Road To Redemption
Road To Redemption
No Condemnation in Christ with Travis Kring - Audio Podcast
What if the loudest voice in your head isn’t telling the truth about you? We open Romans 8 and get painfully honest about the difference between guilt and shame, why condemnation crushes identity, and how surrender to Jesus opens the door to real freedom. This isn’t theory. It’s Scripture paired with neuroscience, testimony, and practical steps that help you stop staring into the rearview mirror and actually drive toward a bright 2026.
We share how small, consistent practices—daily time in the Bible, a Christ-centered church, and a trusted small group—reshape the stories we believe. You’ll hear why neuroplasticity matters for spiritual growth, how Scripture-based self-talk rewires the mind, and what happens when eighteen strangers sit in a room, tell the truth, and discover they’re not alone. From parenting analogies that illuminate God’s unwavering love to the simple act of writing three focused prayers for the year, we map a path that is clear, doable, and anchored in grace.
If shame has been telling you that your worst moment defines you, come hear how love speaks a better word. We get practical about consistency, community, and the courage to slow down and look people in the eye. Expect encouragement, concrete tools, and a strong reminder: there is no condemnation for those in Christ. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs hope, and leave a review to tell us your first step toward freedom this year.
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Welcome to Road to Redemption. I'm John Martin. So excited to be here today. Once again with my good friend Travis Kring. Travis. Love you, man. Love you, love you. You wore that today. The freedom.
SPEAKER_02:I wore my Charlie Kirk freedom today. I thought it would be appropriate for our discussion.
SPEAKER_00:It is. I so love that because that's what that's what we all seek. We all want freedom. Yes. And the way we get that is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. So I love that you wore that. And we uh we wanted to get back together today because you and I were talking about, you know, um just just the world in general, but particularly a lot of men, you know, that we we come across with and and and women too have this issue of of condemnation. Yes. Um and we wanted to talk a little bit about that. And I just wanted to start off by reading uh from Romans 8, where it says uh verse 1, it says, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. And I just say wow, every time I I read that, because I I think that a lot, you know, we all experience it to some degree of guilt and shame of our past, and we all kind of can struggle with thinking, can we are we truly forgiven of these sins? Yes. And and you know, can, and and and it's it's it's hard, you know, for us as humans to really truly believe that we are forgiven. Exactly. We are all sinners of God.
SPEAKER_02:Can we really be free from what we've done? Can we really have a peace? Can we really have the chains, the handcuffs taken off? And that is really hard. It it's a powerful tool the devil uses to hang on to us, hang on to us. We may have, we may have committed some deep, dark sins that have impacted a lot of people. Yeah. Been convicted, repented, turned from those sins, and truly are forgiven. But we can't believe that we're free. We can't believe that we are new creations in Christ. And that's the difference in guilt and shame. Guilt's what we've done. It's not who you are. But the devil tells us with shame, he says, no, this isn't what you've done. This is who you are. This is who you'll always be. And then we live in this in this lack of joy and this fear and this uncertainty and this downright shame, where I'll never be the same. I'll never be able to get out of this, I'll never be able to outrun the consequences of what I've done. And that verse says it all. And men need to hear that. We need to know that. We need to know that no matter the depth of our sin, no matter the amount of people that we've impacted and the consequences that have been suffered and the pain and suffering that we've caused and been through, we can be free. We can have a whole new life and let God truly lead us and impact us to be able to say, you got a big, bright, beautiful future ahead of you. And that's a tough one. And that verse really shares it and says it. But it's hard, John. You know it is, it's tough.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Well, and it it talks about the the spirit, you know, as well. That um, you know, if for those who are led by the spirit of God or children of God, um, yeah, we really need to have the spirit of God living in us.
SPEAKER_02:Um developing that is the relationship side, is the time spent, the time spent in the word, the time spent with people and men in conversation. With me, you know how passionate I am about men. Yeah. And spending our time together and sharing these things together, where two or more are gathered. Then there the Holy Spirit's with us. We're talking, we're bonding, we're growing, we're edifying each other. And there's a great scripture in Ecclesiastes at talk where three or more, that cord's not easily broken. And we've got to be able to do that with each other. I think about this a lot as parents. Um, there's, you know, I've shared my story with you. Cole and Luke mean everything to me. There's nothing that they could do. There's nothing that they could do that would take away or remove my love for them. And Jesus, you know, Romans 8, 5.8 is one of my favorite verses. And it it God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, in the midst of our sin, the deepest, darkest sin we have, in the midst of that, Jesus Christ died for us. So think about how much he loves us and how much he forgives us in the midst of our darkest sin. So we got to be able to forgive ourselves and know that we are free, that we are forgiven, regardless of what we've done, we've done. But it takes a relationship with the Spirit, and that's time spent with guys, time spent in the Word, to be able to know what God really thinks about us, what He really thinks about us. I had I had a great, uh my parents were in town recently, and it was great. I don't see them very often there in Nashville. But I think about some of the growing up, some of the sins, some of deceit, and you lie to them, mistreat them, and the deceit I've done as a son, right? When my mom and dad are here, they we met at Colin Luke's basketball game. They get there early, they save seats. They take me to dinner after the game, right? They come over to my house and clean up and cook and serve. They're not holding up those sins against me. They have forgiven me. They love me. There's no guilt and shame. The relationship's closer. It's closer. And I think about how much God loves us. But it's hard for guys because we've done so many things that have affected people, but he loves us so much and we are new and we are forgiven. But it and there is no condemnation. There is none. And I always want to just reinforce that with guys.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. As the scripture says, we're a new creation. When we invite Jesus in our heart, um, give our lives to Jesus, we're a new creation. And but but you're you you're you see a lot of guys. I know you have you know your your your men's groups, you do the groups at the at the gym and all that, and this is something that's that that I think you're seeing a lot, it's bubbling up in your spirit. You're you're seeing a lot of men that are are struggling with this this kind of condemnation. And I see it so often, John, it breaks my heart. What are you saying to them? What what anyone that's listening today that has you know lived, they feel like they've just sinned so much and they're just that you know, God can't forget. What advice is that?
SPEAKER_02:There's a science to this too, which is fascinating. So neuroplasticity is in our brain what we consistently tell ourselves, okay? On the science side. So I tell them, what is Jesus, what are you telling yourself? What does Jesus say about you? Let's get in scripture and let's read, let's talk about what God, what Jesus really thinks about you. And that's what you've got to believe and you've got to tell yourself, but we need to hear it, we need to share that with guys because they don't know, they don't believe it. Um and consistently tell yourself you are loved, you are forgiven, you are a new creation, and God has a Ephesians 3:18 and 19. I got a big, beautiful, prosperous life and plan for you if you keep me first. Put me first and don't look back. The main thing I want to tell guys is is um is don't look in the rearview mirror. Look in the windshield. Look in the windshield. That's what God has for you. That rear view mirror is what you have done. It is things that you have, you we're not we're not um going back in time, we're not recreating it. You've done it. But this is what God has for you, and it's reinforcing that. And it's hard to believe sometimes. It takes a minute. You know my story. I've shared with you some of my sins and the impact that I've made in a negative way on people. But when you do this, when you spend time in the Word and spend time with people, you start to believe and know what Jesus thinks about you and who we really are in Him. And that in the midst of all of it, He still would have come down, He still would have sacrificed His only Son to die for us. And that's the most beautiful part of it.
SPEAKER_00:What what advice is is is men and women? We're trying to get goals for the new year. We're talking a lot about that on the show because we're in the new year of 2026. What advice do you have for folks listening today to get off the the year to a you know spiritual start with with God?
SPEAKER_02:Three, make three powerful, powerful prayers, expectations for the year. We get caught up sometimes in the New Year's resolutions. There's so much, it can be overwhelming. I gotta lose weight, I gotta make this amount of money. I hope my son gets a scholarship, all the things, right? Three powerful, productive prayer requests and beliefs. Put them together, write them down, consistently read them, consistently talk about them. I've got them on a post-it note in my bathroom. And daily commit, stacking days to be able to make those things happen with faith, with knowing God has a has this plan for you. But it's just three. I want to I don't I tell the guys, don't overwhelm yourself. Have three, and they need to be centered around faith and your family and your emotional and your spiritual fitness. Those are the things. If you've got one on there about business, that's great too. But it needs to be that kind of that that core. And remind yourself of it daily. Like, take the steps daily. And consistency is the superpower, John. You know it's consistency. Yeah. And it's one bite at a time. Truly. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Be consistent with it and tell yourself what you believe and trust that God can do that for you. Take the steps. Spend time with people that really are uplifting you. And uh, and you know how passionate I am about when men need to get together. We have to get together, we have to talk about this. We gotta be honest, we've got to share our hearts and lift each other up. Call each other up. Yeah. Not isolate. Not isolate. Yeah, yeah. Isolation is where the devil takes us to die. Yeah. And and that's the easiest thing to do with in this situation with Romans 8 is we have um men are men are so in the depth of shame and they're embarrassed. And we don't want to share it. We don't want to talk about it. So it's better to be by myself. It's better that I don't put this burden on somebody else's the perspective instead of help me carry this. How can I carry this? What does God say about me? And um I I want to I want to be that for these guys in every way possible.
SPEAKER_00:And I think one of the biggest goals to consider in this new year is getting in a in a small group. It's huge, huge. Um every man, woman should be in a small group because it's it's that place where you can make yourself vulnerable and be around other like-minded people that can really, you know, pray for you and listen and and and just speak into your life, you know.
SPEAKER_02:John, we had we had uh we started our new after the year new session and uh had 18 guys on Tuesday. And these 18, maybe three or four, knew of each other a little.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:As as diverse from all over, such a God orchestrated every piece to be in that room together for that moment. By the end of that two hours, we do this welcome introduction. So you get you get five minutes. Share a little, just share a little bit about yourself, whatever you want to share. Be as honest as you want. You don't have to be too wrong, but you can. We got guys in there crying, never knew each other, never met before. They get so honest, they get there's we have a lot to share. We want to feel safe to share it. Several guys after the group, Travis, I've never been able to feel safe enough to tell you that. Oh, I'm embarrassed, I shouldn't have said that much. I said, No, bro, that was beautiful. That's healing, that's where it begins.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, and then we're gonna get into a study of Mark and the life of Jesus through the book of Mark. But that situation, John, that's that's a massive piece. You know, and and Jesus talks about it. They went from house to house, they had they had dinner together, they broke bread together, they spent time together. And um, it to me, I say this, it's the blood in my veins. Men's group spending time with men every week, and and then it branches off to one-on-one stuff with them. Lunches and conversations, and I know these guys in the depths of who they are, and they know me. And it's a it is the it's the most beautiful thing. And it starts that healing process and it removes that condemnation feel and that shame because you're with guys and that that have shared with I've this is what I've done, this is the the struggles I've had, this is my life, what I've been through. And you see that it's not just me. The devil says it's you. You've out sinned God, you can never come back, it's too late. And the truth is, no, we've all sinned, we've all fallen short. Not one of us is pure and perfect, but his love set and his death covered that sin. And um and then it's another beautiful scripture is that when we love each other, it covers a multitude of sins. And there's a lot of love in those rooms. A lot of love in those rooms with guys.
SPEAKER_00:So that's we that's huge. We gotta love each other and you know, forgive. And uh, you know, scripture tells us that we we gotta love God with our our all our hearts and then love our neighborhood as ourselves, you know, and stop judging and criticizing and you know, just really go out and love and and and receive the truth. You know, the truth is in in all the the scriptures. Uh wow. Well, this has been really good. Um I I just felt like we should we should pray. Um, you know, for any listeners there, because we're getting into this new year. Men, I know you're really passionate about men, women too. So we've got a lot of listeners. Yes.
SPEAKER_02:Um 2025 is gone too. Yeah. I was talking with some guys recently about that was the heaviest year of my life. That was the most uh painful year of my life, and it and it's over and it's gone, and don't dwell on it. And and God was printing you, testing you, taking you through the fire, all because he wants you closer to him, all because he wants you to feel free, know that you're loved, and draw you closer to him. And so there's a big, bright, exciting future in 2026, and we gotta say it, and we gotta believe it. And I think that's one of the things that I'm so thankful for you with these podcasts because they they encourage and bring such a light to people of there is so much more out there.
SPEAKER_00:And and I think it's like you said, like we we want to draw close to God in 2026, and we want to have freedom. How do we get that? Is complete surrender, complete surrender to Jesus and lay it all down, yes. Lay it all down. And and and how do we do that? We start, as we say in our three pillars of road to redemption, we get into the word of God, we read the Bible every day, we get into a Christ-centered church, and we get into a small group. Amen. And that's we those are the tools that we use to let God work. Let God work and surrender and to get to this freedom, which is something that everybody wants. Yes, we do. Freedom. That's right. Um wow.
SPEAKER_02:When we draw near to him, he draws near to us. Yeah, and that's so good.
SPEAKER_00:Well, let's let's just pray. Thank you, John. Um, dear Heavenly Father, oh Lord, we thank you for this time, this new year. Thank you for Travis coming in to be on the show. And we just want to lift up um men and women that are listening, looking for hope in this new year, um, that maybe 2025 might have been a tough year. And and we just want to say that's that's all behind us now. And we're looking out into 2026, and everything in the past is in the rearview mirror. And we just we just speak divine blessings, divine blessings and healings and breakthroughs in our lives, in marriages with with children, uh, children maybe that have gone off and relationships have been hurt, that those children will be coming back. And um we just we speak that over families, and um we just we pray for marriages and uh healing. We we pray for those that have struggled with um addictions and um uh that that that they will receive breakthrough this year and we'll take those steps to get get help um and be vulnerable. And Lord, we just um we just pray, Lord, for your divine blessings over us in this new year 2026. Amen. Amen. Yeah, and is there anything else as we come then that you you have on your heart? I'm excited.
SPEAKER_02:I'm excited about this year in a mighty way. I I God has He has uh exciting plans for our area, our community, and I believe it. I'm just really excited to see what he's gonna do. And you you we can't hide the fruit. The fruit in our is it's everywhere. Our grips are growing, God's moving, there's excitement, there's a fire that keeps growing, and I I pray for more boldness and more opportunities to be able to share what he can do and what he's done. So I'm excited about it, John.
SPEAKER_00:And your you know, your um your presence that you have of of the Lord is is contagious. You know, everywhere you go, you're bringing the light of Christ. And and um, you know, you're taking time to connect with people, um, you're doing just great things. Thank you. And I I appreciate what what you're doing because I I I can see it every time you're gonna be able to do that.
SPEAKER_02:You do that, you do that for me. And I it's important. I I say this like people may forget what we say, they may forget what we do. They'll never forget the way you made them feel.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And Jesus, every interaction he had, he made those those relationships, you know, that that that person feels so valuable, so worthy, so forgiven, and so loved. And I'm just that to me is the number one thing that I'm called to do is to let people know that.
SPEAKER_00:Amen. And and I really think something that we all should strive to do in 2026 is to just slow down and connect with. With people, not be in such a rush everywhere we go and just looking at our phones all the time. And just to slow down and just to walk up to people and connect, look them in the eye, ask them how they're doing. Um, you know, whatever that is, that you may be a few minutes late, it'll it'll be okay. That's right. Um I I really think we should all challenge ourselves to do do that. It's a great man.
SPEAKER_02:Some of the closest relationships I have now, it started with that, with an eye contact, with a sense of a spirit of that guy needs to hear me, or I or or I felt safe to share something with him. And that's what sparked it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Just that, to be able to be aware, take time, look somebody in the eye, take a moment. We're all busy. I understand it, but I think the devil, I know the devil uses that. He uses those small little things to keep us busy, to keep us uh looking inward, keep it all about self. Yeah, we got a lot, I got a lot to do. I'm too busy for this or for that, but people need us. People need us.
SPEAKER_00:And just remember, folks, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Amen. Everything from the past is wiped away when you repent, you turn to Christ. Everything is in in the rear view mirror, and you can look forward to a blessed year.