Episode 120: Living Boldly: The Cost of Following Jesus (and Going Against Those That Love You)

Have you ever had to make a life-changing decision that went against the advice of your loved ones? Join me, Stephanie, as I share my journey of leaving a career in law enforcement and choosing not to return to corporate America after a layoff, all in pursuit of following Jesus. Reflecting on Luke 15:25-27, we'll explore the emotional and relational costs of true discipleship and discuss why prioritizing our commitment to Christ over the approval of our family and friends is crucial, even when it leads to discomfort and tension.

In the second half of the episode, we’ll dive into 2 Timothy 1:7 and uncover the empowering truth that God has given us a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline, not fear. I'll share how this scripture has encouraged me to overcome my own fears and step out in faith. We’ll talk about identifying and confronting the fears and challenges that hold us back, whether they lead to anxiety, depression, or physical health issues. Through personal insights and supportive coaching, I aim to inspire you to embrace the strength God provides and live your best life.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey friends, it's Stephanie here with episode
number 120 of Giving your BestLife, and I wanted to pop in
here today and have aconversation about the cost of
following Jesus.
And I'm going to narrow in orzoom in on one specific area of

(00:25):
this because there could be alot to cover in this topic.
But recent conversations with acouple of friends, a couple of
girls that I mentor, a client,this topic seems to keep coming
up and I think it's a stumblingblock for us to follow and do

(00:52):
what God is calling us to do.
And the stumbling block arepeople in our lives.
And I'm not talking about badpeople, I'm talking about the
people that love us the most.
I'm talking about our friends,and they might even be our best

(01:14):
friends.
I'm talking about your mother,your father, your brother, your
sister, maybe aunts, uncles,grandparents, a mentor, a
teacher, your bot, like fill inthe blank of somebody, that one

(01:36):
you love a lot.
They love you, they want thebest for you, they have provided
good guidance to you over theyears.
You get my point.
I just say that because a lotof times in our lives and I even
think about people that Imentor is they might not have a
mom or a dad, but there's otherpeople that are influencing them

(01:59):
, that are really close.
So fill in the blank or thinkabout that.
Who it is for you, and withinthis topic of knowing through
prayer, through studying theword, through your relationship
with Christ, is you are beingcalled to do something that is

(02:25):
very uncomfortable, not only foryourself but for those that are
around you.
You might be called to dosomething that is a 180 from
where you are at right now.
So maybe it's the college thatyou want to go to, maybe it's
what you're studying in college,it's your career that you're in

(02:49):
right now and maybe you've gota lot of schooling or you've got
a lot of time in and God isasking you to walk away from a
job, to pivot, to go somewhereelse, and I can speak of this
from experience.
I mean, I left law enforcementwhere I had spent a lot of time.

(03:13):
It took me a lot to become apolice officer.
Most recently, if you've beenlistening, I got laid off from
my corporate job back in Apriland I have not went back into
corporate America, even thoughit would have been very easy to
me to do that, and a lot ofpeople don't understand of why I

(03:34):
haven't went back into havingthis, you know, like nine to
five plus job and a good salaryand all that comes with that.
And so I just was reminded todayof this scripture, as I was
thinking about this, of, likeyou know, how do we, or not even

(04:00):
how do we, but what does theBible say about going against
those people that love us andmay have our best interest?
And I came to it's Luke 15, 25through 27.
And it says a large crowd wasfollowing Jesus.

(04:20):
So I love the start of this isthey're already following him.
There's already people that arefollowing him.
So if you are a follower ofChrist, I want you to put
yourself in that crowd and justthink about like you're already
following Christ, you're walkingbehind him.
And it says he turned aroundand said to them if pay

(04:42):
attention to those words in theBible.
I talk about that a lot is, payattention to those little words.
If you want to be my disciple,you must.
By comparison, and I think thatthose two words, I've read
other translations and itdoesn't have that in there, but
my Bible, which is the NewLiving Translation, has that in

(05:03):
there and to me it seems veryimportant to say by comparison.
So I'll start over.
If you want to be my disciple,you must, by comparison, hate
everyone else.
Which hate is such a strongword?
I don't like that word, butthat's what it says.
It says hate everyone else.
Which hate is such a strongword?
I don't like that word, butthat's what it says.
It says hate everyone else yourfather and mother, wife and
children, brothers and sisters,yes, even your own life.

(05:28):
Otherwise you cannot be mydisciple.
And if you do not carry yourown cross and follow me, you
cannot be my disciple.
And like within those twoverses there's so much in there,
but it's like you can eitherfollow me or you can follow what

(05:52):
people in your life are saying.
And if you do that, then youcan't follow me.
And I see that every day, evenin my own life, or I see it with
the people that I coach and theyoung women that I mentor just
friends or people that I'veworked with is we get so much

(06:15):
input from the outside worldthat it prevents us from doing
what God has called us to do andwe stay stuck of where we're at
, because where we're at is morecomfortable.
Where we're at doesn't rock theboat.
Where we're at doesn'tdisappoint the people that are

(06:38):
around us, because a lot oftimes us making decisions that
go against what people want forus, that goes against what God
is calling us to do, and there'sfriction.
And what I've learned a lot oftimes is those people that

(07:00):
whatever they want for us, it'snot because they want something
bad for us.
It's because a lot of timesthey are living in fear.
Maybe they've made mistakes,maybe they don't want you to
have mistakes or pain orsuffering, or you know, like

(07:22):
following the path that God hasfor us is not easy, like you
will go through hard times.
The Bible tells us that is,we'll go through hard times, and
so sometimes those people thatlove us the most are trying to
protect us, they're trying to bein control, and you can't have
it both ways.

(07:43):
At some point you have to say isI am a follower of Christ.
First, and look at yourpriorities and be in prayer, be
in word and going.
I'm going to take a step offaith of knowing I'm going to
disappoint people, I'm going togo against what the world is

(08:04):
saying to be a disciple ofChrist and follow the path and
do what he is calling me to doso.
I feel like there's a thousandother ways that I could go, but
today I'm just going to stopthere and have a short episode
is just to really think about isthere this desire in your heart

(08:26):
that you believe is put thereby God?
And the only reason you are notfollowing that, or at least
even taking the first step orthe next step, is because what
people in your life are quippingin your ear and I really

(08:51):
challenge you, you know isthat's doubt.
That's the spirit of fear whichChrist does not give us, the
spirit of fear that does notcome from our heavenly father,
and you know we have to live.

(09:12):
If you go to 2 Timothy 1, 7,which this is one of my favorite
verses, um, and actually thatwhole section of uh, first
timothy is talking aboutencouragement to be faithful.
But um, verse seven, says forgod has not given us a spirit of
fear and timity, but of power,love and self-discipline, the

(09:36):
power to do what he is callingus to do.
And so, okay, friends, I'mgonna end that there, but I
would love to hear from you ofwhat God's calling you to do.
And what do you think is scaryand what are you battling with
and that was my Bible that Idropped.
Sorry about that, and I coachin this area.

(09:58):
So if you're needing help oflike, hey, stephanie, I'm stuck
and I need to step out in faith,I need to.
I can no longer live how I amliving, which this is what
causes, I believe, a lot ofanxiety and depression and even
health, physical stuff isbecause we're sitting in these

(10:18):
emotions that goes against ofhow we are called to live.
So feel free to reach out to meon any of my social media
platforms or stephanie atgivinggalcom, and friends.
This whole episode is justanother way of you can get to
giving your best life.