Episode 20: "We're All A Little Insecure"

Ok, yes, you’re entitled to your opinions, but where do you draw the line when it comes to sharing them or demanding your own preferences at the expense of someone else’s purpose. We are each responsible for our own personal healing journeys and the development processes that we should submit to if we desire to grow. But it’s harder to grow when someone keeps pressing you down. And it’s hard to maintain growth when the weeds of insecurity keep trying to choke out your healthy roots of godly identity. 

The bottom line? Your actions, reactions, perceptions, and assumptions could be planting weeds of insecurity in the minds of others around you. And we’re also all responsible for each other. 

So in this episode, we’re going to level the playing field and admit, we’re all a little insecure. 

Music: “Safe” by Naomi Raine 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Okay, okay, yes, you're entitled to your opinions, but where do you draw the line when it comes to sharing them or demanding your own preferences at the expense of someone else's purpose? We are each responsible for our own personal healing journeys and the development processes that we should submit to if we desire to grow. But it's harder to grow when someone keeps pressing you down. And it's hard to maintain growth when the weeds of insecurity keep trying to choke out your healthy roots of godly identity. The bottom line: your actions, reactions, perceptions, and assumptions could be planting weeds of insecurity in the minds of others around you. And we're also responsible for one another. So in this episode, we're going to level the playing field and admit we're all a little insecure. Welcome to the Safe Insecurity Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

I'll be fair when it's so too much. Don't shrink back, no, you not touch. Don't you know my love is always new? You are safe here.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Hello, hello. Welcome to the Safe Insecurity Podcast. I'm so excited that you're here. My name is Melody Faith, and I am your host, your girl. This is a safe space for you to be vulnerable and still feel valuable, my friend. And as always, we have important things to talk about. But before we get to the actual topic of today's show, I just want to say thank you to every person who has been listening, subscribing to the YouTube channel, subscribing on your favorite podcast streaming network for sharing links, for commenting on the posts online. Like your engagement means the world, not just because it makes me feel good, but because I know that this is a necessary message and a necessary safe space and platform for people to really overcome insecurity. Because I'm convinced that insecurity is the number one tactic the enemy uses to try to completely dismantle us, you know, to rip us and strip us of our sense of purpose and identity. And if he can get us to disqualify ourselves from accomplishing what God already said we could, then he doesn't even have to fight the battle against humanity in order to win. So I'm convinced that we have victory in the end, but it's up to us to possess that. It's up to us to actually stand firm in who God called us and what he said about us, right? And to do what he called us to do. And so I am I'm extremely grateful for every person who has patronized this platform. Um, and I hope that you will continue to do so because I really believe that it's gonna grow and expand. And this message is gonna spark other people to create safe spaces all over the place, whether you end up hosting a podcast like this one, or if you end up starting a ministry or starting a group, or even just empowering people in your own family, like starting with your own children, boosting them and their confidence in God and who God said they are, you know, um, and intentionally cultivating these safe spaces amongst friend groups and in our churches and in our communities. Like it's so important for us to have safe spaces to be vulnerable, because in today's society, vulnerability often is looked at as a weakness, and weakness is often perceived as if it's a problem. But I just I really believe that um, you know, we can make a difference in that. And so uh I'm saying all that mainly because, not just because I'm I'm obviously because I'm grateful and I'm really excited about where this is going and growing to, but also because I have a special announcement. Um, I know you guys have heard before, if you've been listening, that I wrote a book about this topic. And the book is called How to Live in Security, and it is coming out this spring, and I'm so excited! So make sure that you follow my pages, you know, this is Melody Faith pretty much everywhere. This is MelodyFaith.com as well. Um, you'll be able to see when that pre-order link drops or when you can place your order for a book. Um, it'll be available at major retailers and available for online, you know, purchases and stuff like that too. So I'm really excited about that. Um, just being another avenue to get this message out to people so that we can all overcome insecurity together and live in the security that our creator God provides. Amen. Um, with that, we'll also be, I will also be celebrating um my birthday, my 40th birthday. Y'all, do I look good for 40? You know, it's so funny when people say like you look good for and they fill in the blank, like it's kind of like stripping the first compliment a little bit. So I take that back. Just just tell me I look good. But for real, I'm I'm excited to be hitting this, you know, big 4-0 milestone. Um, and I feel the most confident I ever have in my purpose, in God, in, you know, in everything about myself, because I'm I'm confident in what God made and what he gave me. And even when I have moments when I doubt it and I feel a little self-conscious or I, you know, have that tendency to lean back toward people pleasing or whatever else, like I have checks and balances and accountability in place. And actually, this is one of them. Like, this is a safe space for me to be vulnerable and still feel valuable. And so I'm grateful for that. And as I hit this milestone, we're celebrating launching this book. We're also celebrating the year anniversary of uh this podcast. And so I'm I'm really, really excited about just all of the ways that you know these things are um coming together because I know that it's God ordained. I know that He's behind it. And I pray before every single one of these episodes, like, Lord, let this reach who it needs to reach, like the person who needs to see this see it and hear it and get something out of it and share it with someone else who needs it. And so thank you for doing that. Thank you for being an answer to my prayer. And before I get real mushy and start crying, because y'all know I will in a heartbeat, um, I didn't used to be this way, okay? Like, but I really um I've embraced, you know, even tears, like just recapping a lot of things that we've talked about on free privious previous episodes. Um, tears are the overflow of every emotion. And so you can feel any emotion at all, happy, sad, angry, irritated, and cry, right? Um, but I believe that that's why God gave us tear ducks because nothing is meant to stay in us. As humans, we are fluid creatures, things are meant to flow through us, and that includes and especially is pinpointed to your emotions. So if you allow those things to flow when they come up, uh you will be healthier, you will live longer, like it's scientifically proven. So, so yeah, I just I'd be letting myself cry nowadays. And uh it happens a lot because I'm hitting a lot of these like milestones and I'm going through a lot of things. Life is life, and people be people in, and God be doing his thing at the same time. So those are all reasons for me to shed a tear. Um, and yeah, I'm I'm grateful. So today, on this 20th episode, um I'm wanting to tackle something that, you know, from the lens that I really believe that the Spirit of God has given it to me, I think it is necessary for where we are, not just in society today, but you know, feeling the weight of a lot of things that are happening in culture, in politics, in our world, in world systems. Like there's just a lot of things that are contributing to our insecurities, right? Um, insecurity in and of itself is instability. It's the feeling that the ground you're standing on is somewhat shaky, that you don't have control, or that you can't have peace, or that you know, something that you thought was sturdy when it proves itself to not be as sturdy as you thought, it shakes your belief in other things too. Um, and so a lot of people are questioning their faith, whether it's their faith in God, their faith in people, their faith in themselves, their faith in systems like banking systems and food systems, and it, you know, just everybody's questioning everything, okay? Because everything is real shaky down here. Um, but the one thing that we know that I can be living-proof testimony of that is a firm foundation is God, godliness, and the things of heaven and his kingdom. Like that, anything that has to do with God, godliness, and God's kingdom is a sure, firm foundation. It is secure, right? So, you know, the Bible talks about don't invest and put all your stock in basically in things of the world because they're gonna pass away. They're they're finite, they have limitations. But, you know, store up treasures for yourself in heaven. And the way you do that is by executing godly behaviors on this earth and also intentionally with the right heart doing that. Um, because it's less about doing good moral things, like you can be a really good moral person and still not get into heaven because it's about acknowledging Christ, his sacrifice, and that he was enough, even if you didn't do all those good things, like your heart posture being aligned with who he is and receiving um the identity that was purchased for you. And so, um, so yeah, I'm I'm fully confident that in spite of everything else that looks real shaky, that I'm standing on a firm foundation. And y'all, I have been through some shaky, I mean earthquake-level shaky things in the past few years, especially. Um man, it's like I said, life be life, and then people be people. And um, quick recap of my testimony in case you're new here. Hey, y'all, welcome. Um, I have been fired from three jobs. You would think that I was a terrible employee, because that is crazy. I haven't even had but maybe like six or seven jobs in my whole life. Um, that's including, you know, like when I was a teenager and worked in my dad's office. So um, yeah, but I've been I've been let go from multiple jobs that I was doing a pretty darn good job at, honestly. Like, I don't think I was doing anything bad or wrong. And it wasn't like due to budget cuts. Like they singled me out and fired me and had a meeting with me and told me, like, yeah, this and that and the third is what we don't really care for about you. And so we're letting you go. Um, and so you know, it's just it's it's always um a little gut punch a little bit when that happens, a lot of it. Um being very facetious. Um, because in a couple of those instances, it really took me out, really sent me back into deep dark depression a couple of times. It um put me at the door of questioning, you know, if I was good enough, if I, you know, if I did right in the sight of God and inside of people. And what I kept coming back to is, you know, the loving arms of the father saying, like, yeah, I still approve of you. You know, no, you don't do everything perfect. You're not perfect, you're a human being. You know, I'm expecting you to be imperfect. But you did everything wholeheartedly as unto me. Like, and I heard him saying that to me. So I'm like, I have no regrets. I don't regret, you know, the ways that I spoke up and the ways that I asked questions or the ways that I, you know, sometimes got on people's nerves by being myself. It's just that's really what it is. Um, and I'm both creative and administrative. So in certain workspaces, I can be a little bit of a unicorn, you know, because I'm the person around the table who's at the staff meeting or whatever, but I'm analyzing and thinking about the event or the project that we're doing and I'm managing it in my head, whether that's my job or not. And um, I've learned how to scale back on voicing all of my opinions because I don't want to attack anybody else who that is their job, right? I don't want to make it look like they're not doing a good job or point out their flaws, especially not in front of everybody else. That's not, you know, it's not very kind. Um, but at the same time, I do want us all to be better and I want this event to be the best it can be, and I want this project to reach the most people it can reach and, you know, market the best things about the company. And like, I want the best for everybody and for the organization I'm working for. And so it was always with the right intent and right heart. Um, but I had to learn, you know, that balance between speak up and shut up. And so again, didn't get it right every time. Absolutely not. But I really, I really always tried to do what was right in the side of God. And I'm talking about in my job situations, not my whole life, because again, not perfect. Um, but I had to say that that has been um, those are some of the experiences that have really shaped how I show up in the world. Um, I also am a singer, I'm a worship leader. I get on a lot of platforms all over the place and sing my heart out for Jesus. And I teach and train other worship leaders to do that as well. Um, and so anytime you're in any level of public eye, there is scrutiny, there is criticism, there's critique, there is, you know, you feel like you're under a microscope or at least a magnifying glass, everybody is looking for the flaws. As human beings, we are drawn toward the flaw. Like I gave this example to somebody I was talking to the other day. Like you could be looking at a blank white wall. It's painted white, like just stark white, and you notice the one black scuff in the top corner and judge the entire wall by that one black scuff. Like it's just like, oh man, the wall is it's got a scuff on it. You can, you know, be looking, I like going to like consignment stores or you know, thrift stores and stuff like that, and finding, you know, cute little stuff. This is actually one of those type of finds. Um, just cute little simple shirt, got for like five bucks somewhere, you know, off a clearance rack. But you gotta inspect all those things because it may have a snag in it. It may have a little tiny stain somewhere, and that's the reason why it's so marked down. And I'm the type of person I'm resourceful. I ain't always had a lot of money like that. In Jesus' name, I will one day, and I'll be able to shop according to what my taste actually is. But for right now, I really am finding joy in thrifting because most of the time that's my budget. So I go in there and I have to look through and examine from all angles. Is this missing a button in the middle? Is the zipper working? Is it because that one flaw just discredits the value of the entire item? Um, and also because I'm not a seamstress, I don't know how to fix all those things. I know how to fix a few things like I could sew a button on, you know, but replacing a zipper sounds complicated. I don't know if I want to get into that, you know. Um, or if I want to take it to a tailor and spend more money for somebody to restore the value of it. So what am I getting at? The point is human beings are not markdown clothing, right? We are not white walls with scuffs on them. We like, but we see each other the same way we look at these inanimate objects. If I I see a car and it has a dent in it, I'm like, hey, you're gonna knock some money off the price of this car because it's got a dent in it, right? Like we we automatically assess value as if something is flawless. And we as human beings are not flawless, we are flawed creatures. And it takes a lot of patience and a lot of kindness and a lot of love, a lot of all the fruits of the spirit, really, to um to intentionally look beyond the flaws of a person. Like as it says in, I think it's in Corinthians, like making allowance for each other's flaws, right? We have to make a lot, I can't remember it's Corinthians or Colossians. Anyway, make allowance for the faults of others is definitely in the Bible. And it it talks about that because um, you know, because we have this tendency to magnify, like to major on the minor, if you will, like to magnify the flaws and the faults in other people. And it's just a dangerous place to be because we're already so fragile. And in today's society, we've seen life as a vapor, you know, um, safety can feel like a vapor. Like in in a moments, instance, you could be in a situation that you have uh criticized someone else for being in, you know. Um, people love to talk about celebrities. Celebrities are just celebrated humans, okay? They are still human, they are people. And yes, they be people in too, but they deserve grace too. Like there is, and I say deserve very lightly, because again, if you've been following this podcast, you know I got a love, hey, relationship with that word sometimes because we overuse it for entitlement as opposed to understanding that it's a gift God gave us. Like, if there's anything in this life that I deserve, it is because of the grace and mercy of God. It is not because I have just done so well in my own strength to earn something, right? Um, you know, even if I'm really gifted and I win an award or I get recognized for it, thank you, Lord, for giving me this gift that gave me the ability to even come before these great people and receive this great recognition. Like also, the validation of humans is not what I'm after. I'm after the validation of heaven. So um, yeah, validation of heaven over validation of humans all day long. That being said, um, like I said, the main topic for today is addressing the heart posture that causes us to judge one another and spark that insecurity or grow that insecurity weed in someone else's heart and mind. Um, because we're all a little insecure. Let's just let's just face it, let's just get it out in the open. Like I said, this is a safe space. Be vulnerable right now. If you're a little insecure, just go on and you know, put it in the comments, put it in the chat, write in your note, say it out loud. You could be in your car by yourself or on the treadmill at the gym. Shout out to you if you're on the treadmill at the gym. I need to be on the treadmill at the gym. But the bottom line is like, we are all a little insecure because we are all flawed. We all have some area of our minds, our lives, our looks, our intellect, our finances, our resources, our connections, our relationships. We have some area that is not perfect. And because perfection is so idolized in society and amongst our, you know, our culture, um, especially westernized civilization culture, like we're so entitled to this high-level. I don't know, like we we want to look like, smell like, talk like money all the time, even if we don't have it. And we got to keep up with the Joneses because we don't want them to know we don't have it. And you feel less than when someone exposes the fact that there's a flaw. But I just I want to normalize being a flawed human. I just it feels weird to say that because it is normal, but we don't acknowledge it as if it's normal. Um, and yeah, so even the most confident of us will eventually come to the end of themselves and realize that your strength is finite. You, your wisdom is not all-encompassing, you know, like you, you have significant limitations of your own power and strength and wisdom, etc. And uh, and that's okay because we were actually designed to depend on the one who is all-knowing and is all-powerful, whose strength is not finite, whose wisdom exceeds beyond what we could ever measure. Um, he's the only being who is infinite, he's the creator of all finite things. So if we really learn to lean and depend on him, we can embrace the fact that we are less than and it not make us feel less than. Does that make sense? I hope it does. Um and that's why this is another bold statement, but I really believe self-confidence is a myth. I I don't believe you can truly be self-confident. You can you can feel self-confident, especially in certain seasons of your life. Yes, absolutely, you can feel that way. At some point, you will run into the limitation of your own whatever it is that you are confident in. If you're really, really smart, the moment you meet somebody who's smarter than you and they beat you in a game of jeopardy, your confidence gets dashed a little bit, right? Um, the moment that you lose something that was of value to you or someone that was of value to you, it helps you realize, again, like life is a vapor. Eternity is real, y'all. Like there is an eternal God who governs the affairs of men, and he exists in a place where time is irrelevant. So it's all about timing, not time. And if we can really just grasp that and understand that that's where we should put our confidence, then it makes us more confident in what he made. So it's not your confidence is not rooted and founded and does not originate from within yourself. You cannot just continuously tell yourself positive affirmations every day and make yourself more confident. I just don't believe that. I believe that what you can do is quote scripture over yourself over and over and over again, quote God's words, because God's words are more powerful than ours will ever be. He gave us the ability to create with our words. So we can literally speak life into ourselves and into our situations and watch it produce. Like we can watch things change and shift and worlds be created the same way he spoke and created the universe. Like we have the ability to speak life into things. And so, you know, speaking life into yourself is important. Look in the mirror and say, hey, girl, hey, dude, yeah, you you're killing it, like you're doing good. Pat yourself on the back, give yourself the grace. Like, just like other people need grace, you need grace. Give yourself grace. Um, and also give others grace, you know, like if you in in even in the word when it talks about loving others as yourself, like it starts. With loving yourself, because if you have to love them as yourself, that's the same playing field, right? Like if I don't love myself and I love others as myself, then I ain't loving nobody. I'm gonna treat other people, you know, as trash as I treat myself, essentially. Or you start esteeming other people so much higher than yourself, all you're doing is putting yourself into a pit of despair where there's space for the enemy to deceive and cause depression and anxiety and panic and worry and fear to overtake you. Um, all at the hands of comparison, you know, envy, jealousy, all it all its friends, all insecurities' friends just start coming after you because you have placed yourself at a lower level. We're not supposed to see ourselves as lower than anyone else. We're supposed to have an even playing field and love them as we love ourselves. It's a continual um process of as I love myself, I am loving other people. And the cycle continues. And if we all really did that, nobody would be without love. Sadly, many of us don't love one another. Many of us don't love ourselves. So there are a lot of people without love. There are a lot of people who don't realize that the God of the universe who is love really does love them. And if you're one of those people, I want to tell you right now, the God of the universe made all of these wonderful, amazing, incredible things that scientists are still studying and figuring out. Like he made all of this, and then he decided, you know what? This world needs a you. And he he sent your spirit down here, sent you into your mother's womb, and he knew you before you were in your mother's womb. Like before you took your first breath, cried your first tear. He knew you and he's had great plans for you to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope of a future since before you were ever conceived. So knowing that, and knowing that that statement is also true for every other person on this planet who ever has been and ever will be, we have to extend grace to one another. I want to read a couple of scriptures that are gonna kind of just bring some of this home because it truly is it's it's it's a little disheartening, I think, for me personally, um to be at a place where okay, let me let me talk to my feelers for a second. So all the people who have this prophetic empathy thing going on and you feel people real hard, like when someone else is going through someone, something you feel like you're going through it, you see somebody struggling and your heart goes out to them, you see somebody grieving and you grieve in your heart. You know, you watch probably like watch um touching shows and stuff like that and cry. Like you're just very empathetic naturally. Um, I want to tell you, this is our time to shine, man. I feel you, I feel you right now. Like that's how this empathy thing is real. I feel you right now, and it's our time to shine, man. We gotta, we have to be bold and be secure in who God made us because the world needs more of that. We need more empathy, we need more putting eat putting ourselves in the shoes and in the place of other people so that we can see through their eyes what they're actually going through, taking in consideration that there's more to the picture than what we see in their behavior. I always joke around about the keyboard warriors. You know, there's people who get in the comment section and all of a sudden they are just the boldest frontline soldier you ever did meet. And if you were to talk to them in person, they might not be that bold, right? Um, but this, you know, this world and like AI, AI personalities, there's AI artists out here. Don't even get me started on that. That's a whole nother episode. We probably talk about that next season. Um, but these people are so bold living behind a computer, living behind a mask, living behind artificial intelligence. Nothing wrong with AI. I use it, but I don't use it to be someone else. I use it to enhance what I already do, right? And there's there's in a significant um, I don't know, there's this is a heart check coming to some people who have been hiding behind masks and attacking other people. It's like you would never, if the tables were turned, you would never want this type of energy. You know what I mean? Like, and when the tables get turned, you can see easily, like they don't want this type of energy. If you go to most of their profiles, it's blank, or they got pictures of their cats and stuff. Like they don't even put their real lives on social media because they're afraid of the keyboard warriors, and they are one. It's crazy. Anyway, I'm gonna read these scriptures real quick, and we're gonna talk about them and then we're gonna get out of here. But um, James 4, and this is James 4 verses 10. Uh, I'll just read all the way down through 12. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. That right there speaks volumes. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. Then it's got a warning against judging each other, judging others. Um, don't speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God's law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. God alone, who gives the law, is the judge. He alone has the power to save or destroy. So, what right do you have to judge your neighbor? Read one more. This is Galatians 5. Galatians 5, verse 14. Actually, 14 and 15. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command. We talked about this love your neighbor as yourself, right? Look what comes right after that. But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out. Beware of destroying one another. Like, so in the same, everybody wants to quote, love your neighbor as yourself, right? Most people don't read the scriptures that comes literally the verse after it. Verse 15, Galatians 5. If you're always biting and devouring one another, beware of destroying one another. In other words, your bite has some power that you don't even really realize. Be careful. Okay, and then one more I'm gonna read. There's plenty of these, by the way. You could just look up more and more evidence if you want to. Um, I I strongly encourage it. Matthew 7. Matthew 7, this is um, let's just do the first five verses. Why not? Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Okay. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. So, whatever measuring stick you measure and everybody else around you by, that's the measure you're gonna be judged by. I don't know about you, but I'm trying to keep my measuring stick as short as possible. So I can make sure. I'm just kidding. But you know what I'm saying? Like, you can have certain standards for yourself and try to superimpose those on others, but then God is gonna take that same measuring stick, that same standard, and he's gonna look at you. So you better make sure that your house is clean. Don't be okay, we're gonna get to it. Verse three, and why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? Wow, how can you think of saying to a friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye when you can't even see past the log in your own eye? You got on tinted glasses out here trying to tell somebody what color it is. Like you can't even see clear. Hypocrite. First get rid of the log in your own eye, then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye. So he's not saying don't cast any level of judgment. As humans, again, white wall, black smudge, we're gonna see the flaw, right? We're gonna see it. We're wired to see it. And God made us. He makes no mistakes, he has zero regrets about what he made. So if he made us this way, and we all have this thing in common where we know how to look at something and judge its value, then why did he give us that? He gave us that so that we could call each other higher in love. Speak the truth in love. It's not just speak the truth, period. It's speak the truth in love. Have grace for the faults. The faults exist. He's telling you, he's like giving us the answer right there in his word. Like, so you know it. The enemy's tactics since the Garden of Eden, since the first humans came into existence through God's infinite power and miraculous breathing life into dust and pulling a rib out of the dust-made Adam and making a woman. Like he he really did that. Read Genesis. Like he legit made something out of nothing and called it human, right? And then he said it was going to be in his likeness and image. And then he gave them everything they needed. And still, the enemy was able to win in that moment by getting them to second guess what God said about them, what he provided for them, and if it was enough. He made them second guess God. And that's his whole tactic has not changed, y'all. He got the same playbook he'd been running for generations. Like, we don't even know. There's all kinds of arguments about how many millions of years the earth is old, you know, like they think dinosaurs died millions of years ago, and there's other people that say 2000 AD BC. You know, there's all types of arguments, right? There's all types of scientific, fossil, geographical, um, geological evidence that supports all these different arguments. We don't know how long ago it was that Adam and Eve were here and were deceived by Satan. But we do know that since then he has been doing the same thing to us. And that's too long. If it's millions of years or thousands of years, I don't care. It's too long. Okay, it's too long for him to be doing the same trick and still getting wins. Like, how is he still? What sports team in the history of ever has run the same play and won championships for that long? Like, that's crazy. We have got to disempower this fool. Like, he's a fool. He's clever, but he's a fool. Like, he's a fool because he challenged God and got kicked out of heaven. Like, who does that? Oh, we do regularly. We challenge God. We challenge God by calling something that he made and called good less valuable by calling someone else out and saying because of their sin issue or because of their flaw that they're somehow less than and undeserving of God's grace and mercy and love. So are you. Get the log out of your own eye. None of us are perfect, not a single one of us. All of us are finite, all of us are flawed. So it brings me to uh, you know, wrapping it up, bringing it home. Um, I really, because we could talk about this for a whole nother hour, I'm sure. Um, but I want to I want to draw your attention to one thing because I really think that this is just a a better way for us to have perspective and coexist down here. Because we gotta coexist, y'all. Like we, whether you like it or not, you are your brother's keeper, you are your sister's keeper, especially us believers, especially those of us who have already been inducted and adopted into the family of faith, right? God is our father, we have acknowledged him, we have acknowledged Jesus' sacrifice, we're trying to live for him. We go to church and assemble with other believers, we work with people, and we still have to live in this world as representatives of Christ in his kingdom, even though this world does not operate according to his kingdom and his standards. So there is judging that's gonna take place, it's gonna happen, but you have to do it in love. So let's not fight each other, let's fight for each other. Stop feeding the weeds of insecurity and others, okay? I wanna um I wanna read something. Um, because I have a story that I wanted to reference really quickly. Actually, I could just tell you the story. It's really, I don't have to read it in context, but you can read the whole story if you want to. Um, look up Uzza in the Bible. U-Z-Z-A-H. Yes, he had a very interesting name. Uzzah. Uzzah um was this guy who in the days of the Ark of the Covenant, if you know anything about that, I'll give you a brief synopsis. The Ark of the Covenant is basically this very ornate chest that is um marked by the presence of God, right? It is said to house the presence of God. This is Old Testament days. This is before Jesus, you know, came to earth, died, and was resurrected. So we don't have direct access to God yet. So the way that they housed or quote unquote, like carried the presence of God with them was in this Ark of the Covenant. It had several artifacts that had significant spiritual meaning. Um, I'm very much watering this down because it's it's way, way, way, way, way deeper than I'm explaining. But this gives you an idea, okay? So um the Levites are the chosen priests that carry this special chest. And that way, everywhere that the people have to move, God's chosen people have to move under the direction of, you know, King David is up there. Like they have this whole procession. Um, but when they have to go from place to place, they want to carry the presence of God with them because they're like, this is the only way we're gonna win this battle. This is the only way we're gonna have provision in favor. They understood their dependence upon God. And God had not come to earth as a human yet, so they didn't have any other way to carry it with them, going somewhere. Okay. Um, they carried this thing on a uh a cart that was pulled by oxen. And oxen were usually used for like plowing and doing manual labor stuff, kind of similar to how we would use horses and stuff nowadays a lot, um, because they were really, really strong, like thick, tough, you know, broad-shouldered animals. And so there's even um, there's a lot of scriptures and references to oxen back then, but that's because that's the main animal that they used for this type of like labor and for carrying the carts and stuff that they had to um carry belongings and supplies and equipment and stuff on. So they have the ark on this cart, right? So that people don't have to like literally be carrying it for miles walking. They have it on the cart. The oxen are plowing or oxen are walking with uh attached to the cart. And one of them stumbled and the ark kind of shifted a little bit and it looked like it was gonna fall. And Uzzah, bless his heart, reached out and said, Oh, let me catch it, let me make sure that it doesn't fall. His heart and his intentions might have been pure, but God had given specific instructions that no one else, except those Levites, those specific priests, were the only ones holy enough, only ones who had passed through enough of a process and had been like sanctioned by God to touch it in order to put it on the cart, right? Now, uh, anybody else touched it, they were gonna die. And it was this old testament God was was ruthless in this kind of stuff, y'all. And there's a whole I could give you an explanation. If you need more information about this, if this sounds a little scary to you, don't be afraid of God, okay? But the old testament God was not playing, and there were very strict edicts and orders and commands that he gave that all had consequences. So this was one of them. Uzzah reached out, tried to steady the cart, boom, gone, right? Um, I read that story a while, while back, and I was like, oh God, that's a little harsh, Lord. Like, why'd you have to kill him? He was just trying to help you out. Oh. So this brings me to my point. Um, God doesn't need your help. I'm gonna let that sit in. I'm not even I'm not even gonna hold your hand when I say it, honestly, because I need it to tap you in the throat. If you if you need if you need a little throat chop, I want you to get that. God does not need your help. He doesn't need your um, we are in need of him. He is not in need of us. Does he desire us? Does he love us? Yes, with an everlasting, unconditional, unfathomable love. Does he desire a relationship with us? Does he desire to empower us to use us for his purpose and for his glory in the earth? Yes, that's why he sent you here. So, in that way, if you're interpreting the word need as that, okay, sure. But does he rely on you to steady anything he's doing? No. If that ark had fallen, God in all of his omnipotence had enough power to put it right back up on that cart with them oxen, who were also flawed, by the way. Strengthen the oxen's ankles so that they wouldn't trip no more, even though he was walking on this, you know, unstable, unsturdy ground. Like he could have done whatever he needed to do to make sure that it was secure. He could have given them a whole new arc if he desired to do, like he could have done anything. Like, he could have done anything, just like he could have gotten off of the cross. He was hanging there and he looked helpless. He looked like he needed help from people, but he didn't need us. He could have called a thousand, ten thousand angels to come and rescue him in that moment. He could have called down lightning from heaven and slaughtered all of the people who were trying to slaughter him. But he didn't. He stayed there because his mission was to redeem humanity from themselves. Because they had gotten so full of themselves and were casting so much blame and judgment on one another and not doing it according to the will and the word of God and the heart of God. And he was like, We have got to do something to restore this connection. So he sent his son down here, another version, basically, another personality of himself to the earth as a human being to bleed and to die for us and then to resurrect with all power so that we could have direct access to God. He did that for us, but he doesn't need our help. So the first um warning really I want to give you is do not be an agent of the enemy casting judgment on somebody else. Because that judgment that's coming to you, my friend, you don't want that. You don't want that energy, you don't, you don't want them problems. I guarantee you do not want to mess with the God of the Bible. Okay, he is not playing, he is so serious about it. And no, he might not strike you down like he did us back in the day, but that's only because we have grace and mercy because of salvation now. Like, this is yeah, God is not insecure. We have to stop acting like, you know, something that we're doing can limit God's resurrection power. He can resurrect and redeem anyone and anything. He can use anyone and anything he desires to. I know a lot of people like to say, um, he can speak through a donkey, he can speak through you, you know, like as if it's like a big encouragement. I don't personally want to be compared to a donkey, so I like to look at it this way, because I know where they got that from. The story is legit. God really did empower a donkey to talk and speak a human language in order to tell the person riding said donkey and hitting him over and over again, hey, there's a giant angel in the road with a flaming sword. Do you not see it? And then the man's eyes were opened and so on and so forth. So he he empowered the donkey to talk because the donkey was being abused, okay? That's a whole nother story. But um, that donkey, you know, is not the greatest example of God using something that's the least of these, right? It's one of the examples for sure. But that was more to save the donkey's own life because his master was beating him. He was beating the hell out of him. And he was like, Why won't you go? Donkey, go. You you do what I say, you know, you have one job. He was fussing at him. And the donkey was like, Hey, you're gonna have to stop hitting me, bro, because there is a giant angel in the road, and that's the reason why I stopped moving. I'm trying to save both our lives. So that was just helping the donkey and the man out. Anyway, um, that's a whole aside, but that's where people get that phrase from. And the point I'm trying to make is God can use anyone in anything that he chooses because he sees the bigger picture. So he can choose to use the person who comes from nothing and make them into something great for his glory. He can choose to use the person who's underqualified, who is less talented or less admired, or the person who has 82 followers versus 82 million. Like he can choose to use the person who's of a different race, of a different background, of a different culture, of a different philosophy, a different mentality, has different emotional capacity. Like he can choose to use anybody and anything he wants to do anything he wants, and he can redeem anything. He can redeem sound, he can redeem music, he can redeem something on the Billboard Top 100 list, he can redeem hearts, he can redeem animals. He like he can redeem anyone and anything, any concept you can think of. Nothing is beyond the scope or the limitation that he has. He has no limits, y'all. So we've got to stop criticizing and pointing fingers at people who are operating based off of the redemptive power of Christ. If he gave them a mission to redeem a song that's on the top, Billboard 100, and you disagree with that because you don't believe it belongs in church. Yeah, I'm talking to you. You have to get the log out of your own eye before you cast judgment on someone else. And even when you cast judgment, speak the truth in love. Think about the fact that maybe bird's eye view here, just coming from a higher perspective, maybe. Maybe God told them to do that, to stir up the religious issues in you and people like you. Like maybe there's a reason. Maybe they're drawing people by the Spirit of God who don't listen to CCM. Maybe there's a hidden agenda. Why God empowered somebody to go into the fashion industry and dress differently from you. And like, you're like, those clothes don't even match. Why would they do that? Oh, that's not godly. That's not modest. I don't like these uh patterns and these colors that they put together. And like, why would you wear something like that? You look like the world. Yes, we are not meant to conform to the world, but we also are called to reach the world. So is one command greater than the other? If you're doing something in the heart to reach people for Christ, and God has given you that thing to do that, man, you are doing the Lord's work. And I just I want to applaud you. And I want to say, good job. If you are doing what God called you to do, don't worry about naysayers, don't worry about haters, don't worry about people in the comment section being keyboard warriors, hiding behind a mask. Don't worry about them. Worry about validation from heaven. Now, if you're doing something just for clickbait, you're doing something just to get likes, you're doing something to people please, you're doing something because it's your favorite song and you just really like it. God can't cover that because he didn't tell you to do that. And you're putting yourself out here for the judgmental people to be people and then throw stones. Like you're putting yourself out here with no protection, no shield. But if you go forward in what God told you to do, you just the least of these. And he has a whole covering for you. It is impenetrable. And it doesn't matter what people say because your validation doesn't come from people anyway, it comes from heaven. So go back to what God originally said. That's my biggest admonishment, I think, is just go back to what he said about your purpose, your potential, what he said about your limitations, because you have some. Like he has disciplines and boundaries, and they're designed to protect you. So go back to what he said and believe him. Don't second guess him. Don't be guilty of the same sin that God, Adam and Eve kicked out of the garden. Don't fall into the insecurity just because people are throwing stones and casting judgment. And on the flip side of that, don't be one of those people throwing stones and casting judgment that you know nothing about. Seek to understand. Seek to listen and understand. Maybe there's a perspective that you're not seeing. Maybe there's an interpretation of a scripture that you've read a million times and you've developed, you know, a religious hard heart in a sense, like, and you don't see that there still is truth. There's something in there that you could extract that would help change not only your life, but your children's lives or people around you's lives, your coworkers. Like maybe you're not called to reach the same people that this person is called to reach. Just consider that maybe God has a bigger plan than you realize or understand. Let's be intentional about building each other up more than we tear each other down. Let's be intentional about loving one another as ourselves and not just loving each other to the degree we love ourselves, but as we continually learn to love what God made. That means that we're loving what God made in each other as well. Let's be intentional about not fighting each other, but fighting for each other. We're all on the front lines of this battle, y'all. Like, we have got to stop throwing stones at the same team and shooting bullets at the same team. And like, we might as well be dunking on the other side goal. Like we might as well be kicking a goal into the net on the of the other team. Like, we're literally handing the enemy ammo. And it's crazy. We gotta stop. We gotta stop casting judgment and thinking that we won't be judged by the same measure. We've got to be peacemakers more than we are petty and stirring up division, right? Unity. Where there's unity, there's a commanded blessing. I think it's Psalm 133 confirms that. Like wherever we are unified and aligned with God, his mission, his purpose, that's where God commands a blessing. And right now, a lot of us are not experiencing this blessing because we're so divided. We're divided in our loyalty, we're divided in our attention spans, and we're just divided. We're divided within ourselves, we're divided in our relationships, we're divided with our potential relationships with other people, especially other believers. Like we're so divided, we have to unify. And I'm praying for the United States of America to actually be unified again. I really am. I'm praying for the next leaders that are going to come into power, political leadership, and you know, pastors and leaders on all levels. Like, we need people who have unity as a forefront focus. And if that's you, it's your time. Step up, stand up, be all that God called and created you to be unapologetically and stand firm in the truth of who He said you are. And know that you are not seeking human validation, but heaven's validation. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you that you are God all God, you are God all by yourself, and you do not need our help to be God. You will use us, you will use any one of us to do great things for your kingdom and for your glory, God. But we thank you that you are not a God who is dependent on any human man. We as human men and women are dependent on you. And we are also your sons and daughters. And I thank you that you made it to where we can ask you for whatever it is that we need, and you will give it to us. So let's start right here, God, and asking you to eradicate insecurity from our lives. Help us to stand firm in the security that comes with knowing who you are, knowing whose we are, and knowing what we are called to in this earth. In Jesus' name. Amen. I love you. Go be great. I'll see you next season.