July 23, 2025 • 32 mins
In a world obsessed with likes, shares, and personal brands, how do we keep our hearts low and our eyes on Jesus? In this episode of Faithfully Invested, Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne tackle the challenge of leading from humility instead of hype—and why Kingdom influence starts in the low place.
Through scripture, personal stories, and practical steps, they explore how to avoid the subtle trap of pride, keep your motives pure, and lead with Christ’s mindset no matter how big your platform gets. You’ll hear biblical insights from Proverbs 15:33, James 4:10, Philippians 2:3–5, and more, plus four practical practices to help you stay grounded when influence grows.
In this episode you’ll discover:
✅ How to check your motives before you lead
✅ Why identity in Christ protects you from pride
✅ The danger of craving applause over God’s approval
✅ 4 ways to keep humility at the center of your leadership:
• Practice silent service
• Stay grateful
• Stay accountable
• Keep your eyes on Jesus
If you’ve ever wrestled with ambition, recognition, or the pressure to perform, this conversation will help you stay steady, surrendered, and faithful—no matter how high God lifts you.
📖 Key Scriptures: Proverbs 15:33 • James 4:10 • Philippians 2:3–5 • Hebrews 12:2 • Matthew 6:1–4 • 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Are you ready to build a life,business and legacy that truly
lasts?
Welcome to Faithfully Investedwith Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne,
where Faith meets real talk.
Biblical wisdom meets everydaylife and leadership meets
laughter.
Together we will uncover God'sblueprint for leadership,
marriage, and mission, helpingfaith-driven leaders invest in
(00:21):
what matters most.
Each episode, we explorebiblical wisdom, have real
conversations, and of course,have some fun along the way
because let's be real.
Walking in faith is anadventure.
It sure is.
So pull up a seat, grab yourcoffee or your sweet tea, and
join us as we steward ourcallings with intention, because
(00:42):
when we invest in his kingdom,he brings the increase.
Hey friends.
Welcome back to FaithfullyInvested, where we explore God's
blueprint for leadership,marriage, and mission.
I'm Stacy Jo And I'm Allen.
(01:02):
Uh, I'm not, and we're back.
Here we are.
We hope you're having such asgood of a day as we are.
We're so glad that you decidedto join us today.
Whether you're driving, workingout, busy in the kitchen, or
just chilling while you listen.
I like that.
Yeah.
Chilling while you listening.
Chilling while you listen.
(01:23):
We, we love that.
You're doing love.
Uh.
We love that you are doing lifealongside of, I'm not quite sure
what's so funny, but I know, butit's good, man.
It's funny.
Well, thank you for deciding tomake faithfully invest in a part
of your day anyway, today.
Let's get started.
Yeah.
(01:43):
I think we're laughing becausethis could be.
We, we could step on some toeswith this one a little bit bit.
It seems like we say that everytime we step on a lot of toes, I
think.
But that's okay.
We've been told that it'srelatable, so that's, you know,
that's what we Jesus heals.
That's right.
But today we're tackling a topicthat honestly doesn't really get
enough airtime, especially in a,in a culture that celebrates
(02:07):
platforms and personal brands.
But I don't want you to get mewrong.
I'm not saying that there'sanything wrong.
With personal brands?
No, that's not what we'resaying.
Definitely not.
As we go through today, it's themotive behind the personal
brand.
Right.
Are you doing it to elevateyourself?
Right.
Or are you doing it to elevatethe Lord the kingdom?
(02:29):
Yeah.
And serving from a place ofhumility rather than a place of
hype.
Right.
That's it.
So that's it.
And that's what we're talkingabout.
We're talking about humilityover hype.
Yeah.
Uh, it's, we're talking aboutleading from the low place,
keeping it low, remembering thatJesus is the one out front.
(02:50):
Yeah.
He should always be the one outfront.
Mm-hmm.
I once heard a pastor say thatI, I wanna follow Jesus so
closely that the dust of hissandals kicks up on me.
Mm.
So, and we, I say, I wannafollow so close that I want to
eat his dust.
Uh, that's, yeah.
That's good.
I wanna eat his dusts.
That's good.
(03:10):
That's.
Uh, right, right.
Eating.
Jesus does.
That's a good place to be.
That's good.
So, uh, but if we, we know ourword and we, we, we certainly
hope that you know your wordfrom the Old Testament through
the New Testament.
Humility before the Lord is arequirement for leadership.
Right.
(03:30):
Yeah.
Right.
And, uh, so Proverbs in the OldTestament, proverbs, uh, 1533,
says The fear of the Lord.
Now people get all thrown off bythe word fear, right?
That means a reverence for theLord and, and honoring of the
Lord.
The, the fear of the Lord is,uh, is the instruction for
wisdom.
Mm-hmm.
But, uh, and honor comes.
(03:53):
Humility.
All right.
Right.
That's Proverbs 15, uh, 33.
And the old, the, uh, everyoneprobably knows this one.
This is a fairly common one.
Uh, James, uh, the half brotherof Jesus in his fourth chapter,
10th verse says, humble yourselfbefore the Lord.
Yeah.
And he will lift you up.
He will exalt you.
He will elevate you as we humbleourselves before him, he will
(04:17):
lift you up.
Right.
And that's one of those thingsthat sounds.
Really good on paper.
Yeah.
But living it out when everyoneelse is cheering you on, that
can be another story wheneveryone is saying, giving you
the at a boy way to go, or in mycase at a girl, you're doing
such a great things.
Yeah.
And then, you know,internalizing that and saying,
(04:40):
yeah, I, I am, I really am doinggreat things.
How about me?
That's when it becomes aproblem.
That's a, yeah.
That's when it becomes aproblem.
Babe, please.
Yeah.
Challenge, right?
Oh, yes.
Challenge.
I'm sorry.
Yeah.
I'm sorry.
I can't believe I said that.
P word.
The P word.
We follow.
(05:01):
The Lord's seen us through somany problems.
We call'em C Challenges.
That's right, that's right.
So that's the, except the, whenI do say the P word, right.
So living, uh.
Living that out.
Yeah.
I, I like what you said there,living it out when everyone's
cheering you on mm-hmm.
The, uh, moving past, that's a,that's a zinger.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Moving past ourselves andrecognizing, you know.
(05:24):
Who actually deserves thatcredit.
Yeah.
You know, uh, so, but it's our,it's really from, uh, in, in
recovery we, we say that I'llkeep this at, at i in me
statement, so.
Mm-hmm.
So based on my experience, youknow, my experience helps.
Helps keep us low.
Yeah.
Helps keep me low.
(05:44):
Um, it's important to, uh,because I've, I've been, you
know, Hey, how about me?
And it, it doesn't really, itdoesn't really work out too well
in the end, right?
So, through experience, uh, I'velearned to, to keep it low.
And it's just another great,teachable moment that we've
picked up along the way.
And it's all, and that's whatlife's about.
It's about.
Uh, listening to the Holy Spiritand understanding mm-hmm.
(06:07):
That he's the spirit of truththat brings us all the truth
and, and as he's teaching us andas he's trying to show us these
life's lessons.
You know, finding the teachablemoments through the challenges.
Yeah.
You know, that's, that's whatit's all about.
That's how we grow.
Yeah.
Yep.
So why don't you tell us aboutthe challenge?
So here's the challenge.
That's right.
Not the P word.
(06:27):
The challenge.
The challenge is that theworld's influence is often
measured by likes and shares andyeah.
How many followers you got?
Uh, but, and success can startto.
Look like being the loudestvoice in the room.
Yeah.
You know, but, you know, God, I,I would just, and I'm just gonna
say, you know, and not to saythat there's anything wrong with
(06:50):
likes and shares and followers,there's, there's nothing wrong
with that.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, in and of itself.
But when we, when we find our,our security, when we find our
identity in that, that's when itbecomes a challenge.
Yeah.
You know, so, but back to, youknow.
Maybe wanting or needing to bethe loudest voice in the room.
Mm-hmm.
(07:10):
We gotta really ask ourselveswhat our motive is.
What's our motive?
Right.
Why are we loud?
Who are we loud for?
Yeah.
And do we really need to beloud?
It's loud necessary.
Right.
You know, these are, these aregood questions to ask.
'cause I don't, I don't recall,um, where Jesus was ever really
loud, you know?
Right.
You know, because he was God isGod.
(07:32):
Right.
You know?
So.
And, and you know, I'm, youknow, I mean, I'm part of a, a
mentorship program that iscalled Live Out Loud.
Right.
And it's not about being theloudest in your room.
It's not about, you know.
It, it's about living loudly forthe Lord, right.
Is what it's about.
(07:53):
And when we are loud forourself, again, it's a problem.
It's like, uh, like beingunashamed, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
But, but when we are loud forhim, when we're bold for him,
when we have an impact becauseof him, or we are making an
impact for him, I guess for hiskingdom, I should say, then, you
(08:15):
know, loud isn't bad.
Right.
But if we're not careful, we canstart believing the hype about
ourselves.
Yeah, you gotta watch that.
And then our ego grows ouridentity that we talked about
the last time, which should befound in Christ alone gets in
right in Christ alone.
It can get tangled up in theapplause, in the, in the way to
(08:39):
go doing such a great job.
And those words of affirmation,and we can drift away from the
quiet, steady heart posture thatJesus modeled, right?
That we are supposed to emulate.
You gotta watch getting tangledup in that stuff, right?
You gotta watch that.
So I like what, uh, I like whatPaul says.
And in Philippians two.
(09:02):
Mm-hmm.
Uh.
I won't expound too deeply onit, but, uh, Philippians two,
three through five, uh, he, it'sreally an Paul gives us an
opportunity, uh, to considerthis passage and, and bring, it
really brings us back to center,really allows us to reset our
zeros.
He, he encourages us and warnsus really to do nothing out of
(09:26):
selfish ambition or vainconceit.
Some versions will say empty.
Uh, empty conceit.
Yeah.
The VA concede empty conceitrather in humility, value others
over yourselves, uh, in yourrelationship.
Mm-hmm.
And, and all your relationshipshave the same mindset as Christ
(09:46):
Jesus.
So we're, we're supposed tomodel ourselves after Christ.
Yeah.
And that, and whether thatsounds cliche to you or not, you
know, it's.
It's not about cliches, it'sabout the truth of the word.
Right.
And Paul knew that, uh, becausehe had an encounter with Christ.
He didn't learn all this in abook.
He had an encounter with Christ.
(10:08):
And he, yeah.
And as he went along as to be,you know, arguably the greatest
evangelist of all time.
Uh, he had gained that mindsetof Christ.
Yeah.
And he's just encouraging, as anevangelists do to do that, to,
he's encouraging others to dothat.
To model this Well, yeah,because that's the foundational
call.
(10:28):
That's it.
Becoming more like Jesus, right?
Yeah.
I mean, we're called to valueothers over ourselves.
Yeah.
And leading with his mindsetinstead of our own agenda, which
we have talked about before.
We have to lead with hismindset.
Yeah.
And not our own agenda.
Yeah.
Can you imagine if Paul justsaid, oh, well I'm gonna go out
on my own agenda and Yeah.
(10:49):
I mean.
That would've been crazy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Probably he would've been, heprobably wouldn't have lasted
too long.
'cause it was, it was the powerof the Lord, nor will any of us,
the, the authority of the Lordthat got him through, you know,
several shipwrecks, snake bites,prisons.
Right.
You know, you know, near deathexperiences.
And, uh, it wasn't Paul's doingthat, did that.
It was the Lord seeing himthrough the right, uh, because
(11:12):
he was carrying out the Lord'sagenda.
That's it.
Yeah.
That's it.
He wasn't doing it for self.
Motivated purposes.
Right.
He was doing it to carry thename of Jesus.
Right.
And when you get that aroundhere, when, when, when that
hits, and we, and we get that,we call we, that's a blammo
moment.
That's a, it's a blammo.
Blammo.
Yeah, man.
All right.
(11:32):
You got it.
It's, it's awesome when we seethat click with somebody.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
So.
Concern and the struggle, Ithink we really gotta take it
back to ambition.
Mm-hmm.
You know, what's it, Paul warnsus, uh, not to, not to live out
a selfish ambition.
(11:52):
So I gotta, I gotta admit, youknow, it's, it's a learning
experience and it can be tough,especially when you're rising
out of a life, uh, full ofinsecurities.
Right.
You know, I've, I've been inseasons, uh, in my life where
God opened doors that I neverexpected.
Yeah.
Uh, um, yeah, and I, and Istarted to feel like, yeah, I'm
(12:14):
pretty important here.
Yeah.
But that's, uh, I had toremember who opened the doors.
Yeah.
I mean, he opened doors I didn'teven know was there, you know,
it's important to, and, and whogave me any sort of wherewithal
to go through the doors that heopened.
Yeah.
(12:35):
You know, it's, is it reallyabout me?
Come on.
No.
No, not, not at all.
I, I'm, and I'm grateful for,I'm grateful for the
opportunities.
I'm grateful that he would seeme in such a light that he
would, that he would closedoors.
That I never mm-hmm.
Thought that could be closed.
Uh, so that he would, uh,'causehe, he planned to open doors
(12:56):
that I never even knew werethere.
And, and he gave me the powerand authority and the
wherewithal to go through thosedoors.
Yeah.
And, and, and carry his name andto, to live in the fear of the
Lord.
That leads to the wisdom that,uh, yeah, that Solomon writes
about in Proverbs.
That's good, honey.
(13:16):
Yeah, I, I mean, I definitelycan relate to that too because
there's been times where I'vestarted off just wanting to
serve, but then people startnoticing or praising your work
and it feels good.
I.
Yeah, it feels really good.
And I mentioned, you know, doingit from a place of performance.
(13:39):
I mentioned that in one of ourprevious episodes, you know,
performing instead of presence,but.
If you don't, don't guard yourheart.
Yeah.
You start to crave thatrecognition.
There's, and there's nothingwrong with receiving that
recognition.
There's nothing wrong withRight.
With, with being honored for thepeople that you're carrying the
message to.
(13:59):
But it's, when it's thisslippery slope, it's when it's
very, it's when it, when, whenit becomes your idol.
That's it.
Yeah.
The idol's over the identity.
Right.
Yeah.
Idols, uh, you know, we gotta.
That's what, you know.
Yeah.
Idols over identity.
Mm-hmm.
Idols over identity.
So, yeah.
I, I actually, I think we gotthat.
(14:20):
We got that wrong.
Let's back up.
Identity over idols.
Oh, did I say, did I say idol?
Separate?
Yeah.
Then I said it again twice.
Oh, no, but what I was, what Iwas saying was what?
That's when you have your idolover your identity.
Oh yeah.
That's the wrong place to, tobes saying, yeah, that's the
wrong place to be.
That's what, that's one thingthat we, uh, that's one of our,
(14:42):
our, uh.
Or phrases that we use inreviving recovery.
Unbound is reviving recoveryunbound.
If we had to sum it up, it's,it's tearing down idols and
Yeah.
And, and discovering ouridentity.
Mm-hmm.
From idols to identity found inChrist Jesus alone.
Right, right.
So, you know, you have to guardyour heart back to that.
(15:03):
You just, when you start tocrave that recognition, you have
to examine your heart and sayit.
Am I receiving this?
Mm-hmm.
Praise because of him, or am Ireceiving this praise because it
just makes me feel good.
Right, right.
Back to, like I said, it's back.
Mm-hmm.
We gotta take it.
(15:24):
Where's our motive?
Yeah.
What's our motivation?
Yeah.
You know, so For sure.
And it's, and it's a subtleshift.
Mm-hmm.
And, and we gotta be, becausethe, the enemies.
He is slippery.
You know?
He is, he is a snake.
You know.
He is, he is.
And uh, and it's subtle andhe'll, he'll stick it and we can
go from, uh, we can shift fromGod, use me to, hey, look at me.
(15:49):
Right.
You know, and before you knowit, where, uh, our so-called
influential prowess against thetarnish, our character because
of pride.
Mm.
Uh oh.
Pride.
Pride, yeah.
That's what comes before thefall, right?
Yeah.
All, all through, and I, I.
(16:11):
Lemme jump in the weeds here.
Just for, I remember, uh,playing ball growing up.
We, we before, as we're goingout to the field, you know, uh,
before the game and at afterhand, we, we'd slap that sign
over the doorway, going out tothe field.
Pride, big pride.
And there's, there is a goodpride.
There's, there's a, there's apride to, we'd be proud of our,
our, our home field we be proudof.
(16:33):
Mm-hmm.
Of, of the effort that we've putforward to be the team that we
are.
Uh, we're, we're pride there.
There's a.
Dignity.
Uh, right.
The dignity is, uh, having,having the, the prideful
dignity, uh, or the dignifiedpride as it would be.
Yeah.
Uh, that's a good pride.
But when that pride slips intoarrogance or narcissism mm-hmm.
(16:56):
That's, that's the pride thatcomes before the fall.
Yeah.
Uh, so somewhere we, we seem to,uh.
Seem to forget that sometimessome, some of us, I, I've
forgotten.
You know, some of us seem toforget that God opposes the
proud, but shows favor to thehumble.
He opposes the proud.
Mm-hmm.
But shows favor, favor God.
(17:19):
Yeah.
To the humble.
So why would we step away fromhis favor?
Mm.
Why would we step away from hisfavor?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I definitely don't wanna stepaway from his favor.
And that's dangerous becauseeventually that kind of prideful
hype runs out.
(17:39):
You know, the, the followers goaway.
You know, maybe your, yoursocial media gets hacked and you
can't get on it.
Right?
Um, you know, maybe the crowdgoes quiet.
And when that happens.
(17:59):
When you have to, there hassomething has to sustain you.
Yeah.
And it's only gonna be the Lord.
A humble spirit is what sustainsyou when the crowds go quiet.
That's it.
And or you say something that'snot popular and the likes go
away.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
Absolutely.
Anyway, so, so how do we, here,here's a question.
(18:22):
How do we stay grounded when Godelevates us?
Mm.
You know, because, you know, hesays, yeah, as you humble
yourself, I will lift you up.
Right.
You know?
Uh, so how do we stay groundedwhen, when the Lord elevates us?
So, so we're gonna share a few.
Practical, practical practices.
(18:44):
I love practical that, and theseare some practical practices
that, that help us lead fromhumility.
Uh, what's the first one?
Well, I, the first one I'm gonnasay is practice.
Silent service.
Yeah.
You know, if you do somethingimpactful this week, do it
without posting it.
Don't announce it, don't tellanyone.
(19:06):
Just let God alone be youraudience.
Right?
And if you can do that, I meanthat I think is a good indicator
that you have a humble spirit,right?
If you don't have to run out andtell someone, Hey, you know what
I did for this homeless person?
Or Hey, you know what I did inthe grocery store, or, you know,
whatever the case may be, right?
(19:27):
Um.
You know, practice silentservice.
Yeah.
That's, that's good.
That's good.
Don't let, I think it goes backto don't let the left hand know
what the right hand is doing.
That's it.
You know, and that's, I was,yeah, I was, he, Jesus makes it
pretty darn clear in Matthew'sgospel.
Mm-hmm.
When he tells us to.
To give.
Uh, and, and same could be saidfor serving secretly, right?
(19:50):
To not let the, the left handknow what, what the right one's
doing.
So, because Jesus knows that weonly have an audience of one.
Mm-hmm.
It's important for us, and I'veheard you.
Say this many times.
It's important to remember thatwe serve an audience of one.
Yeah.
And he is the one.
And, and when only one he seesour service, he rewards us.
(20:13):
Yeah.
That's what the word says.
But it's not, but that's not thereason we serve.
We don't serve for the reward.
And I would, and, and the wordalso says it's better, better to
give than receive.
And, and I will tell you this,I, it's, I like, receive, I'm.
I, I, I like to receive, youknow, who doesn't like to
receive a gift?
I, I don't know anyone who does,but I, what, what I really love
(20:35):
is, is I love to gift, man.
Mm.
I'm, I'm a, I, I give from acheerful heart.
Uh, and I, and that wasn'talways, I.
Always the way it is.
That's, that's a part of mysanctification journey.
I, I I, I love to givesacrificially, uh, and when,
when he, when he says to dothat, and certainly never gonna
(20:57):
get specific, but that's, that'ssomething that he's given me,
that's a gift that he's givenme.
And, uh, and that's, and it'spretty cool, man.
It's pretty cool.
Yeah.
But you don't do that for thereward.
You're not doing it because ofwhat you're going to get.
No.
Just like you don't serve peoplebecause of how the Lord is going
to reward you.
(21:18):
Yeah.
That's, it's not, not at all.
It's, it's, it's important to beable to, to.
Have, see what our, our, ourdear and the word says, and our
dear friend accentuates to seewith the eyes of our heart.
Yeah.
And as we see, uh, our callingand we see our mission and or
his mission for us, uh, with theeyes of our heart, we're able to
(21:40):
catch the Holy Spirit's castvision for us.
Yes.
And, and we're a, and, and wejoyfully, uh.
Open handedly, uh, place otherpeople's needs before our wants,
right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
So what's second?
Second is stay grateful.
(22:01):
Mm.
Ah, yes.
Uh, part of gratitude and I, Ilove what Paul says in, and, uh,
his letter to, uh, theThessalonians and First
Thessalonians, he says, rejoicesometimes.
Once in a while.
No.
No.
He says rejoice always.
Always rejoice.
(22:22):
Always pray without ceasing andin everything.
Mm-hmm.
Give thanks.
Yeah.
For this is God's will for youin Christ Jesus, our Lord.
So start each morning thankinghim for every opportunity.
'cause I will tell you this,friends gratitude cuts
(22:42):
entitlement off at the knees.
Yeah.
Gratitude cuts entitlement offat the knees.
Start your day with gratitude.
Stay grateful, my friends.
Well, and we need reminded ofthat.
Yeah.
We needed reminded of that somuch that I bought a big sign.
That big sign is above ourcabinets in our kitchen.
(23:02):
Yep.
That says start each day with agrateful heart.
That's it.
And when you do that, I mean itdoes number, it cuts entitlement
off at the knees.
Yep.
But it gives you a mind shift,like a perspective shift.
Right.
Because when you can say, Lord,I am so grateful for what you,
(23:25):
for your salvation.
I am so grateful for my family.
I'm so grateful for that.
I get to go to work today.
Yeah.
Whatever it might be.
Right?
And And keep shifts the day.
It shifts the day attitude ofgratitude.
Yes.
Yes.
An attitude of gratitude and.
You can journal about that.
Yeah.
(23:45):
You know, keep a gratitudejournal.
Yeah.
Um, write down, you know, maybewrite down every morning before
you go to bed, or every morningwhen you get out of bed.
Let's try that every morningwhen you get out of bed.
Right.
You know, write down what you'rethankful for and you can do it
every night before you go to bedtoo.
Right.
What happened that day that youare grateful for?
(24:05):
That's it.
And it will humble you torecognize how good the Lord is
to you.
It will humble you every day torecognize that he loves you,
right?
And that he wants the best foryou.
Absolutely.
Write it down.
Write it down, and it, and, andit doesn't write it down.
What my buddy always used totell me early in recovery.
(24:26):
Write it down, bro.
When you write it down, it makesit real.
Yeah.
You know, and then we can goback to it and, and when we
write it down that we, we seewhat he's done here and.
We pray into that and it buildsfrom there.
Yeah, it's awesome.
Write it down.
Make it real.
That's it.
So what's three, babe?
Well, third is to stayaccountable.
(24:49):
We have to stay accountable.
We have to find someone, whetherit's a spouse, a friend,
whatever it is, but someone whohas permission to ask us those
hard questions and remind us ofour why.
Yeah, you gotta address the why,right?
We need someone who we can, whocan say, Hey, you know what?
(25:09):
I saw what you did and maybe youneed to like get yourself back
in line.
Right?
Or, Hey, maybe that wasn't thebest thing to, that you should
have said, right.
Are you praying about this?
Right.
You know, whatever the case may,may be.
How's your time with the Lordthis week?
How, how's your time with theLord this week?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Find someone to be accountableto.
Yeah.
Who can ask you those hardquestions without you getting
(25:32):
offended.
Yeah.
Without you getting offended.
And our, and, and we will get,we will get offended.
Uh, I've, and aca, if we'rebeing held accountable, our
flesh in our, and I, let mereword this.
Mm-hmm.
In our flesh, we will getoffended, but it's mm-hmm.
But it's important to rise abovethat offense.
(25:53):
Right.
'cause whoever's holding usaccountable is doing it from a
caring heart.
Yes.
You know, and I, and I, um.
We gotta have accountability.
Accountability is is not just arecovery thing.
Uh, it's important for all of usto have an accountability
circle.
Mm-hmm.
And I think a husband and wifeshould be.
They.
I think it's a must that ahusband and wife, uh, should be
(26:14):
able to hold each otheraccountable without being
offended.
Uh, but I will say that we, wehave had seasons where you've
held me accountable and I'vegotten upset.
Likewise and, and likewise.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's really important thatyou do hold each other
(26:35):
accountable and Right.
And that you do it from a lovingplace.
Yes.
Not from an accusatory place.
Right.
Absolutely.
But from a place of love.
From a place of caring, right?
Absolutely.
Tone can sometimes meaneverything.
Absolutely.
It's not, my mommy used to say,it's not what you say, it's how
(26:57):
you say it.
But uh, so it's important tohave that accountability.
So go.
A few like-minded.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, men or women, uh, it shouldbe, uh, if it's not your spouse,
it should be gender specific.
Mm-hmm.
And where, where this isconsidered, I want to give a big
shout out to the Forged men'sgroup at a revived church here
in Stewart, Florida.
We're setting goals.
Yeah.
Uh, we're holding each otheraccountable to the why.
(27:21):
Uh, yeah.
Big shout out to.
Uh, the Forged men's Group.
Love you guys.
Uh, so, so honored to be a partof, of this group, uh, of
accountability and, and pushingback darkness and continuing to
build, uh, mental, physical, andspiritual, uh, resilience.
Yeah.
Love you guys.
(27:41):
So, what's the last one?
The last one?
Best for last.
Right here.
That's the best for last.
Gotta keep our eyes on Jesus.
Hebrews 12, two says, you know,after all, he is the pioneer and
perfecter of our faith.
And he modeled humilityperfectly.
Yes.
Perfectly.
(28:02):
Yes.
So even though, even though hewas God in the flesh mm-hmm.
Jesus washed feet.
Yeah.
Jesus always put others first.
Yeah.
Did he get frustrated sometimes?
Probably.
So did he, you know, but he,he's our model.
Was it frustrating being JesusMost likely.
(28:24):
So, and when, when, when it wastime to get away, he got away
and he got with the father.
You know, he went to that secretplace most often up on a
mountain.
Mm-hmm.
But, but, but that's not mypoint here.
My point is that, that, uh, he'sour model, so we gotta keep our
eyes fixed on him.
Yes.
(28:45):
And we gotta rise up.
We gotta look up and we gottapress on and follow his example.
Yeah, follow his example.
Well, I like how you, you talksometimes about how Jesus will
say, Hey, look at right here.
Look at right here.
He does.
And that, I remember the firsttime he did that, I was in
traffic and we live in SouthFlorida and I 95 is always an
(29:08):
opportunity for prayer.
Um, and humility.
And humility, right.
Always.
Uh, anyway, uh.
So as, as he was, uh, deliveringme from, from road rage, uh,
which I have to say mywindshield doesn't get screamed
at so much anymore, but, uh, hewould be like, Hey, right here
(29:28):
man.
Look at me.
Look at me.
And, and I, odd, I'm not sayingoddly enough because you know
he's Jesus.
Right.
And it, and it would bring.
Bring that blood pressure down.
Mm-hmm.
The hair is on the back and theneck go down.
He is like, listen, look at me.
Yeah.
Right here, man.
I got you.
Yeah, I got you.
So yeah, that's it.
Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
(29:49):
Keep your eyes fixed on Jesusand more s and and eyes.
And more so our hearts as, aswe, the more we keep our eyes on
Jesus, the more our hearts aregoing to be, uh, become attached
to Jesus alive.
And we'll be able to see, like Isaid earlier, yeah, see with the
eyes of our heart, so we're ableto catch the, that Holy Spirit's
cast vision.
(30:09):
Yeah.
So, you know, we always like togive you challenges.
So this week we challenge you tojust pick up one of those
practices and put it intoaction.
Absolutely.
Maybe it's serving in secret.
Yeah, maybe it's starting agratitude journal.
Whatever you choose.
Ask God to grow humility in yourheart.
Absolutely.
(30:30):
And if this episode resonatedwith you, please share it with a
friend who might need thisencouragement to stay grounded
when influence grows.
Mm-hmm.
Remember, friend real kingdomimpact does not come from hype.
It comes from the low place.
It comes that it, it comes fromthe low place where God can
(30:51):
trust you to steward what he'sgiven you.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And, uh, if you're loving whatyou're hearing here or seeing if
you're watching mm-hmm.
Uh, the, the videos, if you'reloving, faithfully invested
again, share it with a friend.
Uh, go on faithfullyinvested.com, check us out on
Instagram.
Yeah.
On, on Facebook at, atfaithfully invested.
(31:14):
And, and don't forget too.
Leave us a five star.
Review, review, review.
Tell us what you'd like most.
Tell us what you'd like to hear,uh, coming up in, in future
episodes.
And, um, we just thank you fordeciding to make us a part of
your day.
And we encourage you to stayfaithfully invested.
'cause when you do, God bringsthe increase.
(31:36):
Yes he does.
God bless you.
And we'll see you next week.
We'll see you next week.
God bless.
Thanks for joining us onFaithfully Invested with Allen
and Stacy Jo, if today'sconversation encouraged you,
challenged you, or helped yousee your calling more clearly,
don't keep it to yourself.
That's right.
Share it with a friend.
Leave a five star review andkeep leaning into God's
(31:57):
blueprint for your life, yourleadership, and your legacy.
So until next time, remember,when you invest in his kingdom,
he brings the increase.
Are you ready to build a life,business and legacy that truly
lasts?
Welcome to Faithfully Investedwith Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne,
where Faith meets real talk.
Biblical wisdom meets everydaylife and leadership meets
laughter.
Together we will uncover God'sblueprint for leadership,
marriage, and mission, helpingfaith-driven leaders invest in
(00:21):
what matters most.
Each episode, we explorebiblical wisdom, have real
conversations, and of course,have some fun along the way
because let's be real.
Walking in faith is anadventure.
It sure is.
So pull up a seat, grab yourcoffee or your sweet tea, and
join us as we steward ourcallings with intention, because
(00:42):
when we invest in his kingdom,he brings the increase.
Hey friends.
Welcome back to FaithfullyInvested, where we explore God's
blueprint for leadership,marriage, and mission.
I'm Stacy Jo And I'm Allen.
(01:02):
Uh, I'm not, and we're back.
Here we are.
We hope you're having such asgood of a day as we are.
We're so glad that you decidedto join us today.
Whether you're driving, workingout, busy in the kitchen, or
just chilling while you listen.
I like that.
Yeah.
Chilling while you listening.
Chilling while you listen.
(01:23):
We, we love that.
You're doing love.
Uh.
We love that you are doing lifealongside of, I'm not quite sure
what's so funny, but I know, butit's good, man.
It's funny.
Well, thank you for deciding tomake faithfully invest in a part
of your day anyway, today.
Let's get started.
Yeah.
(01:43):
I think we're laughing becausethis could be.
We, we could step on some toeswith this one a little bit bit.
It seems like we say that everytime we step on a lot of toes, I
think.
But that's okay.
We've been told that it'srelatable, so that's, you know,
that's what we Jesus heals.
That's right.
But today we're tackling a topicthat honestly doesn't really get
enough airtime, especially in a,in a culture that celebrates
(02:07):
platforms and personal brands.
But I don't want you to get mewrong.
I'm not saying that there'sanything wrong.
With personal brands?
No, that's not what we'resaying.
Definitely not.
As we go through today, it's themotive behind the personal
brand.
Right.
Are you doing it to elevateyourself?
Right.
Or are you doing it to elevatethe Lord the kingdom?
(02:29):
Yeah.
And serving from a place ofhumility rather than a place of
hype.
Right.
That's it.
So that's it.
And that's what we're talkingabout.
We're talking about humilityover hype.
Yeah.
Uh, it's, we're talking aboutleading from the low place,
keeping it low, remembering thatJesus is the one out front.
(02:50):
Yeah.
He should always be the one outfront.
Mm-hmm.
I once heard a pastor say thatI, I wanna follow Jesus so
closely that the dust of hissandals kicks up on me.
Mm.
So, and we, I say, I wannafollow so close that I want to
eat his dust.
Uh, that's, yeah.
That's good.
I wanna eat his dusts.
That's good.
(03:10):
That's.
Uh, right, right.
Eating.
Jesus does.
That's a good place to be.
That's good.
So, uh, but if we, we know ourword and we, we, we certainly
hope that you know your wordfrom the Old Testament through
the New Testament.
Humility before the Lord is arequirement for leadership.
Right.
(03:30):
Yeah.
Right.
And, uh, so Proverbs in the OldTestament, proverbs, uh, 1533,
says The fear of the Lord.
Now people get all thrown off bythe word fear, right?
That means a reverence for theLord and, and honoring of the
Lord.
The, the fear of the Lord is,uh, is the instruction for
wisdom.
Mm-hmm.
But, uh, and honor comes.
(03:53):
Humility.
All right.
Right.
That's Proverbs 15, uh, 33.
And the old, the, uh, everyoneprobably knows this one.
This is a fairly common one.
Uh, James, uh, the half brotherof Jesus in his fourth chapter,
10th verse says, humble yourselfbefore the Lord.
Yeah.
And he will lift you up.
He will exalt you.
He will elevate you as we humbleourselves before him, he will
(04:17):
lift you up.
Right.
And that's one of those thingsthat sounds.
Really good on paper.
Yeah.
But living it out when everyoneelse is cheering you on, that
can be another story wheneveryone is saying, giving you
the at a boy way to go, or in mycase at a girl, you're doing
such a great things.
Yeah.
And then, you know,internalizing that and saying,
(04:40):
yeah, I, I am, I really am doinggreat things.
How about me?
That's when it becomes aproblem.
That's a, yeah.
That's when it becomes aproblem.
Babe, please.
Yeah.
Challenge, right?
Oh, yes.
Challenge.
I'm sorry.
Yeah.
I'm sorry.
I can't believe I said that.
P word.
The P word.
We follow.
(05:01):
The Lord's seen us through somany problems.
We call'em C Challenges.
That's right, that's right.
So that's the, except the, whenI do say the P word, right.
So living, uh.
Living that out.
Yeah.
I, I like what you said there,living it out when everyone's
cheering you on mm-hmm.
The, uh, moving past, that's a,that's a zinger.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Moving past ourselves andrecognizing, you know.
(05:24):
Who actually deserves thatcredit.
Yeah.
You know, uh, so, but it's our,it's really from, uh, in, in
recovery we, we say that I'llkeep this at, at i in me
statement, so.
Mm-hmm.
So based on my experience, youknow, my experience helps.
Helps keep us low.
Yeah.
Helps keep me low.
(05:44):
Um, it's important to, uh,because I've, I've been, you
know, Hey, how about me?
And it, it doesn't really, itdoesn't really work out too well
in the end, right?
So, through experience, uh, I'velearned to, to keep it low.
And it's just another great,teachable moment that we've
picked up along the way.
And it's all, and that's whatlife's about.
It's about.
Uh, listening to the Holy Spiritand understanding mm-hmm.
(06:07):
That he's the spirit of truththat brings us all the truth
and, and as he's teaching us andas he's trying to show us these
life's lessons.
You know, finding the teachablemoments through the challenges.
Yeah.
You know, that's, that's whatit's all about.
That's how we grow.
Yeah.
Yep.
So why don't you tell us aboutthe challenge?
So here's the challenge.
That's right.
Not the P word.
(06:27):
The challenge.
The challenge is that theworld's influence is often
measured by likes and shares andyeah.
How many followers you got?
Uh, but, and success can startto.
Look like being the loudestvoice in the room.
Yeah.
You know, but, you know, God, I,I would just, and I'm just gonna
say, you know, and not to saythat there's anything wrong with
(06:50):
likes and shares and followers,there's, there's nothing wrong
with that.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, in and of itself.
But when we, when we find our,our security, when we find our
identity in that, that's when itbecomes a challenge.
Yeah.
You know, so, but back to, youknow.
Maybe wanting or needing to bethe loudest voice in the room.
Mm-hmm.
(07:10):
We gotta really ask ourselveswhat our motive is.
What's our motive?
Right.
Why are we loud?
Who are we loud for?
Yeah.
And do we really need to beloud?
It's loud necessary.
Right.
You know, these are, these aregood questions to ask.
'cause I don't, I don't recall,um, where Jesus was ever really
loud, you know?
Right.
You know, because he was God isGod.
(07:32):
Right.
You know?
So.
And, and you know, I'm, youknow, I mean, I'm part of a, a
mentorship program that iscalled Live Out Loud.
Right.
And it's not about being theloudest in your room.
It's not about, you know.
It, it's about living loudly forthe Lord, right.
Is what it's about.
(07:53):
And when we are loud forourself, again, it's a problem.
It's like, uh, like beingunashamed, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
But, but when we are loud forhim, when we're bold for him,
when we have an impact becauseof him, or we are making an
impact for him, I guess for hiskingdom, I should say, then, you
(08:15):
know, loud isn't bad.
Right.
But if we're not careful, we canstart believing the hype about
ourselves.
Yeah, you gotta watch that.
And then our ego grows ouridentity that we talked about
the last time, which should befound in Christ alone gets in
right in Christ alone.
It can get tangled up in theapplause, in the, in the way to
(08:39):
go doing such a great job.
And those words of affirmation,and we can drift away from the
quiet, steady heart posture thatJesus modeled, right?
That we are supposed to emulate.
You gotta watch getting tangledup in that stuff, right?
You gotta watch that.
So I like what, uh, I like whatPaul says.
And in Philippians two.
(09:02):
Mm-hmm.
Uh.
I won't expound too deeply onit, but, uh, Philippians two,
three through five, uh, he, it'sreally an Paul gives us an
opportunity, uh, to considerthis passage and, and bring, it
really brings us back to center,really allows us to reset our
zeros.
He, he encourages us and warnsus really to do nothing out of
(09:26):
selfish ambition or vainconceit.
Some versions will say empty.
Uh, empty conceit.
Yeah.
The VA concede empty conceitrather in humility, value others
over yourselves, uh, in yourrelationship.
Mm-hmm.
And, and all your relationshipshave the same mindset as Christ
(09:46):
Jesus.
So we're, we're supposed tomodel ourselves after Christ.
Yeah.
And that, and whether thatsounds cliche to you or not, you
know, it's.
It's not about cliches, it'sabout the truth of the word.
Right.
And Paul knew that, uh, becausehe had an encounter with Christ.
He didn't learn all this in abook.
He had an encounter with Christ.
(10:08):
And he, yeah.
And as he went along as to be,you know, arguably the greatest
evangelist of all time.
Uh, he had gained that mindsetof Christ.
Yeah.
And he's just encouraging, as anevangelists do to do that, to,
he's encouraging others to dothat.
To model this Well, yeah,because that's the foundational
call.
(10:28):
That's it.
Becoming more like Jesus, right?
Yeah.
I mean, we're called to valueothers over ourselves.
Yeah.
And leading with his mindsetinstead of our own agenda, which
we have talked about before.
We have to lead with hismindset.
Yeah.
And not our own agenda.
Yeah.
Can you imagine if Paul justsaid, oh, well I'm gonna go out
on my own agenda and Yeah.
(10:49):
I mean.
That would've been crazy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Probably he would've been, heprobably wouldn't have lasted
too long.
'cause it was, it was the powerof the Lord, nor will any of us,
the, the authority of the Lordthat got him through, you know,
several shipwrecks, snake bites,prisons.
Right.
You know, you know, near deathexperiences.
And, uh, it wasn't Paul's doingthat, did that.
It was the Lord seeing himthrough the right, uh, because
(11:12):
he was carrying out the Lord'sagenda.
That's it.
Yeah.
That's it.
He wasn't doing it for self.
Motivated purposes.
Right.
He was doing it to carry thename of Jesus.
Right.
And when you get that aroundhere, when, when, when that
hits, and we, and we get that,we call we, that's a blammo
moment.
That's a, it's a blammo.
Blammo.
Yeah, man.
All right.
(11:32):
You got it.
It's, it's awesome when we seethat click with somebody.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
So.
Concern and the struggle, Ithink we really gotta take it
back to ambition.
Mm-hmm.
You know, what's it, Paul warnsus, uh, not to, not to live out
a selfish ambition.
(11:52):
So I gotta, I gotta admit, youknow, it's, it's a learning
experience and it can be tough,especially when you're rising
out of a life, uh, full ofinsecurities.
Right.
You know, I've, I've been inseasons, uh, in my life where
God opened doors that I neverexpected.
Yeah.
Uh, um, yeah, and I, and Istarted to feel like, yeah, I'm
(12:14):
pretty important here.
Yeah.
But that's, uh, I had toremember who opened the doors.
Yeah.
I mean, he opened doors I didn'teven know was there, you know,
it's important to, and, and whogave me any sort of wherewithal
to go through the doors that heopened.
Yeah.
(12:35):
You know, it's, is it reallyabout me?
Come on.
No.
No, not, not at all.
I, I'm, and I'm grateful for,I'm grateful for the
opportunities.
I'm grateful that he would seeme in such a light that he
would, that he would closedoors.
That I never mm-hmm.
Thought that could be closed.
Uh, so that he would, uh,'causehe, he planned to open doors
(12:56):
that I never even knew werethere.
And, and he gave me the powerand authority and the
wherewithal to go through thosedoors.
Yeah.
And, and, and carry his name andto, to live in the fear of the
Lord.
That leads to the wisdom that,uh, yeah, that Solomon writes
about in Proverbs.
That's good, honey.
(13:16):
Yeah, I, I mean, I definitelycan relate to that too because
there's been times where I'vestarted off just wanting to
serve, but then people startnoticing or praising your work
and it feels good.
I.
Yeah, it feels really good.
And I mentioned, you know, doingit from a place of performance.
(13:39):
I mentioned that in one of ourprevious episodes, you know,
performing instead of presence,but.
If you don't, don't guard yourheart.
Yeah.
You start to crave thatrecognition.
There's, and there's nothingwrong with receiving that
recognition.
There's nothing wrong withRight.
With, with being honored for thepeople that you're carrying the
message to.
(13:59):
But it's, when it's thisslippery slope, it's when it's
very, it's when it, when, whenit becomes your idol.
That's it.
Yeah.
The idol's over the identity.
Right.
Yeah.
Idols, uh, you know, we gotta.
That's what, you know.
Yeah.
Idols over identity.
Mm-hmm.
Idols over identity.
So, yeah.
I, I actually, I think we gotthat.
(14:20):
We got that wrong.
Let's back up.
Identity over idols.
Oh, did I say, did I say idol?
Separate?
Yeah.
Then I said it again twice.
Oh, no, but what I was, what Iwas saying was what?
That's when you have your idolover your identity.
Oh yeah.
That's the wrong place to, tobes saying, yeah, that's the
wrong place to be.
That's what, that's one thingthat we, uh, that's one of our,
(14:42):
our, uh.
Or phrases that we use inreviving recovery.
Unbound is reviving recoveryunbound.
If we had to sum it up, it's,it's tearing down idols and
Yeah.
And, and discovering ouridentity.
Mm-hmm.
From idols to identity found inChrist Jesus alone.
Right, right.
So, you know, you have to guardyour heart back to that.
(15:03):
You just, when you start tocrave that recognition, you have
to examine your heart and sayit.
Am I receiving this?
Mm-hmm.
Praise because of him, or am Ireceiving this praise because it
just makes me feel good.
Right, right.
Back to, like I said, it's back.
Mm-hmm.
We gotta take it.
(15:24):
Where's our motive?
Yeah.
What's our motivation?
Yeah.
You know, so For sure.
And it's, and it's a subtleshift.
Mm-hmm.
And, and we gotta be, becausethe, the enemies.
He is slippery.
You know?
He is, he is a snake.
You know.
He is, he is.
And uh, and it's subtle andhe'll, he'll stick it and we can
go from, uh, we can shift fromGod, use me to, hey, look at me.
(15:49):
Right.
You know, and before you knowit, where, uh, our so-called
influential prowess against thetarnish, our character because
of pride.
Mm.
Uh oh.
Pride.
Pride, yeah.
That's what comes before thefall, right?
Yeah.
All, all through, and I, I.
(16:11):
Lemme jump in the weeds here.
Just for, I remember, uh,playing ball growing up.
We, we before, as we're goingout to the field, you know, uh,
before the game and at afterhand, we, we'd slap that sign
over the doorway, going out tothe field.
Pride, big pride.
And there's, there is a goodpride.
There's, there's a, there's apride to, we'd be proud of our,
our, our home field we be proudof.
(16:33):
Mm-hmm.
Of, of the effort that we've putforward to be the team that we
are.
Uh, we're, we're pride there.
There's a.
Dignity.
Uh, right.
The dignity is, uh, having,having the, the prideful
dignity, uh, or the dignifiedpride as it would be.
Yeah.
Uh, that's a good pride.
But when that pride slips intoarrogance or narcissism mm-hmm.
(16:56):
That's, that's the pride thatcomes before the fall.
Yeah.
Uh, so somewhere we, we seem to,uh.
Seem to forget that sometimessome, some of us, I, I've
forgotten.
You know, some of us seem toforget that God opposes the
proud, but shows favor to thehumble.
He opposes the proud.
Mm-hmm.
But shows favor, favor God.
(17:19):
Yeah.
To the humble.
So why would we step away fromhis favor?
Mm.
Why would we step away from hisfavor?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I definitely don't wanna stepaway from his favor.
And that's dangerous becauseeventually that kind of prideful
hype runs out.
(17:39):
You know, the, the followers goaway.
You know, maybe your, yoursocial media gets hacked and you
can't get on it.
Right?
Um, you know, maybe the crowdgoes quiet.
And when that happens.
(17:59):
When you have to, there hassomething has to sustain you.
Yeah.
And it's only gonna be the Lord.
A humble spirit is what sustainsyou when the crowds go quiet.
That's it.
And or you say something that'snot popular and the likes go
away.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
Absolutely.
Anyway, so, so how do we, here,here's a question.
(18:22):
How do we stay grounded when Godelevates us?
Mm.
You know, because, you know, hesays, yeah, as you humble
yourself, I will lift you up.
Right.
You know?
Uh, so how do we stay groundedwhen, when the Lord elevates us?
So, so we're gonna share a few.
Practical, practical practices.
(18:44):
I love practical that, and theseare some practical practices
that, that help us lead fromhumility.
Uh, what's the first one?
Well, I, the first one I'm gonnasay is practice.
Silent service.
Yeah.
You know, if you do somethingimpactful this week, do it
without posting it.
Don't announce it, don't tellanyone.
(19:06):
Just let God alone be youraudience.
Right?
And if you can do that, I meanthat I think is a good indicator
that you have a humble spirit,right?
If you don't have to run out andtell someone, Hey, you know what
I did for this homeless person?
Or Hey, you know what I did inthe grocery store, or, you know,
whatever the case may be, right?
(19:27):
Um.
You know, practice silentservice.
Yeah.
That's, that's good.
That's good.
Don't let, I think it goes backto don't let the left hand know
what the right hand is doing.
That's it.
You know, and that's, I was,yeah, I was, he, Jesus makes it
pretty darn clear in Matthew'sgospel.
Mm-hmm.
When he tells us to.
To give.
Uh, and, and same could be saidfor serving secretly, right?
(19:50):
To not let the, the left handknow what, what the right one's
doing.
So, because Jesus knows that weonly have an audience of one.
Mm-hmm.
It's important for us, and I'veheard you.
Say this many times.
It's important to remember thatwe serve an audience of one.
Yeah.
And he is the one.
And, and when only one he seesour service, he rewards us.
(20:13):
Yeah.
That's what the word says.
But it's not, but that's not thereason we serve.
We don't serve for the reward.
And I would, and, and the wordalso says it's better, better to
give than receive.
And, and I will tell you this,I, it's, I like, receive, I'm.
I, I, I like to receive, youknow, who doesn't like to
receive a gift?
I, I don't know anyone who does,but I, what, what I really love
(20:35):
is, is I love to gift, man.
Mm.
I'm, I'm a, I, I give from acheerful heart.
Uh, and I, and that wasn'talways, I.
Always the way it is.
That's, that's a part of mysanctification journey.
I, I I, I love to givesacrificially, uh, and when,
when he, when he says to dothat, and certainly never gonna
(20:57):
get specific, but that's, that'ssomething that he's given me,
that's a gift that he's givenme.
And, uh, and that's, and it'spretty cool, man.
It's pretty cool.
Yeah.
But you don't do that for thereward.
You're not doing it because ofwhat you're going to get.
No.
Just like you don't serve peoplebecause of how the Lord is going
to reward you.
(21:18):
Yeah.
That's, it's not, not at all.
It's, it's, it's important to beable to, to.
Have, see what our, our, ourdear and the word says, and our
dear friend accentuates to seewith the eyes of our heart.
Yeah.
And as we see, uh, our callingand we see our mission and or
his mission for us, uh, with theeyes of our heart, we're able to
(21:40):
catch the Holy Spirit's castvision for us.
Yes.
And, and we're a, and, and wejoyfully, uh.
Open handedly, uh, place otherpeople's needs before our wants,
right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
So what's second?
Second is stay grateful.
(22:01):
Mm.
Ah, yes.
Uh, part of gratitude and I, Ilove what Paul says in, and, uh,
his letter to, uh, theThessalonians and First
Thessalonians, he says, rejoicesometimes.
Once in a while.
No.
No.
He says rejoice always.
Always rejoice.
(22:22):
Always pray without ceasing andin everything.
Mm-hmm.
Give thanks.
Yeah.
For this is God's will for youin Christ Jesus, our Lord.
So start each morning thankinghim for every opportunity.
'cause I will tell you this,friends gratitude cuts
(22:42):
entitlement off at the knees.
Yeah.
Gratitude cuts entitlement offat the knees.
Start your day with gratitude.
Stay grateful, my friends.
Well, and we need reminded ofthat.
Yeah.
We needed reminded of that somuch that I bought a big sign.
That big sign is above ourcabinets in our kitchen.
(23:02):
Yep.
That says start each day with agrateful heart.
That's it.
And when you do that, I mean itdoes number, it cuts entitlement
off at the knees.
Yep.
But it gives you a mind shift,like a perspective shift.
Right.
Because when you can say, Lord,I am so grateful for what you,
(23:25):
for your salvation.
I am so grateful for my family.
I'm so grateful for that.
I get to go to work today.
Yeah.
Whatever it might be.
Right?
And And keep shifts the day.
It shifts the day attitude ofgratitude.
Yes.
Yes.
An attitude of gratitude and.
You can journal about that.
Yeah.
(23:45):
You know, keep a gratitudejournal.
Yeah.
Um, write down, you know, maybewrite down every morning before
you go to bed, or every morningwhen you get out of bed.
Let's try that every morningwhen you get out of bed.
Right.
You know, write down what you'rethankful for and you can do it
every night before you go to bedtoo.
Right.
What happened that day that youare grateful for?
(24:05):
That's it.
And it will humble you torecognize how good the Lord is
to you.
It will humble you every day torecognize that he loves you,
right?
And that he wants the best foryou.
Absolutely.
Write it down.
Write it down, and it, and, andit doesn't write it down.
What my buddy always used totell me early in recovery.
(24:26):
Write it down, bro.
When you write it down, it makesit real.
Yeah.
You know, and then we can goback to it and, and when we
write it down that we, we seewhat he's done here and.
We pray into that and it buildsfrom there.
Yeah, it's awesome.
Write it down.
Make it real.
That's it.
So what's three, babe?
Well, third is to stayaccountable.
(24:49):
We have to stay accountable.
We have to find someone, whetherit's a spouse, a friend,
whatever it is, but someone whohas permission to ask us those
hard questions and remind us ofour why.
Yeah, you gotta address the why,right?
We need someone who we can, whocan say, Hey, you know what?
(25:09):
I saw what you did and maybe youneed to like get yourself back
in line.
Right?
Or, Hey, maybe that wasn't thebest thing to, that you should
have said, right.
Are you praying about this?
Right.
You know, whatever the case may,may be.
How's your time with the Lordthis week?
How, how's your time with theLord this week?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Find someone to be accountableto.
Yeah.
Who can ask you those hardquestions without you getting
(25:32):
offended.
Yeah.
Without you getting offended.
And our, and, and we will get,we will get offended.
Uh, I've, and aca, if we'rebeing held accountable, our
flesh in our, and I, let mereword this.
Mm-hmm.
In our flesh, we will getoffended, but it's mm-hmm.
But it's important to rise abovethat offense.
(25:53):
Right.
'cause whoever's holding usaccountable is doing it from a
caring heart.
Yes.
You know, and I, and I, um.
We gotta have accountability.
Accountability is is not just arecovery thing.
Uh, it's important for all of usto have an accountability
circle.
Mm-hmm.
And I think a husband and wifeshould be.
They.
I think it's a must that ahusband and wife, uh, should be
(26:14):
able to hold each otheraccountable without being
offended.
Uh, but I will say that we, wehave had seasons where you've
held me accountable and I'vegotten upset.
Likewise and, and likewise.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's really important thatyou do hold each other
(26:35):
accountable and Right.
And that you do it from a lovingplace.
Yes.
Not from an accusatory place.
Right.
Absolutely.
But from a place of love.
From a place of caring, right?
Absolutely.
Tone can sometimes meaneverything.
Absolutely.
It's not, my mommy used to say,it's not what you say, it's how
(26:57):
you say it.
But uh, so it's important tohave that accountability.
So go.
A few like-minded.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, men or women, uh, it shouldbe, uh, if it's not your spouse,
it should be gender specific.
Mm-hmm.
And where, where this isconsidered, I want to give a big
shout out to the Forged men'sgroup at a revived church here
in Stewart, Florida.
We're setting goals.
Yeah.
Uh, we're holding each otheraccountable to the why.
(27:21):
Uh, yeah.
Big shout out to.
Uh, the Forged men's Group.
Love you guys.
Uh, so, so honored to be a partof, of this group, uh, of
accountability and, and pushingback darkness and continuing to
build, uh, mental, physical, andspiritual, uh, resilience.
Yeah.
Love you guys.
(27:41):
So, what's the last one?
The last one?
Best for last.
Right here.
That's the best for last.
Gotta keep our eyes on Jesus.
Hebrews 12, two says, you know,after all, he is the pioneer and
perfecter of our faith.
And he modeled humilityperfectly.
Yes.
Perfectly.
(28:02):
Yes.
So even though, even though hewas God in the flesh mm-hmm.
Jesus washed feet.
Yeah.
Jesus always put others first.
Yeah.
Did he get frustrated sometimes?
Probably.
So did he, you know, but he,he's our model.
Was it frustrating being JesusMost likely.
(28:24):
So, and when, when, when it wastime to get away, he got away
and he got with the father.
You know, he went to that secretplace most often up on a
mountain.
Mm-hmm.
But, but, but that's not mypoint here.
My point is that, that, uh, he'sour model, so we gotta keep our
eyes fixed on him.
Yes.
(28:45):
And we gotta rise up.
We gotta look up and we gottapress on and follow his example.
Yeah, follow his example.
Well, I like how you, you talksometimes about how Jesus will
say, Hey, look at right here.
Look at right here.
He does.
And that, I remember the firsttime he did that, I was in
traffic and we live in SouthFlorida and I 95 is always an
(29:08):
opportunity for prayer.
Um, and humility.
And humility, right.
Always.
Uh, anyway, uh.
So as, as he was, uh, deliveringme from, from road rage, uh,
which I have to say mywindshield doesn't get screamed
at so much anymore, but, uh, hewould be like, Hey, right here
(29:28):
man.
Look at me.
Look at me.
And, and I, odd, I'm not sayingoddly enough because you know
he's Jesus.
Right.
And it, and it would bring.
Bring that blood pressure down.
Mm-hmm.
The hair is on the back and theneck go down.
He is like, listen, look at me.
Yeah.
Right here, man.
I got you.
Yeah, I got you.
So yeah, that's it.
Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
(29:49):
Keep your eyes fixed on Jesusand more s and and eyes.
And more so our hearts as, aswe, the more we keep our eyes on
Jesus, the more our hearts aregoing to be, uh, become attached
to Jesus alive.
And we'll be able to see, like Isaid earlier, yeah, see with the
eyes of our heart, so we're ableto catch the, that Holy Spirit's
cast vision.
(30:09):
Yeah.
So, you know, we always like togive you challenges.
So this week we challenge you tojust pick up one of those
practices and put it intoaction.
Absolutely.
Maybe it's serving in secret.
Yeah, maybe it's starting agratitude journal.
Whatever you choose.
Ask God to grow humility in yourheart.
Absolutely.
(30:30):
And if this episode resonatedwith you, please share it with a
friend who might need thisencouragement to stay grounded
when influence grows.
Mm-hmm.
Remember, friend real kingdomimpact does not come from hype.
It comes from the low place.
It comes that it, it comes fromthe low place where God can
(30:51):
trust you to steward what he'sgiven you.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And, uh, if you're loving whatyou're hearing here or seeing if
you're watching mm-hmm.
Uh, the, the videos, if you'reloving, faithfully invested
again, share it with a friend.
Uh, go on faithfullyinvested.com, check us out on
Instagram.
Yeah.
On, on Facebook at, atfaithfully invested.
(31:14):
And, and don't forget too.
Leave us a five star.
Review, review, review.
Tell us what you'd like most.
Tell us what you'd like to hear,uh, coming up in, in future
episodes.
And, um, we just thank you fordeciding to make us a part of
your day.
And we encourage you to stayfaithfully invested.
'cause when you do, God bringsthe increase.
(31:36):
Yes he does.
God bless you.
And we'll see you next week.
We'll see you next week.
God bless.
Thanks for joining us onFaithfully Invested with Allen
and Stacy Jo, if today'sconversation encouraged you,
challenged you, or helped yousee your calling more clearly,
don't keep it to yourself.
That's right.
Share it with a friend.
Leave a five star review andkeep leaning into God's
(31:57):
blueprint for your life, yourleadership, and your legacy.
So until next time, remember,when you invest in his kingdom,
he brings the increase.
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