Faithful & Fierce: What Bully Breeds Teach Us About Biblical Boldness (And Why God Didn't Make Either One by Accident)

People cross the street when they see your dog. They also back away when you stand boldly in your faith. Coincidence? I don't think so. In this episode of Abiding Trails, we're talking about what it means to be "Faithful & Fierce" - and why God didn't make a mistake when He gave bully breeds their strength OR when He called you to live out bold, unapologetic faith in a world that prefers tame Christians.

We're digging into 2 Timothy 1:7 and Proverbs 28:1, getting real about the parallel between bully breed stigma and faith stigma, and talking about why "meekness" doesn't mean "doormat." Plus, the story behind our new "Faithful & Fierce" hat design and why I chose that specific embroidery approach.

If you've ever had to defend your dog AND your faith in the same week - this one's for you.

Links mentioned:

Faithful & Fierce Hat – Christian Dog Dad Trucker Hat for Men – Abiding Paws
Monday's YouTube embroidery video: https://www.youtube.com/@AbidingPaws
Blog post: Abiding Trails – Abiding Paws

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

If you own a bully breed, you already know the look. It's that wide-eyed stare you get from a stranger walking towards you on the sidewalk, right before they subtly, or not so subtly, cross the street to avoid you and your dog. They see the blocky head, the chest, the muscles, and they immediately assume the worst. They see fierce, and they think dangerous. But you and I both know the truth. You know that 70-pound tank at the end of your leash is probably afraid of the vacuum cleaner and just wants to aggressively snuggle you on the couch tonight. Welcome to Abiding Trails, the podcast for bully breed parents who are trying to walk with Jesus through the beautiful, chaotic, slobbery mess of everyday life. I'm your host Chastity, and today we're talking about something that's been on my heart since I started Abiding Pause. We're talking about what happens when the world misunderstands your dog, and more importantly, what happens when the world misunderstands your faith. We're talking about being faithful and fierce, and why God didn't make either one by accident. Let's just be brutally honest for a second, because that's what we do here. Being a bully breed parent requires thick skin. You're constantly defending your dog's right to exist in public spaces. You're managing their environment because you know that if your dog makes one mistake, the world will blame won't blame bad training or poor socialization. They'll blame the breed. You've heard all. Those dogs just snap. I don't trust them around kids. Why would you choose such a dangerous breed? And here's what I've realized running abiding pause and talking to hundreds of bully breed parents, living out bold faith, biblical faith in 2026 requires that exact same thick skin. When you stand up for what the Bible actually says, not the watered-down, comfortable version, but the real gospel, people cross the street. They look at your boundaries, your convictions, your dedication to Christ, and they think it's too intense, too rigid, and too much. They see fierce faith and they assume dangerous fundamentalism. But just like with our dogs, they're missing the whole picture. They're seeing strength and assuming it's uncontrolled. They're seeing conviction and calling it extremism. I want to anchor this in scripture because feelings don't build faith, God's word does. First, 2 Timothy 1 7. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Look at those three words power, love, sound mind. I guess that's four words technically, but you get the gist. That's the biblical definition of strength under control. In scripture, that concept is called meekness. People hear meek and think weak, but that's not what it means. A war horse is meek. It has the power to crush a skull, but it submits that power to the bit and bridle of its master. Your bully breed is a perfect picture of this. They have immense physical power, but when they're properly trained and submitted to you as their leader, that power is paired with love and sound judgment. Now, Proverbs 28:1 says, The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. Bold as a lion, not timid as a mouse, not invisible as a chameleon, bold as a lion. God didn't call us to shrink back. He called us to be fierce in our love, fierce in our protection of what matters, and fierce in our devotion to Him. The world looks at that boldness, whether it's in our dogs or our faith, and calls it dangerous. But what if that's exactly what God intended? I want to tell you about a moment that changed how I think about this whole thing. I was at the store with Tite, and he was being absolutely perfect, for once, minding his own business. This woman walked my way with her dog, took one look at mine with that glare, you know the look, grabbed her dog, and acted as if Titan had lunged and bitten her and her dog right then and there. In that moment, I felt two things simultaneously. Mama bear defensiveness and this weird shame. Like I needed to apologize for even existing in that space. That's when the Holy Spirit checked me hard. Because how many times have I done that exact same thing with my faith? How many times have I watered it down, made it smaller, apologized for believing what scripture actually says about marriage, parenting, money, forgiveness, all because I didn't want to make people uncomfortable. Here's the brutal truth. A lot of us are bolder advocating for our dogs at the dog park than we are advocating for Jesus in our daily lives. We'll stand toe-to-toe with someone who calls our dog aggressive, but we'll shrink back when someone mocks our faith. We'll research breed statistics to defend our bully, but we won't open our Bibles to defend our beliefs. That disconnect is what birthed this whole faithful and fierce concept. Speaking of faithful and fierce, if you watch today's YouTube video later, you'll see me embroidering one of our hat designs, and I want to tell you why I made the design choices I did, because they do matter. I chose Old English lettering because it has weight. It's bold, structured, unapologetic. It's not delicate script that whispers. It's typography that stands its ground. I put the gold cross right next to the gold paw because these aren't separate parts of your life. You don't leave your faith at home when you're walking your dog through the chaos of everyday life. Your faith and your role as a dog parent, they're integrated. When you put this hat on, I want it to be a reminder. Stop apologizing for the fierce things God put in your life. Stop shrinking when people judge your dog, and stop shrinking when people judge your faith. You can grab the faithful and fierce hat in the shop. Links in the show notes. But whether you buy anything from me or not, I want you to walk away from this episode knowing something important. Here's what I want you to do this week. I want you to identify one area where you've been shrinking instead of standing. Maybe it's at the dog park when someone makes a comment about your bully, at work when faith comes up in conversation, with family members who constantly criticize your dog or your beliefs. In your neighborhood where you avoid certain walking routes because of judgment. Ask yourself, where am I choosing comfort over conviction? Where am I letting fear of people's opinions override what I know is right? Because 2 Timothy 1.7 says that spirit of fear didn't come from God. That shame that needed to apologize for what God gave you, that's not from your creator. Your bully doesn't second guess their loyalty to you. When they think you're threatened, they don't sit down and make pros and cons list and whether it's socially acceptable to defend you, they just show up. That's the kind of faithfulness God wants from us. Not reckless, not cruel, but unashamed and uncompromising. The question isn't, am I too much? The question is, am I submitted to the right authority? Before we wrap up, here's your trail marker for this week. The one thing I want you to remember. The world may misunderstand your dog and your faith, but God isn't asking you to be understood. He's asking for you to be faithful and fierce. If this episode hit you somewhere real, share it. Send it to another bully breed parent who needs to hear this. Screenshot it, tag me on Instagram or Facebook, and show me those bullies. I never get tired of seeing your dogs. Tuesday's blog is going to dive deeper into handling public judgment and practical advocacy for your bully breed without losing your testimony. Make sure you're on the email list so you don't miss it. And next Monday, we're talking about something that's going to make every single one of you laugh and then feel convicted. When it looks like you try to walk in the spirit, when your bully breed is literally dragging you down the sidewalk, that one's going to be good. Until then, stay faithful, stay fierce, and go love on your bully. This is Abiding Trails. I'm Chastity, and I'll see you next week.