Don't Pet the Fluffy Cows!

What happens when life feels unstable and your instinct is to grab control instead of trust? This episode centers on the difference between feeling safe and being secure, why fear often disguises itself as control or scrambling, and how misplaced trust quietly reshapes identity, relationships, and decisions. We also tackle temptation, not as a random failure, but as something deeply connected to patterns, environments, and preparation.

In this episode, we cover:

• How fear shifts trust from God to circumstances
• Why scrambling, people-pleasing, and control are warning signs
• What real security looks like when life isn’t calm
• Why temptation is usually predictable, not sudden
• The difference between resisting temptation and starving it early
• How conviction leads back to God while condemnation pushes you away

Transcript

Warm-Up And Odd Smells

SPEAKER_03 0:14

What's up everyone? Welcome back to Kids in the Calling Podcast, where none of us are kids, but we all have a calling. And that's to point people to Jesus. I'm your host, Audrey Elgeo, with me as Hudson Walton.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Hey guys.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

Andrea Crater. Hi. And Lincoln Society.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Hey guys.

SPEAKER_03 0:27

So guys, what is a weird smell that you secretly enjoy?

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Um, I like the smell of smoke. Just like any any type, not like not like cigarette smoke, but like just something burning.

SPEAKER_05 0:40

Okay. Fire smoke? Smoke from a fire?

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Just like, yeah, like a campfire or like just anything burning. Like if uh I live nearby, like cane fields, when they burn those, I like the smell.

SPEAKER_05 0:51

Someone's questioning whenever they burn cane fields.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

It's I kind of like it.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

It doesn't smell terrible.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Like it's not terrible. I like to I like I'll just walk outside, I'll just smell a faint hint of smoke. I think it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_05 1:04

I gotcha. Um, I like smell whenever they cut grass. So like fresh cut grass, it just smells good. I like it.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Yeah, it makes me sneeze. So I can't. It smells good, but we're not friends.

SPEAKER_05 1:16

Yeah, me either. We're like distant enemies.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

I'm not friends with smells either, guys.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

I like the smell of Bible paper. Like when you get a new Bible and you open it for the first time, you just so you regularly smell your Bible?

SPEAKER_04 1:29

I mean only when it's new, though.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Yeah, only when it's new. Like, you know how the outside, the outside the leather smells like new leather? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:37

The pages also have so like how many times have you sniffed your new Bible?

SPEAKER_00 1:41

No. So you're making it weird. It's not like that. I'm not a Bible sniffer. Just okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

You should be a Bible sniffer.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Like, you know okay, so if you take a book and you flip through the pages, like, you know how the smell will fly in the air.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

No, I don't know, but I agree with you.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

You're gonna just smile and nod. Yeah yes, Lincoln. My um mine is pretty relatable. I think it's like skunk. Like dog. Pretty relatable. It's like this the faint smell of skunk. I don't, it's not necessarily that I'm like, mmm, skunk, but it's like, it's like a mmm, that's not horrible. When everyone in the car is like, oh my gosh, it stinks, I'm like, delightful.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

So is it like is it like a distance effect? Like you're in the car and there's no skunk. You drive forward, suddenly you start smelling skunk. Is there like a certain distance where you're like, but then you get too close and you're just like but then you start you leave that distance again and you're like mmm mmm.

SPEAKER_03 2:40

That's exactly how it works. Yeah, it's just like a hundred yard ratio, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Radius?

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Ratio?

SPEAKER_03 2:45

Ratio. Ratio.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

It's ratio, it's not ratio. It's definitely radius, bro.

SPEAKER_03 2:50

Oh, that's ratio, it's ratio, bro. Thank you. That's what I'm saying. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

On this podcast, we speak emotions and not facts. You guys heard it straight from the source.

unknown 3:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

We don't claim him.

Safety Versus Security: Chilean Miners

SPEAKER_03 3:02

Anyway, so Pastor Jared had um recently continued a series, a simple question, and he had preached on the question, Am I secure? So, what did you guys think about that sermon?

SPEAKER_01 3:11

I thought it was it was a really good continuation from the first uh installation of the series, Am I Safe? Um, this time, like you just said, he talked about Am I Secure? And I'll just I'll dive right in with his first illustration. The first thing he started talking about was the 33 miners, the real story of the 33 miners that got trapped in a mine in Chile in I think 2010, if I'm remembering. And I won't go through all the details, but long story short, accident happens, these 33 miners get trapped underground. They end up staying down there for 69 days, which is a long time. Yeah, and that's a pretty scary scenario. But um, still skipping a bunch of details. Uh search team sent a drill down there, they finally broke through to the place they were stuck in, and when they retracted the drill back up, there was a letter on it, a note they had handwritten that said, We are well in the refuge. And Pastor Jared, he used that really well to show the difference between safety and security to open up his message because he had just talked about safety, yeah, and so now he was talking about the difference and where safety for them they definitely were not safe at all. Yeah, they were in a life or death situation. Um, if one big back down there got super hungry and started stress eating, they were all gonna die. All their food would have gone like any small mistake could have caused them all death. So they weren't safe, but they were secure. Um, if you if you look at the things that the people that were trapped in there, what they said after they've escaped, while they were down there, they celebrated birthday parties, which I don't know how they kept track of the days, but they they celebrated birthday parties, they exercised, they established command amongst them, like leaders among them, and they live securely, like they believed they were gonna get out of there. Yeah, and so I just I really like how he opened that up with the clear dis like starting to show you the distinction between safety and security, because um security is not based on your current circumstances.

SPEAKER_03 5:05

Yeah, I really love that story because he was talking about how it's like pretty much they weren't okay and their s their situation was really horrible, but they they still knew that they just have to hold off a little longer and safety will come and they will be okay and they'll make it out. And they have to live, they have to live like tomorrow's coming, even if they can't see it, you know?

SPEAKER_05 5:24

Yeah, they were intentional with planning with for their tomorrows, just like you said. Like they that's just crazy. Like, I don't know how they told the days with their birthday parties. I know that's imagine just being in in darkness for 69 days, you and 33 other people, and you can only drink like the water that's falling from the ceiling and like two pieces of cracker a day.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

It's a good thing I wasn't down there. I'll tell you that. I would not have made it.

SPEAKER_05 5:49

What's crazy is they didn't let fear and doubt define their circumstance. And just like in our lives, like Pastor Jared was talking about, we can't let fear and doubt answer our circumstances, but we can only let the word of God answer our circumstances. And what he was Pastor Jared has mentioned this mo a lot in his um primal question series, but he's all he's often talked about scrambling, and so scrambling is doing unhealthy things and practices to get back to the I am status instead of am I. So you're declaring something instead of questioning it. And whenever you scramble, you try to reclaim control of something that has caused you to lose it. Whether I mean you could lose it in a lot of different ways, but just because you are scrambling doesn't mean that you're in rebellion, right? It just makes us all human because we all have circumstances in

Fear, Doubt, And Scrambling

SPEAKER_05 6:40

our lives that are controllable or not controllable, where we're secure one moment and then the next moment we're like, okay, what just happened? Yeah, like how did I even get here? Yeah. So if we're not careful, we will build our lives on circumstances and not on Jesus. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Actually, I really like that point you just made that um that scrambling doesn't make you like evil or even that you do anything wrong because the devil will really try to hit you there. Literally. Definitely will. You'll start questioning, am I safe? And the devil can hit you with like, you're a child of God, you should you should feel safe. What do you not believe in God? He can start making you feel guilty for literally acting the way you were created. Like those are questions that we're all gonna ask, and the devil will he'll hit you hard on that. But I like that, it just it just makes you human, like Pastor Jared said.

SPEAKER_05 7:25

So even if you don't feel like you're safe, yeah, you can still be secure in the word of God.

SPEAKER_03 7:33

Yeah, and like going off of what you just said about you know, feeling safe, he was talking about how um like safety would ask, Am I safe right now? Yeah, and security would ask, is there something stable enough for me to keep going? Exactly. So I love that because it's like the difference is that safety is like a temporary feeling, or it's a question of like if things aren't great right now, should I just give up? Yeah, and security is a temporary feeling of what can I find that will keep me going, no matter what, that I can hold on to rather than you know giving up. And security um searches for something to believe in while safety looks for any minor inconvenience and it's like, okay, that's my sign to give up.

SPEAKER_05 8:06

That's my excuse to quit.

SPEAKER_03 8:08

Literally.

SPEAKER_05 8:09

And whenever our foundation shakes, what we're standing on, what we built our life on, whenever that shakes, that often causes us to ask all those different questions.

SPEAKER_02 8:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:18

Am I safe right now? Am I secure right now? Um, can I even trust God right now? Can I trust God when I feel like giving up? Can I trust God whenever it feels impossible? Or can I even trust God to maintain what I can't control myself? That's a big one then. I feel like a lot of people, including myself, can struggle with sometimes. Yeah. Definitely.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

I was just saying those are the exact type of like questions that you'll struggle answering if you try to base your security in the surroundings, yeah, in your circumstances. Um, but if you base that security in the word of God, those questions will answer themselves.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

Yes. Yeah. Because if we if we put all of our if we base our decisions and what we do on our current circumstances and our current situations, it won't end well because we all go through rough patches and bad seasons in life. And if our first instinct is, okay, giving up, I mean, we wouldn't be here today. So it's important that we just we keep trucking and we keep looking to Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

We do keep trucking always. Always.

SPEAKER_05 9:20

Because just like Pastor says, Men may fail you, but Jesus never will. Facts.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

That's like top five pastor quotes right there. Like legit. I actually I actually saw a thing on Instagram today who was talking about putting your uh like your identity and what other people think of you, so like being secure in what people around you think. And they talked about how that's really not a good thing to do because you're putting what determines the things you do based on somebody's imperfect opinion. Exactly. And so, but when you when you have your security and your identity with God, even when you like even when you don't know for sure what to do next, you know, I know he's got me. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

I mean, at the very least, you know he made you, he knows you most. Why would we put our trust and like our whole personality and our basing of air quotes who we are in people who didn't make us? Whenever the one who made us is saying, You are mine and I know it's best.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Yeah, and I just think it's important to realize that security it comes before your circumstances change. I think that's like the major point of the story of the miners. Yeah. Um, they were trapped in a literal cave they couldn't see, um, but they were secure that they were gonna make it out. They couldn't see that the circumstances weren't changing. Uh they they didn't know how long they were gonna be down there, but they believed, like we talked about, that they were gonna see see tomorrow, that they were gonna see their families again.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

And so, yeah, security will come before your circumstances change. And if you believe in the word of God, that's how

Building On God Over Circumstance

SPEAKER_01 10:48

you get that security.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

Yeah, yeah. And I'm sure they weren't, they weren't obviously down there like life is great. They were still probably scared and worried, but they still kept going. And it's like you can be, and this is another this is a point he has said that I liked. Um, he said you could be safe and still be unsettled. I liked it because security doesn't necessarily mean that everything in life or everything in your situation is going to be perfect or that everything will go exactly how you want it to. Yeah, it just means that even though the conditions are hard, you have to say, I will persevere and I will push through it. And being scared for the future or being scared for what might happen isn't wrong. That's not what the whole point is. It's not saying that you can't be scared. You have to just know you're secure. It's not about being scared. Fear still happens. We're human. It's what you do with the feelings that determine that. Yeah. It's what you do with what you're feeling at the time. If do you give up or do you keep going?

SPEAKER_05 11:36

Yeah. And the Bible is filled with so many promises and so many declarations that speak about trusting in God. Because that's where this whole question, am I secure, is based off of. It's based off of trusting in God, especially with our tomorrow, just like you were talking about, yeah, us being anxious for tomorrow. And in Psalms 56, 3, it says, Whenever I'm whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you. Or I really like Psalms 21, 2 through 5, which I won't read the whole thing, but it says, My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither sleep nor slumber. The Lord is your keeper and the Lord is your shade at your right hand. So even if your tomorrow and what you're planning and what you're looking forward to doesn't even pan out how you want it to, even if your world literally seems like it's falling apart at its seems, the Lord just got you. Like, yeah, the Bible declares over and over and over again, which is where we get our security from the word of God and our relationship with God, that the Lord will never let you down. Yeah, He's always just gonna have you in his hand. Yeah, and his hands are really big.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

We're gonna have to hold all of us tonight. You have to base your, like you just said, you have to base your security on the word of God, and you really have to get though, you have to internalize those verses. The ones that speak about all the plans God has for you and how much He loves you. Um you have to internalize that, and I I know from experience I had to get that through my thick skull. Like it's one thing to know that, and one thing to know that.

SPEAKER_05 13:23

So Yeah, I've heard that there's Don't laugh, bro. There's a gap between your head and your heart. Like you can know something. Well, okay, whatever. You you can know something. Like I can know and quote scripture all that I want, but unless I believe it, like truly believe it, it's not gonna make a difference. Like I could have just quoted to you whenever I'm afraid, I would trust in God. But if I don't actually trust in God whenever I'm afraid, then oh yeah, dude, I'll be doing I could say that, and dude, when the slightest thing comes up, I could be shaking in my boots.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

I mean I'm just lying to you. I'm just reading something to you. Yeah, you gotta believe it.

SPEAKER_03 13:58

Yeah, and going back to whenever you guys had said, you know how he was talking about don't put your trust in man, put your trust in God. It's he was talking about how people can forget you, but God never will. And I love that because it's like it's an obvious thing, but like sometimes we need to hear it again. So just guys, hear that again. People will always like let you down and they'll always fail you and they'll always hurt you. But if you're rooted in Christ, he won't let you down and he won't leave you and he won't abandon you. He's faithful and he's gonna come through when you need it. Second Thessalonians 3:3 states, but the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and keep you from evil. That's God, guys.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Yeah, that's my God.

SPEAKER_03 14:32

Yes, that is God.

SPEAKER_05 14:34

But that's my king. His faithfulness just like blows my mind because even if we don't want anything to do with him, he's like, Hey, I'm still here. Hey, I'm just waiting for you. I know. Like, even if you intentionally, which don't ever intentionally like refuse God or ignore him, but even if you're in that state, like he's still like, Hey, I want to spend time with you, which is like crazy. It's like, gosh. It's like you run it, but he's chasing.

SPEAKER_03 15:02

No, like you ain't getting far.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Where are you going, bro? He will catch you.

SPEAKER_03 15:06

Where are you going?

SPEAKER_01 15:07

He's too fast. Um, you just talked about people failing you, and I think that uh that ties back into making you scramble because when people fail you, you're gonna scramble a lot, especially if there's someone close to you. And Andrew was talking about that earlier. Um, I'd just like to highlight kind of like Pastor, he gave some some like things to look for for people that are scambling and like security. Like

Identity, People-Pleasing, And Trust

SPEAKER_01 15:28

if you don't know if you're scrambling, um, it can look like control. People that are struggling with the question that they don't believe they're secure that can manifest in them by wanting to control everything. They are afraid of collapse.

SPEAKER_05 15:41

So being in it might look like they're micromanaging everything, but they're just scared of it collapsing and it running out and they're and whatever's happening not lasting until until tomorrow. Or they're asking, what will happen if I even let go of this?

SPEAKER_03 15:56

It's like a huge control problem. It's like it's like a control freak kind of thing. You just you just want to be in control of everything that happens to you, everything you do, everything you know you put your mind to. You just want to be the one in control so that nothing goes wrong. And if something goes wrong, you have yourself to blame, not someone else.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Yeah, because like like we just said earlier, they're not evil, they're just afraid inside, and they just feel safer if they have their hand and everything around them. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

Um, I think honestly, a good example of that would be I hate flying, like I cannot stand. Really? I love to fly. So the problem I have with flying is I'm I'm not in control of like um bro talks on the cockpit. Like I can't control what what the plane's doing. So even though I don't feel safe because my hands aren't on the controls, I still know that I'm secure because I know that they're gonna get me to where I need to go. Yeah, I think that's a pretty good example for people who are like that.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Yeah, like if I was there, I would be like boom, boom, boom, like banging on like pop cockpit. Like, I need to see what you guys are doing. I guess I just I don't trust y'all.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

Well, it's not it's not as much as you just fly in the flame, bro.

SPEAKER_04 17:03

No, but like it has all the windows up there. Oh, that that's actually and whenever like they dip unexpectedly, I hate it.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

Wait till bro finds out there's windows on the side of the cabin, too.

SPEAKER_04 17:12

No, I love looking out those windows, but those windows are odd. But yeah, I'm hearing you out.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

But another one that he talked about was like relationships. It can also manifest in relationships. Um if you struggle with security internally, you're probably gonna be you that can manifest as you being the type of person to you can be in a healthy relationship, you can have a partner that genuinely loves you and wants the best for you. And maybe not even romantic, maybe friendship, uh family, yeah. Any of those connections, you can be plotting on their downfall, basically, plotting on your own downfall.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Um, you can self-sabotage the relationship, you can push boundaries, you can make little tests just to push the relationship, just to kind of prove to yourself that yeah, you're right, that it's not gonna last. Because from the beginning you didn't trust that the relationship would last. And so if you struggle with the question of security, you can be in a perfectly healthy relationship and you'll just be wondering when it's all gonna collapse. That's a good point. Yep.

SPEAKER_05 18:11

And then whenever you start testing the relationship and you're trying to prove it by your own hands, so you're doing all these little micro tests, and the the person on the other side of the of the test is not perfect, like no one is perfect, and we sometimes we forget that the people that we're in relationships with, whether that's friends, family, anything else, that these people aren't perfect, and they don't know the little script that we're making up in our heads. Truth. And so whenever we're testing them on purpose or even by accident, we're we're literally ruining our relationship. Yeah, like it'll get to a point where it literally collapses. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

I like what you just said, Andrea, because that's what exactly a pastor said that when you kind of ask those questions, you forget that your partner or the other person isn't perfect.

SPEAKER_05 18:54

Yeah. Um, another giveaway that Pastor said, um, that gives away the question if you're struggling with am I secure, is that fear, you fear that what is working right now won't last forever or even until tomorrow. So these people often have anxiety about the future and they're scared about the future. And I love whenever he said, you can't be grateful right now because you're in fear of tomorrow.

Security Before Circumstances Change

SPEAKER_05 19:20

And I was like, Whoa, that's good. Well, all things he said is good, but I was like, That's good.

SPEAKER_02 19:25

That's really good.

SPEAKER_05 19:26

I liked that one because it's so true, because you have to be in the moment and present to be grateful and not worrying about what's happening tomorrow. And I know, like, I'm in the stage of my life, the season of my life where I have to think about what am I gonna do? Because I'm in college, right? And so I'm like, what am I gonna study? What am I gonna do? Currently, it's a dental hygienist, but who really knows. Um, you'll be in marketing next week. No, like literally, business major.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Here I come.

SPEAKER_05 19:53

I'll be with Audrey.

SPEAKER_03 19:54

Right? Your business marketing. Oh, yeah, no, yeah, business marketing. Okay, yeah, I was right. People ask me what I am, and I still don't know. Like, I'm like, uh I'm just a girl. Business, and then Lindsay's like marketing.

unknown 20:05

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 20:05

Yeah, that's my answer.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

I've heard that so many times.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

You're welcome, somebody.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Okay, uh, Pastor Jarrett also made another statement about fear. He talked about how we can have life more abundantly, but oftentimes we are held back by fear and doubt. Yeah, and I honestly couldn't agree with that more. Uh John 10 10 says, The cheat the thief did not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I have come that you may have life and that they have it more abundantly. So we are promised by God through this verse to have an abundant life. But when fear starts holding us back from what God is wanting us to do, whether that be praying for people on the street, outreach at campuses, being just a witness to anybody. Like when we start letting our fear determine every single move we make, how we make it and when we make it, and if we even make it, we are not living abundantly, but our fear is. And Jesus didn't die for us to be held captive by something that he's already defeated.

SPEAKER_03 20:57

Amen, brother.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

I also think that like y'all have just been talking about like fear and then always anxious about the future. I think that can even call in how truly you believe in God. I know that's a hard question, yeah, but faith assumes stability and that you believe you are stable and secure. And so can you really say that you have a hundred percent faith if you're always worried about everything that's gonna happen tomorrow? Probably not. Like Andrew was just saying, like if you're always worried, yeah, you can't be grateful, but can you even be faithful if you don't trust anything that's ever gonna happen?

SPEAKER_02 21:35

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

So I just think that you can't truly go to your next level unless you internalize where your security comes from. Yeah. And you realize that there's no reason to be worried about all these things.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

That God's got you, that you are a child of God. Yeah. That all these promises, they are for you. Yeah. They weren't just written in the Bible.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Yeah, we miss so many, we miss so many opportunities to have joy in the today because of the stress of tomorrow. Yeah.

unknown 21:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:00

But trusting God it is harder than it sounds, like genuinely. Whenever you genuinely put your trust in God, it's difficult. Because one, like you can't see him, like with our physical eyes. Like he's he's my mental eyes. They locked in. Yeah, he's in the spirit. And so you can't see him with your physical eyes. And so that was something that had I had to wrap my brain around was no matter what happens, I'm gonna give it to God. No matter what the doctors say, because like I struggle with health issues a lot. And so I was like, no matter what surgeries I have to have, no matter what the treatment plan is, Lord, I give this to you.

SPEAKER_02 22:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:38

Whenever you give it to God is really whenever you start living in the security that He has to offer you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

So moral of the story is the true security, it comes from who is with you, not by not from what's around you. And once you eternalize that, you'll answer that question.

Promises To Hold When You’re Afraid

SPEAKER_03 23:14

So on the last podcast, we had talked a lot about temptation and um, you know, things about temptation and stuff. Well, I wanted to talk to you guys some more about you know, in depth about temptation and then how to overcome it kind of. So um, do you guys think that most failures are predictable when you're tempted? And if so, what do you guys think that should teach us?

SPEAKER_01 23:35

I do, and for a couple of reasons, I think they're predictable. Um at least more predictable than you may think. Um for one reason, last week we talked about how when you get tempted, the devil will often use desires that already exist within you. Yeah, like I used the very silly and very untrue for legal reasons. Uh example about arson. I'm not an arsonist, guys, but that's not a desire that would be used against me. But something like anger or or lying or any of that, yeah, that's something that can be used in me. And if I can pinpoint the ones that I most often fall to, yeah, yeah, I can see them coming. I can see the scenarios that they most often happen in. Yeah. And so, yes, um, I'll use the example, say uh, say you're up at night late alone with your phone, you look at something that you're not supposed to. Um, say it becomes a ha a pattern, you find that that starts happening a lot. Yeah, you you'd be a fool to not see the pattern happening there, to see that when I'm alone with my phone late at night XYZ for extended periods of time, something most likely that I don't want to happen is gonna happen.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

So you can see these things start to arise, you can see the patterns, you can recognize like where you most often fall. And so, yeah, I think if you look at it with that mindset, that you can see a bunch of your failures, failures, and predict them.

SPEAKER_05 25:02

Yeah, yeah. Um, I like what Hudson said. And jumping on Matthew 10, 41, it says, watch. So one, we're called, just like Hudson said, to watch and pray that we don't enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. The Bible says and like very plainly that our failures are predictable if your flesh is stronger than your spirit. And just like Hudson said, we have to pay attention to our sin cycles because everyone has the sins, a few sins or one sin that we struggle and we fall to more than all the other ones. And we and to figure out those sin cycles, we just have to watch and pay attention. What am I being tempted to do? What am I thinking about? Well, not thinking about like what are these thoughts that are popping into my head whenever I'm in these certain situations?

SPEAKER_03 25:56

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_05 25:56

You gotta figure out the root cause.

SPEAKER_03 25:58

Yeah, I think that uh like like y'all said, um, it is most failures are predictable. I think, especially if you've already made the mistake before, like you were saying, like you get in the habit of it, yeah, then you start to recognize it a whole lot easier. You're like, okay, this happened last time. Let me either not do it or you end up doing it. So, or you make the decision to do it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:16

That's not good.

SPEAKER_01 26:17

I just think that uh, like a lot of times people, they if they try, they could be more aware of what's happening, yeah, with with like that the topic of temptation and them fall into it. They could be more aware if they tried. Yeah. If they were just intentional about it, they can start to see maybe go get a a mentor, talk to your youth pastor if you're a uh a young student in church, talk to your pastor if you're a bit older, talk to anyone that that you trust spiritually and get an accountability partner. You can start to they can start to help you see these things if you can't see them.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:50

Yeah. And I think as as for us, wait, and I think that as far as um, you know, what should that teach us goes, I think it should really show us that we need to plan ahead, like you were saying. Oh, wait, did you say this yet?

Head-To-Heart Faith And Belief

SPEAKER_03 27:02

Did you say this?

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Yeah, like about like plan ahead.

SPEAKER_03 27:04

Or like not bringing your phone. It's like something like for Hudson's example, it's just like leave your phone in the living room. Don't give yourself the opportunity to mess up and stumble over and over again.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Yeah, like plan for it. Like, don't just see it coming and then be like, hmm, I know what's gonna happen. Should I do something about it? I'll be fine. I don't do that.

SPEAKER_03 27:21

The mindset for sin is like, or especially when you see it coming, it's like, okay, I just won't do it though. But then you get in the situation and you do it every time. So it's like, how do we not know we call every time?

SPEAKER_01 27:31

Yeah, it's like if I'm a heavy, like, if I struggle with alcoholism, and that's like that gets me, like that's something I'm struggling with, and I'm a new believer. Um, or maybe even a long time believer that for whatever reason stumbled into that. Um, if I walk down this one street and there's a bar on the street, and every time I pass it, I'm like, I'm going in there, and I go in there and I get blackout drunk, and that happens every time, and then I keep going to church that Sunday and being like, God, I don't know what happened. Why did why do I keep falling to this? Dude, you keep walking down the same street.

SPEAKER_04 28:01

Yeah, just don't go that way. Take a different way.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Yeah, take the alley. I agree with everything y'all said, but I want to look at it from a different perspective. So, um, like let's we all know somebody who is messed up. We also have all messed up, so everyone on this earth isn't perfect. Now, from the outside looking in, like if we have a friend who, like you said, is struggling with hanging out or with alcohol, and they're hanging out with people who are around alcohol, but they're saying, 'I'm not gonna drink', but they're hanging out with people who do.

SPEAKER_05 28:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

Well, for them, they might say, 'Yeah, I'm not gonna do it,' but we're looking and saying if they keep going down this path, they're gonna end up doing it. Yeah. So for us, it's predictable, but for the people that or the person that's inside of the actual temptation zone, it's not predictable, and it can feel like, oh, it swept me off my feet. That's a good point. And eventually they end up do falling down. And we was like, dude, I saw that from a mile away, and the person who's actually failing. It's like, how? And then you warned me, bro. What did I do? I said I wasn't gonna do it, and it just happened. What happened is you got comfortable with the sin.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

So I I think that uh Oh, that's good. Yeah, just that's really good. I just hate it. I think that short answer though, if you just be vigilant, set up boundaries that you follow to. Yeah, get an accountability partner, a mentor, someone that you trust spiritually, and actually like examine, like Pastor Jared says, self-examine, you will see that a bunch of these are a lot more predictable than you think.

SPEAKER_03 29:25

Yeah, yeah. Do you guys think that there's a difference between resisting temptation and starving it?

SPEAKER_05 29:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

Yes, I do. Elaborate. Um, we kind of we kind of just talked about it, but I'll go into it more. Um but so yeah, I think there, I think there's a very clear difference, and I can shorten it down to basically just one statement. I think that resisting temptation is you showing up in the moment, and the moment comes, the scenario comes that you're tempted, and you saying no. That would be you resisting it. Starving temptation would be doing preemptive things to make sure that that situation never even arises in the first place. Kind of what we just talked about. Like Audrey used my example. If you find you sin often when you're alone with your phone late at night, at like nine o'clock early when you're getting ready to go to bed, it's getting later to the night. Put your phone out your room by just a normal alarm clock. And don't even have like don't even have the possibility of that temptation being there. Yeah, that would be more akin to starving it.

SPEAKER_05 30:27

Yeah, and then just resisting it is more along the lines of flirting with the boundaries and trying to negotiate with the temptation versus just not putting yourself in the scenario for it to arise in the first push, just like cuts his head.

SPEAKER_03 30:43

Yeah, I think that starving temptation is like like Andrea was saying, you know, setting a boundary. I think it's important to set the boundary, the boundary before we even get there. Like what Pastor Jared was saying a few weeks ago about boundaries and how if you keep putting it closer and closer to the edge, eventually it's gonna fall off the edge and it's not gonna be there anymore. Yeah. But if you set it so far back and you stumble once, you're just like, oh, dang it. And you pick it back up and you put it back one more. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_02 31:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:07

Like instead of going all the way to the end and keeping the keeping your boundary at the the line or at the very point where you could just fall over. Like if you fall, yeah, you're down bad. It don't put it there. Let's put it like five feet back, and then if you fall, you'll be five feet away still.

SPEAKER_00 31:24

Yeah, set a boundary for the boundary.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

Yeah, like if you find that uh, I'll just use Instagram, say that you are

Control, Anxiety, And Relationships

SPEAKER_01 31:30

you keep getting things, uh pages suggested for you that you shouldn't be seeing, and but you keep drawing the boundary at oh, when I see it, I'm just gonna click off of it and ignore it. Yeah, that's not a safe boundary to have. The boundary should be maybe I'm gonna delete Instagram. Yeah, that should be the that would be the real boundary.

SPEAKER_03 31:46

Yeah, I like that. What do you think are some like solutions to the main issues? Like we were talking about idleness the last time. Um, like this some other things that lead to temptation. What do you think is a solution to it?

SPEAKER_01 31:59

Um, going right off of what you just said, idleness. Um, I think with I idleness is simply just the problem of having way too much empty time. Um yeah. I think that you solve that by building structure in your life. The Bible rehashes for believers to be disciplined to have that structure. So build structure and fill your time with thing and purpose. Try not try to avoid just leaving huge blocks of your time where you're just sitting there doing nothing on your phone or something. Um intentionalize your time, even if that time is simply just resting, make that like intentional, be like, I'm gonna rest from this time to this time. Yeah, structure it. Uh if you get into that habit, it's a lot harder to have idle time when you get the mindset of I should be intentional about my time.

SPEAKER_05 32:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:47

Yeah. If you struggle with idleness, just get up and do anything.

SPEAKER_05 32:51

Like just do anything but nothing.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

I would suggest doing something that benefits you a little bit, like whether you're gaining knowledge or gaining walk with God, like do something with God. Like, don't, like Hudson said, don't just sit down on your phone and spend eight hours a day on Instagram because you don't know what else to do. Yeah. Like if you're if idleness is a trigger for you or something that you're struggling with, and you go on Instagram and you're on a walk in landmine field on Instagram, you're idle already. So that's one. And then you're on Instagram where anything could pop up. That's two bad things right there. So I would suggest like go touch grass. Yeah, touch touch some grass. Go on a walk, um, talk to your family, just do something.

SPEAKER_05 33:32

Yeah. I think you should be an ant. And I'm gonna explain.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

Do I do that?

SPEAKER_05 33:38

I'm gonna explain. So in Proverbs 6, 6 through 8, it says, Take a lesson from the ants, you lazy bones. Learn from their ways and become wise. Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they live a hard they labor hard all summer long, gathering food for the winter. So ants don't need to be told what to do in order to have discipline. Because they all work together to like make their little colony and ant pile work. So no one has to tell them to go gather food, right? They go gather food and they store it away, which like we know that's some scientific thing, but um don't wait for someone to tell you what to do before doing it, just better yourself to prepare yourself for your own future, right? Because we all have a future. The Bible says we all have a future and we're all getting older, like we all have a future. And so, why don't you just prepare yourself for your future and for something that benefits you instead of just doing nothing?

SPEAKER_01 34:32

Yeah, I think that's really good. I'm gonna really, really try to be an ant over the next uh few months. I'll get back to you on that. If you see me crawling around, don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_05 34:44

You need like six legs.

SPEAKER_01 34:46

I think another pretty big one is loneliness. Um loneliness is definitely something that uh a lot of people do go through. Um and I think it's it's just really easy to find yourself in that stage. Um, I'm sure if you talk to anyone on just out on the street, they at least one point in their life went through a period of loneliness. Um and I think the way around that is it's kind of simple. Like you think about it, um, it sounds like, well, duh, but it's true. Um pursue real connections with people. Um, don't isolate and I know I know it sounds stupid, but don't isolate yourself. I know sometimes you're just gonna walk into that place and just for whatever reason everyone there can't stand you. I'm not talking about that, but sometimes you'll go in with a negative mindset and you'll be like, I just I can never make any friends. No one here likes me. And meanwhile, these people are just chilling, like they don't know you that like they're just chill. Like you'll talk to them, they'll talk to you. But you go in with a negative mindset of these people don't like me. I'm not cool. I what what could I bring to a friendship, a relationship? Yeah, and you start to self-isolate yourself before you even talk to people, yeah, and that leads to loneliness. So that's a waste if if you are sabotaging yourself like that, um, because that's very easy to do in school.

SPEAKER_05 36:01

Um in school, in church, yeah, like work anywhere, but anywhere.

SPEAKER_03 36:07

Yeah, Pastor Jared was talking a couple weeks ago and he was saying, if you if you feel like you have no friends, then be a friend, be friendly, be someone who could people can talk to easily.

SPEAKER_05 36:16

And if you find yourself being lonely, just like Austin said, don't self-isolate. But we have this great thing called connect groups and small groups that you can be a part of and you can go make friends with people who are like-minded with you.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

Shameless plug. That's it. Even if you're out of state, bro, calm.

SPEAKER_03 36:37

Literally sign up, or like we'll we'll wait for you, bro. You can actually do it on the app too. I feel like a lot of people don't know that. Yeah, you can sign up for groups on the app, and I just wonder.

SPEAKER_05 36:45

You can go look at them because we have a bunch. We have like some

Resisting Versus Starving Temptation

SPEAKER_05 36:48

with for to drink coffee or hot tacos in the morning, or there's Bible study ones, or prayer groups, or puzzle groups. If you like puzzles, you can go make a puzzle.

SPEAKER_01 37:00

I'll have to get back to you on that.

SPEAKER_03 37:17

Another question I have for you guys is what do you think about like the role of accountability when it comes to temptation? Like that we have for ourselves or for others.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

I don't need accountability because I am an alpha and I can do this all on my own. You're done. Right now. That's a lie. Am I right, guys, or am I right? I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 37:36

Death.

SPEAKER_03 37:37

No, but for real, what do you think about accountability?

SPEAKER_00 37:40

I think accountability is very important because you can't you can't genuinely think or take full responsibility for what you've done and say, I want to change, but then the minute you fail to what you want to change from, you blame it on somebody else. Yeah. Yeah. Like if struggling with listening to bad music was my struggle when somebody sent me a song to listen to, I didn't have to listen. Yeah, that's bad. I didn't have to listen to it, but I pressed play. I can't say, oh, well, they sent it to me. You're the reason. No, I pressed play. Yeah. And so I looked into the um the Greek word for repent, and it's the verb, I'm probably gonna say it wrong, metaneo. That's it. And it means to have a complete change of heart and direction. And so, like I said, if you really want true change of heart, you have to take full responsibility for your actions.

SPEAKER_05 38:33

Yeah. And then like owning up to it and telling somebody else what you're going like through and dealing with, one it you own up to it in a whole different way. And so you realize, like, you really realize, like, oh wait, yeah, I'm actually struggling with this. Yeah. But then, like, I feel like if you talk, if you tell someone, like your accountability partner, don't just let anyone be your accountability partner. But if you tell them what you're going through, it could low-key be embarrassing for you. And then you're like, okay, wait, I'm getting I'm I'm embarrassed right now. Yeah, like it's embarrassing for you sometimes. And so that could even push you not to do it anymore. Just because you're embarrassed. Somebody knows now your deepest secret.

SPEAKER_00 39:15

Yeah, well, most sin lives and thrives in the dark. So the minute you tell somebody it comes to light, you're thinking, wow, this is embarrassing. What am I doing?

SPEAKER_01 39:23

Yeah, people are actually gonna see this one.

SPEAKER_03 39:26

I think it's funny that I'm about to say this because earlier in the podcast, Hudson said I was just a girl. But we can't have the I'm just a girl mindset anymore, okay, guys? Like it's cute sometimes, but it's getting out of hand.

SPEAKER_01 39:36

And I prefer at point church.

SPEAKER_03 39:40

Preaching in a mirror right now.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

You are not just a girl, you're a child of God.

SPEAKER_03 39:44

Oh, amen. Yes, but I'm talking about when it comes to temptation and sin. Oh, like I can't sit and be like, I'm just a girl.

SPEAKER_01 39:50

That stuff just happened.

SPEAKER_03 39:52

I'm just gonna skip away into a rainbow. It's not like that, guys. So apparently I have to like take accountability or something. Ding it.

SPEAKER_02 39:58

Oh man, that's so hard.

SPEAKER_03 40:01

It's important that we recognize you know what we did and we make a conscious effort to turn away from it and repent for it. We can't just be like, get them next time, Tiger.

SPEAKER_05 40:12

So whenever you choose your accountability accountability partner, you have to choose someone that is trustworthy. Someone that you know is godly and is walking in the ways of God. That could be a mentor, a parent, your youth pastor of your youth age, or whoever else you could think of as godly and trustworthy.

SPEAKER_01 40:30

Yeah, like I know, like I was a kid once too. Um, most kids or young tees want to are realistically not gonna want to go to your parents. That's just like ingrained in you. Like you don't want your your accountability partner to be your parent. That's just awkward. But your youth pastor, that's a really good one. Yeah, um, pastor, yeah, if you're a bit older. Um, even just a trusted uh mentor, mentor, or even just a close friend that knows your life and kind of knows the things you go through. They can also be someone

Idleness, Structure, And Community

SPEAKER_01 41:00

to help you hold you accountable.

SPEAKER_03 41:02

Okay. Um, another question I have for you guys is what do you think is the danger of small compromises?

SPEAKER_05 41:10

I think it's a really big danger. So let's imagine your discipline is like a beautiful stone bridge.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

I'm imagining.

SPEAKER_05 41:19

That's holding back. Well, it's like a stone dam, right? So just think about that. That's holding back thousands of gallons of water behind it, okay? But it's pretty, like it's nice and pretty. You make one compromise, and that's one crack in your stone bridge. All right. As time goes on, you make another one, it's another crack, another one, another crack, and eventually there are so many cracks that these cracks become large cracks, and that affects the integrity of the entire bridge. So even though so hold up with enough cracks, that bridge is gonna collapse, and that water is gonna stream out everywhere and affect everything around it. So let's bring that into the real world.

SPEAKER_01 41:58

Yeah, and since you're talking about integrity, yeah, I she's in the middle of her analogy.

SPEAKER_04 42:03

Not really. But if they say let's bring that to the real world, yeah, and then we're gonna talk about it. Oh, I thought you were saying let's bring that to the real world. So now imagine this. Okay, go ahead, brother.

SPEAKER_01 42:14

So now that you've kind of talked about integrity, um, that makes me think of take us the Galatians 6-7, take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines for our oh my gosh, guys, I get it. 6-7, 6-7. All right. Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. Yes. Um, if you think about integrity, the the verse is calling out the little foxes that they that spoil the vines, and at the end of the vines are the tender grapes. So, like you were just saying with the dam, the tiniest little things, they start compromising the integrity. Yeah, well, if you start allowing these small compromises, that vine is gonna spoil. And guess what's at the end of that vine, bro? The tender grapes.

SPEAKER_00 43:04

Yes, sir. Why is the word tender so funny? Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 43:07

I don't know, bro. It's in the Bible. Go take it up with God.

SPEAKER_04 43:09

Oh wow, that was quick. Oh boy. That's good.

SPEAKER_00 43:11

Yeah, I I agree with y'all. Um, I think the danger of small compromises is thinking that there are small compromises. Yeah, yeah. When small mistakes become habitual mistakes, we start living in iniquity. And there's a difference between struggling with sin and living in sin.

SPEAKER_05 43:27

Oh, yep.

SPEAKER_00 43:28

Yep. I feel like like when we see as oh, saying one curse word, it's just one curse word, or twisting the truth one time. I mean, twisted truth is a lie. So if you're saying one lie, it's just I just manipulated that one person. Like when you do that over and over and over again, your character is gonna be destroyed. Yeah, and you're living in iniquity. So it's not a good place to be. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:53

I just think that back to integrity. I think even if the small compromise isn't a sin or anything even Inherently bad in itself, it it compromises your character. Yeah. That's the most important part. That's like the main point I think that me and Andrew are going for. That um it affects who you are. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:12

And your relationship with God.

SPEAKER_01 44:14

And that may in the long run be even more detrimental to you than if you had actually just did a one and done like sin and then you repented and moved on. If you start compromising your character, then like in Andrew's scenario, that water is breaking through the dam eventually.

SPEAKER_05 44:28

Bye bye, everybody else.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

I just think that gonna be drowning. It's important to see that the little permissions that you make can create big problems in your life. Because it trickles, like even if you don't see it, that one small little decision, that one second down the line, it can catapult.

SPEAKER_03 44:49

It's like one small step for man, but one giant leap for mankind.

SPEAKER_01 44:53

But in the bad way and not the good way.

SPEAKER_04 44:55

What the odd?

SPEAKER_01 44:58

Okay, bro. Bro, watched one documentary on astronauts before this.

SPEAKER_03 45:03

Um, also, I don't think that they actually landed on the moon, but that's a topic for another day.

SPEAKER_01 45:07

If we talk about that here, this podcast will be two hours, bro.

SPEAKER_03 45:11

Okay, but real question what do you guys think about recovery and temptation? Like, like the importance of knowing the difference between your convictions and your condemnation.

SPEAKER_05 45:21

Ah, that's a good one. There's a definite difference biblically between condemnation and conviction. Because conviction is the Lord nudging you, saying, Hey, I didn't like that. Hey, that was sin. I don't like it. Let's fix that. And then condemnation is like, bro, I messed up, and now I'm gonna sit in my pity pool, and I'm going to wallow in my pity pool of all my mistakes in pity. In pity.

SPEAKER_03 45:51

Yeah, it's like whenever think of it as like a parent. Like, you know, say you have parents and you do something wrong, or like you they say not to download TikTok, and you're like 12

Accountability And Owning Your Choices

SPEAKER_03 46:02

and you download TikTok, speaking from experience, and you get in trouble. Your parents don't disown you, they're not like, no, we're done, get out of our house. They're like, girl, that was wrong. You're punished, but you're gonna be okay. Yeah, and we still love love and we're still watching you over you, you know. I think conviction is knowing um like what I'm doing or about to do is wrong, and condemnation is I'm too far gone, I'm doomed. It's it's like from zero to a hundred for real. And we can be convicted and not condemned at the same time, guys, because conviction is a part of life as a Christian, it's part of you know who we are. We do sin, but he also died on the cross so that we could be forgiven. Yeah, and he reminds us of that multiple times, but sometimes we still forget. But it's important not to forget because we have to know how to like manage, you know, manage what we do.

SPEAKER_00 46:49

Yeah, I agree. It's like I Andrew put it really, really good. Uh, conviction says I fail, but I'll get up. I've upset God, he's not happy with me, but I'm gonna continue to grow closer. Yeah. And condemnation says God will never accept me after what I just did.

SPEAKER_05 47:04

Yeah, God's disappointed in me.

SPEAKER_00 47:05

Yeah. So I have a few verses, Romans 5, 14 through 16. Um, it says, Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense, for if by one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. Yeah. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned, for judgment or for the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation. That's but the free gift which came from many offences resulted in justification. So, yeah, Paul banger, absolute banger. So I personally think condemnation is the devil's favorite tactic to use. Um, because when he makes us feel condemned, we start doubting our identity. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:55

To me, you guys have already talked about it so well. I think the clear difference is that conviction will leave you wanting to get back to God. Um, condemnation will have the opposite effect. You'll feel like you can't go back to God.

SPEAKER_02 48:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:09

Like I really like the pity puddle that Andrew was talking about because sometimes we'll do that. You'll mess up. Um, and then the devil will just start talking in your ear, and he'll be like, he'll get you to start thinking, I did that. There's I can't go to church tomorrow. I can't. Who am I to go in there and worship after what I did last night?

SPEAKER_02 48:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:27

Who am I to do that after how I've been living the past few months? And we can get into our head that God hates me. There's no way I could live for him after this, and God's just there, like, hello. Hello, I'm right here. Please talk to me. And you're just like, I can't talk to God, he hates me. And it's just like, please, just talk to me. That's so funny.

SPEAKER_00 48:47

Dude, there's there's been so many times where I've messed up, and as I'm praying, like, God, please forgive me. Like, I don't deserve your mercy, but you died for my sins. Like, please just forgive me one more time. Like, this, I'm just actually begging for forgiveness. And then the devil's just sitting there, he's like, You think he's hearing you right now? And then I've literally stopped praying one time or several times. But that's that's real. Like, yeah, yeah. I'm being vulnerable. Like, this happens to a lot of people, yeah. And that's not that's that is a hundred percent condemnation.

SPEAKER_01 49:20

Yeah, or like in in my case, um, it'd be like not wanting to participate in church the next day because the devil whispers and he's like, This is what you've been doing. Yeah, if you go in church, are you are you just acting apart? Like, how are you gonna go in there and worship God after what you've been doing?

SPEAKER_00 49:34

Like, it's that's the type of stuff that happens, it makes you feel like you're putting on a show or yeah, like a mask, like you're trying to be somebody you're not. Well, we're all sinners who have all been justified by God.

SPEAKER_05 49:45

And whenever you let the devil or like not even let the devil, whenever you condemn yourself, you're doing the devil's job for the devil.

SPEAKER_00 49:53

Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 49:53

So the devil doesn't have to condemn you if you're condemning yourself, and then he's like, hey, she's a burning boat. Let me just go over here and burn somebody else's boat. You know?

SPEAKER_01 50:04

That's that's exactly what the devil sounds like in my head. Burning boat.

SPEAKER_03 50:08

So, what do you guys think is the importance of guardrails? And like, why should we keep them for ourselves and expect others to follow them as well? For us.

SPEAKER_05 50:17

I think guardrails are really important. So let's look at this from in the world first. So guardrails, physical guardrails, are not meant to restrict your freedoms, but to keep you from going down a dangerous path. So let's look at Yellowstone National Park, for example. So they have signs and fencing everywhere to designate the right path on which you should go. And so if a visitor would go to Yellowstone National Park and walk off or like off the path and cross the fence that says, do not cross. There are moose or bison or m hot springs over here, and they walk across it, they could die, and they have died. So just like in Yellowstone, in our lives, we have guardrails that protect us from what dangers lie on the other side of them.

SPEAKER_01 51:07

Yeah, you may think you're being big and bad, and

Small Compromises And Integrity

SPEAKER_01 51:10

you're being a rebel, and you're going outside of the guardrails, and you feel so free. Bro, there are bears out there, dog. Get back inside.

SPEAKER_05 51:17

You just want to pet the fluffy cow. That's what they call bison, apparently.

SPEAKER_01 51:20

But you don't know the fluffy cow is evil in what you're doing. Don't pet him.

SPEAKER_05 51:26

Do not pet the fluffy cow. Never went to Montana for the first time. They took us to Yellowstone, and they said, do not pet the fluffy cows.

SPEAKER_01 51:34

Diges are scary, bro. Like the ones people are just chilling in their car, and the bison just like knocks it over. Like, okay, bro, my fault.

SPEAKER_05 51:43

I'll go home next time. Well, I'll stay home next time. So guardrails are meant to prevent mistakes before they even happen. Which I think that's great.

SPEAKER_01 51:53

Yeah, kind of ties along with what we've been saying.

SPEAKER_03 51:56

Yeah, they're a good safety precaution. Because it's it's important to guard our hearts and our minds above everything because it's important because that's where pretty much everything, if we fall, that's where it comes from. Our heart or our mind, you know?

SPEAKER_05 52:10

And that's biblical.

SPEAKER_03 52:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 52:12

In Proverbs 4.23, it says, guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Or in 2 Corinthians 6 14, it says, Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with lawlessness, and what communion hath light with darkness.

SPEAKER_03 52:28

Yeah, we can't just hope that everything that everything's gonna be fine, that we're gonna get there and be able to say no, hypothetically. You know, we have to think and be wise and be like, hmm, not a good idea to get to the place and then try to say no. Let me just put a guardrail right here and stay back here.

SPEAKER_01 52:45

Starve that temptation.

SPEAKER_05 52:46

And there are so many examples of biblical guardrails in the Bible. Like I just read like two, but there's literally so many where they're gotta set standards and guardrails for our lives. Things that don't restrict your freedom, but they shape your path so that you don't walk into the fluffy cow, right? You you get to see it on the other side of the fence. So you see the danger, but you don't directly walk into the danger, and that's the beauty of the Bible.

SPEAKER_01 53:15

I think that's a like that's a deeper analogy than we think, guys, because the fluffy cow, you want to go and pet it. It looks cute.

SPEAKER_03 53:23

It's like the apple or the fruit that Eve ate.

SPEAKER_01 53:25

That thing's fluffy, bro. Like symbolic. You want to go and pet it. Yeah. But you don't know that that's bad for you.

SPEAKER_03 53:30

It's mean. Yeah, it'll trample you and then bye-bye, Hudson. Okay, but in my mind, honestly, who would look at a bison and think, wow, that looks nice? Like my initial reaction is run. Apparently, a lot of people they're they're so adorable, especially the little baby ones. Oh. Have you ever seen a little baby bison? No, I've never seen a bison, I don't think. What? A baby bison. Someone fact check me.

SPEAKER_01 53:50

How is bro saying, dude? I never see a bison and say I want to go pet it. Bro's never seen a bison.

SPEAKER_00 53:54

We don't really. Oh, I've seen one just in person. In Louisiana.

SPEAKER_05 53:57

Yeah, well, whenever I went to Montana, we're gonna be serious right now.

SPEAKER_00 54:00

No, he said you haven't seen one yet. I'm like, well, we don't typically see those on the side of the interstate.

SPEAKER_05 54:05

I went on I went to vacation in uh Kentucky or Tennessee. One of those. And they had they had a little bison farm. Oh and it was cute. Actually, this was in Missouri.

SPEAKER_03 54:17

Can we pet those?

SPEAKER_04 54:18

Sorry. No, you cannot pet that dog.

SPEAKER_05 54:21

Can I pet that dog?

SPEAKER_03 54:23

Um, but anyway, as far as boundaries go, in my opinion, I just think that it's important to make them clear because we know what boundaries we need personally. So we have to set them where we know we need them. And if people aren't following those and we're not well, if people aren't following those and we're associated with those people, we won't follow those either. Let's be so real. So it's important that we're with like-minded people who are willing to follow the good things and the good boundaries that we set.

SPEAKER_05 54:48

So let's take friendships for example. So let's say I have a friend and I have made a guardrail saying I am not going to gossip because I know one, that's a sin, but two, like it has other major consequences. And so I have this friend who just likes to gossip and is yapping about everyone and their mama, and then they're yapping to me. And if I make this guardrail that I'm not going to gossip, I can just turn around and walk away. That is okay. Flipper ponytail in their face, girl. For you to protect your guardrail. And so let's say I don't do this, and I have this friend who's yapping about everyone and their mama, and I decide, hey, I'm gonna yap too. Because the people that I am associating with are not following my guardrail, I'm not gonna follow it either. And then we're all gonna pet the fluffy cow together and bye-bye.

SPEAKER_01 55:39

Yeah, no matter how spiritual you are, how safe you are, if you start allowing that to happen, you'll eventually become your surroundings. Yeah. Or the people closest to you.

SPEAKER_05 55:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:48

Like that's gonna happen no matter you, you'll never be that perfect.

SPEAKER_05 55:51

Yeah. Yeah. Nobody's perfect. But I mean lose flash.

SPEAKER_01 55:54

Hmm. If only we had a pastor that preached about something like guardrails before, maybe it would be an indication that these are important.

SPEAKER_05 56:02

If only we had a pastor that preached a series called Stumbling Blocks, and he had a guardrail, a barricade up on the stage, and he was a whole barricade. He almost like flipped it off stage on accident.

SPEAKER_01 56:14

But

Conviction Not Condemnation

SPEAKER_01 56:15

alright, guys, we've we've talked about a lot. We've talked about Pastor Jared continuing his uh his seven primal question series and how we talked about security. And moral of the story is that security will not come from your surroundings. The answer of security should ideally come from your belief in the promises of God and what he says about you.

SPEAKER_02 56:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:36

So analyze your life, analyze, ask yourself that question, and realize if you find yourself to be a bit of a control freak, if you um notice any of the actual examples that we gave and you see those in your life, um, do some self-reflection. Try to really internalize all the care and love God has for you and all the promises He has for you, and base your security in the Word of God. And if you do that, you will be secure. Your surroundings won't scare you as much as they used to. You will be truly secure. But yeah, then we talked even more about temptation. I'd say more of the story from all that we've talked about is be vigilant. If you really look, if you get some good accountability partners, if you really analyze the situation, pray about it, look at it from an outside perspective, you'll see that there are preventative things you could be doing. You don't always have to walk right into the temptation. There's roadblocks and boundaries you can set. Don't just live in a fantasy all the time thinking that you can get to the moment and just say no when it arises. Yeah, try to be vigilant, try to set roadblocks and try to see it coming. And then at the end, realize that God is never going to condemn you. That's just that's evil, that's lies. God loves you and He wants you back. Condemnation is not real. From God.

SPEAKER_00 57:55

I was about to say From God.

SPEAKER_01 57:57

God won't do it.

SPEAKER_00 57:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:59

As Hudson said, we've talked a lot, so I think we covered a lot of good stuff today. Um, thank you so much to the listeners for listening, and make sure to follow our Instagram page because I don't think we have anything posted yet, but we're gonna start posting soon. So you're gonna want to follow whenever we whenever we start. So, anyway, guys, we'll see you next week. Bye! Bye.