God Is Real Love. (G.I.R.L) Podcast
Helping women understand their identity in Jesus Christ with the love of God by getting to know who Jesus is through his word. Here we explore faith, self-love, and the incredible journey of walking with God.
God Is Real Love. (G.I.R.L) Podcast
I AM/Forgiven. The affirmation series
Breaking free from cycles of sin requires more than just saying sorry—it demands true repentance. That's the powerful message at the heart of this deeply personal episode about forgiveness, identity, and spiritual transformation.
When I found myself trapped in a recurring pattern of sin, I realized I'd been asking God for forgiveness without truly repenting. The difference? Repentance involves not just acknowledging wrongdoing but making a conscious decision to turn away from sin and toward God. This crucial distinction changed everything in my journey with Christ.
The Holy Spirit serves as our divine convictor, gently guiding us toward repentance. When we recognize this conviction as a gift rather than punishment, we open ourselves to profound transformation. Before understanding my identity in Christ, I would beat myself down after sinning, calling myself "unworthy" and "dirty." But God never labeled me this way. As Ephesians 1:7-8 reminds us, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding."
True freedom comes when we stop dwelling in shame and embrace God's lavish grace. Repentance isn't a one-time event but a lifestyle—the more we grow close to God, the more sensitive we become to areas needing change. If you're struggling with recurring sin or self-condemnation, remember that God offers comfort, not condemnation; love, not labels. You weren't made to be perfect. It's Christ's perfection that fills your imperfection. Have you experienced the freedom that comes through genuine repentance? Join the conversation and share your journey with us.
Hello, ladies, welcome to God is Real Love podcast girl podcast, where we help you understand your identity in Christ through the love of God, by diving into his word, where we explore faith, self-love and the incredible journey of walking with him. I am your host, ellen Baddow, and I'm so excited to have you today, bedell, and I'm so excited to have you today. So in this series we are talking about I am affirmations, the 12 truths about you, about me. Unfortunately, this world uses affirmations apart from God, not knowing that he is the affirmation, because he is the great. I am, of course, right. So in this episode we'll be talking about I am forgiven. Let's get started.
Speaker 1:So it's been a while since I did a podcast and I was supposed to do a podcast in January. I was supposed to do a podcast in January, yeah, but God had other plans for me, because my Lord, my Lord, my Lord, he is good and he is worthy to be praised. He redeemed me, he freed me, he corrected me with love, he showed me who I am in him and who he is in me. There's a lot of things that God has revealed to me, a lot of revelations, and I can't wait to share with you some of them today. In January I sinned against God, and this particular sin has been a cycle for me, but in January he made sure that was going to be the last time, because God did work on your girl. He corrected me with love, though, and he showed me my wrongs, but that didn't happen until I recognized my wrong. Until I recognized I wronged.
Speaker 1:When it comes to sin, people think, oh, it's just a sin, right? No, because in God's eyes, all sin is the same. And I asked the Holy Spirit why is that? Why is that? If somebody murders, the same as what somebody likes? The Holy Spirit said it's because, at the end of the day, sin separates you from God. No matter what sin, it still will separate you from God. That's why, in his eyes, all the same, it's like oh okay, no, that makes sense.
Speaker 1:When I sinned against God, I asked for forgiveness. But in genuine, when I sinned in a particular, this particular sin and I was telling you it was a cycle and God made sure I stopped at that cycle it was because I repented. Cycle, it was because I repented, and repentance is not a word that's been going on around a lot these days. A lot of people don't know the difference between repentance and forgiveness. I was actually in a Bible study with one of my wonderful friends and she asked me when you're doing this particular sin, did you ask for forgiveness and be about your day or did you repent? And it dawned on me that every single time I sinned, I never repented. I just asked for forgiveness and be about my day. But this time, in January, this time I repented. When I repented, I asked for forgiveness and then the work started the redeeming, the healing, the growing. It started, but it didn't start until I repented.
Speaker 1:Now some of you are asking what is repentance, and we'll get to it. Some of you are asking what is repentance, and we'll get to it. Repentance is more than saying I'm sorry. It's the act of confessing your sins, acknowledging and understand what you did was wrong and then turning away from that sin and turning towards god. It's not just words, it's actions. So when you repent, you are confessing to god. Hey, god, I did this and it was wrong. But that doesn't happen without the Holy Spirit. And this is when we need to start talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit, because it is a sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we're able to receive the gift of forgiveness and when Jesus Christ died on the cross, we received the Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit is our convictor. He convicts us whenever we do it wrong and he's the one that leads us to repentance. But it's our choice whether we want to repent or we just want to be about our day and continue doing what we're doing, because God gives us the freedom of choice.
Speaker 1:Before I knew my identity in Christ, I used to torment myself about the mistakes I've done, the sin I've committed. I would beat myself down, I would call me horrible names. I'm telling you guys, I would call me unworthy, stupid, dirty. I would call myself that name. I realized, if God didn't call me those things, why was I?
Speaker 1:Recently, it was like a may 5th and I've been in my word as I, straying away from being around people, I have been in my word more than ever, dwelling in the presence of god, and I got in my book because I got my sticky notes and I, while I was reading the word, I told God my honest feeling. I said God honestly, I used to be afraid of the Old Testament because I see all this destruction, but then I realized I was reading in the lens of an unknown identity and the lens of an unknown identity, an orphan One who did not believe she was a child of the Most High God. Now I'm reading, in belief of my identity, of a child of God I realize I'm his and the destruction in the Old Testament because some of us are afraid to read the old testament because we hear about fire and hell and brimstones and all that stuff, not realizing it was not meant for his people. Those are meant for people that reject the holy Spirit, and I'll get to that later.
Speaker 1:When I realized who I was in Christ, the way I spoke about myself changed, because my God didn't say I was unworthy of his love. He didn't never said that I was dirty, I was stupid. In fact, he said I'm chosen for a time like this. I am his bride, I'm the apple of his eye. And when I started to know who he was in me and who I was in him, when I abided in him and he abided in me, I became a different person. That shame did not connect with me, no more. I'm new in Christ. In fact, in the word it says in Ephesians get your books, ephesians 1, 7, verse 8, it says In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, accordance with the riches of God's grace that lavishes on us with all wisdom and understandings. God's grace is not small. That means it pours out in abundance, because it is in him we are forgiven, we are made new. It's in him we receive wisdom and understanding.
Speaker 1:When the enemy comes and starts whispering shame and condemnation, remember this God offers comfort, not condemnation. God offers love, not labels. The enemy will always come and try to. The enemy will always come and try to take and take what is yours, your identity. He will always try and tell you things that has nothing to do with you. He will try to intimidate you, because once he intimidates you, he got you. Look at you, you can't do this. Oh, she's bigger than you, how can you be her? Oh, she's bigger than you, how can you be? Oh, you just got a little degree. How can you be in that room?
Speaker 1:But if you hold on into that identity that he has given you the authority, let me tell you, when I started reading this word difference, the authority that I got in Jesus Christ. Nobody can tell me who and how to go beside him himself. Nobody can tell me who and how to go, meaning nobody can talk down on me and tell me that I do not have authority over what God has given me, and the devil will come and still kill and destroy. He will try to kill your spirit, steal your, steal your joy and destroy your self-esteem. Let me tell you this greater is he who lives in me than he who lives in the world, because I'm standing on jesus. It is really important for you to understand the authority that you have in Jesus Christ. No matter what sin you committed, you have that authority to go to the throne and ask him, confess to him first, repent.
Speaker 1:Some people want to ask for forgiveness and skip repentance. It does not work like that. You must confess of your sins first and then ask for forgiveness, because once you repent, the changes start happening. The renewing starts happening. Once you repent, the cycle breaks. It's because I repented. My cycle broke. Understand it wasn't a one and done. It took time to be renewed. It took time for healing. You got some of you out here that was traumatized at nine years old and think you're 29 now and think that the healing will come in a snap of a finger. No, it's a process. Be in the presence of God, be with him, learn to enjoy his presence, and when you do that, the healing will start. Understand this Repentance is not a one and done. It is a lifestyle. The more you get closer to God, the more you see you are sinful and the more you're going to want to repent and the more he's going to change you and renew you. I say right here, I put this, I wrote this down. I said repentance breaks the cycle. It says I see the truth. Now I don't want to go back and I'm walking in a new direction with god leading me.
Speaker 1:I was looking something up in the internet and this guy said something. He said that we are humans and is our fleshy nature to sin. And then the holy spirit told me something. So it must be our spiritual response to repent. While we live in this fleshly body, we will always sin. When Adam and Eve did their thing and ate the forbidden fruit. After that, we were born as sinners, but it is our what he said. It must be our spiritual response to repent. We must repent, but it's your choice. Understand this, god. Don't force you. Do anything that you don't want to do, but if you decide to reject the Holy Spirit, know this consequence? It Because if you don't repent, you're just going to keep doing the same thing over and over again.
Speaker 1:Some of you hear the Holy Spirit. Some of you know the Holy Spirit is talking to you. You know the Holy Spirit is telling you not to do this and you know the Holy Spirit is telling you to acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, but you are rejecting him Most of the time. Some people reject most people reject the Holy Spirit because they like the sin that they're living in, they're comfortable in the sin that they're living in, and the wages of sin is death. So when you decide to reject the Holy Spirit, you are rejecting God himself, because they are one. They're not separated Because when Jesus Christ died on the cross, he sacrificed his life so we can be clean, so we can make new, so we can be forgiven.
Speaker 1:Like I said, it's in him we're forgiven. Forgiven. That same holy spirit that raised jesus christ in the dead is the same holy spirit that lives in you once you receive jesus christ, and that is a gift. And one of the gifts he gives you is conviction. Conviction is the gift that leads you to repentance. So when you reject the Holy Spirit, you're rejecting the gift of conviction which leads you to repentance. Do not reject the gift of the Holy Spirit. Once you are saved by Jesus Christ, go to the throne and ask him, confess to him and ask him for forgiveness. And once he forgives you, he makes new, he cleanses you so you can be with the father. This is what we call the good news.
Speaker 1:If we don't take the steps to truly repent, we'll keep wondering why we're hurting ourselves and others, wondering why we do not feel free. Because without repentance we're not stopping the cycle, we're just pausing it. Repentance is how we say to God I'm not just asking you to clean me, I'm asking you to change me. So we must not dwell in our wrongdoing, allowing the torment of shame or guilt to come over us. We need to repent and ask for forgiveness. It's that simple. Sometimes we OD the process of forgiveness.
Speaker 1:What did Paul say again? Oh yeah, paul said forget what lies behind and look what lies ahead. Let go and let God. I'm my worst critic. I'm not going to hold you. I tend to be hard on myself the most, be hard on myself the most. But when I got to know who Christ was, I realized if he can give me grace, I should give myself grace. Don't be so hard on yourself. You are not perfect. You're not made to be perfect. It is Jesus Christ's perfection that fills your imperfection. We don't have it all sorted out. We're not supposed to. He is the author of our lives. He has it sorted out. So when you make a mistake or when you sin, go to him. He will accept you in open arms, with the love and the grace and the mercy. Go to him. Give yourself the same grace you'll give to others. That's all I have for you today. You take God with you and he will take you far.
