people up to understand what it really is to
00:49:32.559 --> 00:49:34.461
Have our identity in you.
00:49:34.461 --> 00:49:42.102
And not that you gifted some people and not others,
00:49:42.102 --> 00:49:44.137
But every single one of us has been entrusted by someone.
00:49:44.137 --> 00:49:46.039
So lord, we're going to pause a few moments at some point today
00:49:46.039 --> 00:49:49.476
And ask you, holy spirit, show me what you've entrusted me with
00:49:49.476 --> 00:49:52.546
And give me the grace and the courage to take the first step,
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In jesus' name.
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Amen.
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>> laurie: amen, amen, amen.
00:49:59.786 --> 00:50:02.856
>> laurie: connect with us on social media and,
00:50:02.856 --> 00:50:04.891
Let us know how or team can pray for you.
00:50:04.891 --> 00:50:12.065
♪ music ♪
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>> sheila: there's something about the moment when you
00:50:14.801 --> 00:50:17.904
Realize exactly who you are in christ that changes everything.
00:50:17.904 --> 00:50:21.007
I spent so much of my life trying so hard to be perfect,
00:50:21.007 --> 00:50:23.477
And trying to do all the right things.
00:50:23.477 --> 00:50:26.413
Because i thought if i do all the right things,
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Then god will bless me, and if i do the wrong things, he won't.
00:50:29.916 --> 00:50:32.986
Then one day i discovered the glorious truth that god loves us
00:50:32.986 --> 00:50:37.023
Because of who he is.
00:50:37.023 --> 00:50:38.024
Not because of our behavior.
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When you realize how much you're loved, it changes everything.
00:50:40.227 --> 00:50:46.733
>> laurie: stream full episodes of "better together" on demand.
00:50:46.733 --> 00:50:48.635
Go to bettertogether.tv to stream all of our latest
00:50:48.635 --> 00:50:51.371
Conversations.
00:50:51.371 --> 00:50:54.407
♪ music ♪
00:50:54.407 --> 00:50:54.407

Understand Your Identity | Better Together Episode 1171

June 15, 2026 | S8 E1171 | 50:59

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