February 5, 2025 • 43 mins
Get Victory from Addiction: https://cvnteyes.co/41YU8Od
In today's episode, we dive deep into the struggles of overcoming addiction, building authentic connections, and staying rooted in Christ. Hannah Williamson, a preacher, teacher, and passionate advocate for purity and accountability, shares her journey of faith, how she helps others navigate their struggles with pornography addiction and the importance of community and accountability.
Hannah talks about the crucial steps of breaking free from shame cycles and sin, highlighting the power of confession, setting boundaries, and finding freedom through Covenant Eyes. She emphasizes the importance of identity in Christ and the role of local churches and friendships in fostering lasting change.
From overcoming the pressures of social media and staying true to your authentic self to finding deep connections outside of the virtual world, this conversation offers practical advice for young people and anyone seeking to grow in their relationship with Jesus.
Tune in for insights on navigating the challenges of modern life while focusing on Jesus. If you're struggling with pornography addiction or any other challenge, remember you're not alone—there is freedom, and it starts with accountability, community, and a heart centered on Christ.
__________________________________
FOLLOW HANNAH:
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@HannahJanelWilliamson
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/hannahjanelwilliamson/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Hannahwilliamsonministries/
X: https://x.com/hannwilliamson
___________________________________
LEARN MORE ABOUT COVENANT EYES:
https://cvnteyes.co/41YU8Od
___________________________________
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Introduction and Speaker Introductions
02:30 - The Importance of Accountability and Covenant Eyes
08:15 - Understanding Purity Culture and Its Relevance Today
12:45 - Breaking the Chains of Shame: Stories of Freedom
18:32 - Biblical Foundations for Purity
23:58 - Encouraging Spouses and Partners in Recovery
28:10 - The Role of Scripture and Prayer in Overcoming Struggles
31:15 - Practical Steps to Overcome Pornography Addiction
35:42 -Navigating Relationships in a Digital World
29:34 - Boundaries in Relationships and Guardrails to Honor God
30:00 - Asking Hard Questions Early in Relationships
30:38 - Challenges of Building Real-Life Connections
32:02 - The Importance of Intentionality and Church Community
33:12 -Guiding Those Struggling with Addiction
34:01 - Breaking Shame Cycles and Walking in Freedom
35:40 - Plugging into Local Churches for Accountability
36:04 - Favorite Scriptures and Encouragement from Romans
38:07 - Being Authentic Online: Encouraging Realness
41:35 - Closing Words: Fixing Eyes on Jesus
#HannahWilliamson #addictionrecovery #covenanteyespodcast #genz
Try Covenant Eyes for FREE today!
Use Promo Code: FreePodcast
© 2024 Covenant Eyes, All Rights Reserved
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
Hey, everybody, welcomeback to The Covenant Eyes
Podcast, Karen Potter here.
I'm the director of marketingfor Covenant Eyes
and also the hostof The Covenant Eyes Podcast.
And this is our special editionof the Voices of Victory
podcast episode,where we actually sit down
with guests in person,which is amazing, no zoom,
and we get to talk and learna little bit
about their faith journeyand talk about all sorts
(00:27):
of great things.
And today we have an amazingguest joining us.
We have HannahWilliamson joining us.
She is a preacher, teacher,an amazing woman,
and she also isa Christian influencer out there
making a differencein the world.
Hannah, welcome to the podcastHigh.
Gear and thank youso much for having me.
I'm so excited.
I love coming, I so I'm justso excited to be here.
I feel like we've beenconnected forever and finally
(00:48):
get to meet y'all in person.
So yeah,this is going to be fun.
I know we've communicatedfor years over email, so it's
a nice to be in person.
Finally. Yes.
One-hundred percent.
Awesome.
Well, for the listenersthat aren't familiar
with your work,which I don't know how
they couldn't be because you'reeverywhere online,
but can you talk a little bitabout what you do
and why you do it? Yeah.
So I obviouslyam passionate about Jesus.
(01:09):
And so my heart is to get Gen-Zback to biblical truth
and not just Gen Z,but all generations.
I feel like we have a generationthat's going after all
different kinds of things,like witchcraft, New Age,
you know, pornography.
And they're runningtowards every other thing
except for Jesus.
And Jesus said,you shall know truth,
and the truth iswhat will set you free.
And so that's my heart,because that's
(01:30):
what has set me freecontinually over the years,
is just coming backinto alignment
with the Word of Godand just being led
by the Holy Spirit.
So that's my heart for Gen Z.
I'm like,I want them to know Jesus
and to know the Word of Godand to be led
by the Holy Spirit.
So yeah, with everythingI do online, with YouTube,
Instagram, TikTok, you know,all the social media
platforms, that'smy heart is incredible.
(01:51):
You know?
Then back to biblical truth.
Yeah, it's. Great.
And we need thosevoices out there
because unfortunately,culture is pushing
their own narrative. Right.
How do you see thatimpacting your generation
specifically?
Because I knowI mean, your generation
grew up with technology,and technology
has a mind of its own, and it'sdefinitely sharing a worldview
that sometimesis countercultural
to the biblical worldviewthat a lot of us have.
(02:12):
Yeah. It's wild.
I remember a couple years ago,I think it was like
2 or 3 years agoI got on TikTok,
and all of a suddenthis live stream
popped up of a witchdoing a free tarot card reading.
Whoa. Yeah.
It was wild.
It blew my mind.
I'm like, wait, what?
And she was having young peoplecome with their names,
(02:33):
and as they committedtheir names,
she was giving them freetarot card readings.
And so you used tohave to go somewhere
and pay somebody to do this.
But now you can go on TikTokand get it for free.
And it's a hashtagcalled witch talk.
So there's witches on TikTokwho go on there
and they're doingall these things and teaching
this generationhow to be witches.
And so samewith even pornography.
(02:54):
We used to have to go somewhere,go to a store and buy it
and pay somebody,and now you can get it
at the palm ofyour hands on your phone.
And so it's crazyhow it's impacted
this generation.
At the palm of their hand,they can go to anything
they want to go to.
And everybody'sgoing after my truth
now instead of the way,the truth of the lie,
which is Jesusand what they don't know
(03:16):
is all these other pathsare sending them down
a path of darknessand destruction.
And so, yeah, I'mjust mind blown.
I'm like, I cannot believe thisstuff is so accessible online.
So it's wild.
That is wild. Yeah.
And you know, social mediais it's incredible
because so many parentsnowadays are letting
their kids get onlineearlier and earlier ages.
And so they're getting exposedto this stuff.
(03:36):
Imagine an 8 or 9 yearold getting exposed to that,
that witchcraft,you know, TikTok thing.
And that would be detrimentalbecause I can
take them on a rabbit holethat they can't get out of.
So yes, as you'respeaking online and you're doing
all the work that you doonline in different ways,
are you also goingplaces and preaching
and teaching in person, likedo you get out there
because, I mean,I feel like we build these
(03:58):
like online personasand like these online lives,
but we can't get awayfrom the body of Christ
being community.
So how do you balance all that?
Yeah, that's so good.
And I've seen a lot.
I mean, we're seeinga lot of ministers
falling right now.
And so my hearthas been so burden
for the body of Christ.
And like whatwhere have we gone wrong?
You know, what are we doingwrong here.
And so my heart is localdiscipleship as well as online
(04:20):
because online I love itbecause it's free.
And you can get on there.
And just likeyou guys are doing,
you guys are posting, you know,Covenant Eyes and sharing that
with people online.
Well, we can get onlineand we can share about
Jesus and it's free.
And that's amazing.
This is the first timeever in years
where we've been ableto share the gospel
online for free, but alsoif I'm going to be online
(04:41):
and preachingand teaching the gospel,
I also want to be a disciplein on a local level.
And that doesn't meanjust across the US.
That also meanson a local level,
like where I live. Yeah.
And so I try to pool young girlsif I, you know, have friends
with young girls in my communityor at church.
And, you know,we start to just become
friends and like, hey, like,let's go grab coffee
and just walking themthrough the Word of God and,
(05:03):
you know, being friends to themand just being there for them.
And I feel like we've lostthat art of discipleship
and walkinghand in hand with people.
And so if we could get backto that again in the church
and accountabilityand walking hand
in hand with people and actuallytaking young girls
under our wing,if we're, you know, women or men
(05:24):
taking young menunder their wing
and actually showing themthe ropes, like showing them
the word of God, like,this is the instruction
manual to life,and this is the path
that leads us to life.
I feel like we've lost that.
So yeah, I teach a preachacross the U.S, but also
I want to make surethat I am staying low
as an influencerand stayed humble
and making surethat I'm walking alongside
(05:44):
people where I live locally.
And so that's plus my heartso much.
Yeah, I have,you know, awesome community
there that I can just,you know, hang with and,
you know, help disciples.
So yeah.
So yeah.
So, you know, talk to mea little bit about,
how pornography is impactingyour generation
because certainly,you know, it's
got to be difficultfor a young Christian woman
(06:04):
who might be of the dating agelooking for people.
I mean, for a malecounterpart today, I mean,
they're all being exposed,and so many of them
are addicted.
How is that impactingthe dating culture
for Christians as well?
Oh my goodness, Karen.
It's yeah, it'sinteresting for sure.
I feel like we havean oversexualized culture where
(06:25):
that is our brain now.
We think of people in that way.
We look at peoplewith those eyes
because, you know,you have Victoria's Secret
and just all of this stuffgoing on in our culture
with movies, with TV shows.
And so our brains are moreso starting
to be wired that way,especially because
we're on our phonesall the time.
And so I think that'swhy the Bible says,
(06:45):
do not be conformedto the patterns of this world,
but be transformedby the renewal of your mind.
And again, that's the paththat leads to life.
That's what actuallybrings our mind
and our heart. Life.
But yeah, I've just seen evenwithin the dating scene, it's
become so oversexualized.
And I think that's actuallywhat fuels legalism as well.
And I've seen so many peoplebecause of that.
(07:08):
You know, you havethe sexual revolution.
Take that, take what's happeningand respond to it with things
like purity culture.
And you know thatI'm so passionate about purity
that is my heart.
Yeah.
But I think that within datingwe have to have pure hearts
and not just have this fear.
Yeah, this fear basedmentality of
I have to be perfect.
(07:29):
I have to, you know, bepure in my relationship.
Otherwise God'sgoing to strike me down.
And I feel like that'sbeen our response
to what's happening,when in reality we just need to
have pure hearts before the Lordand have this reality
that we're sonsand daughters of God,
and he loves us so much,and we love him so much
that we want to please him,even with our dating lives.
(07:50):
Like, I love Godso much that I don't want
any other worldly thingin the way of that.
And so I've just seenthis hookup culture and,
you know, you have pornographythat fuels that.
And so people are goingfrom person to person,
and we're buildingrelationships off
of this romantic foundationinstead of building friendship
and then bringing thatin once it's time. Yeah.
(08:10):
And so it's yeah,it's just cause us to chase
after that rather than to chaseafter Jesus.
And then that comes inin the perfect timing.
And so I would just loveto see this generation shift
their mindsetwhen it comes to purity
and get free of theselegalistic mindsets
that fill us with shamewhen it comes to dating,
and know that it'snatural desires.
(08:31):
Their God given desires,and it's holy within marriage
to desire things like sex.
But to know that we haveto have pure hearts
before the Lord.
And that's what actuallyhelps us to live holy
and to live pure.
It's not fear,but it's a love for Jesus
and knowing that he loves us.
And so, yeah, I kind of wentoff on a tangent with the whole
dating thing. But yeah.
I see that whether thedating culture is
(08:52):
just people or, you know,they're going wild.
And again, it's fueled by,I believe, pornography.
So yeah, our culturecertainly is porn ified.
I mean, we see it in musicand when we hear it music,
we see it inTV, movies everywhere.
I feel like maybe Christiansare even becoming desensitized,
and that'sreally dangerous for us.
So what steps can youngpeople take to
(09:13):
get their discernment backso that they're better able
to navigate culture andand technology and movies
and all the rest, right.
Yeah, that's.
Honestly something thatI've also been talking
about lately.
Me and my friendshave been literally
talking about this where, like,the church needs to exercise her
discernment musclemore than ever because we have
so many thingsbeing thrown at us.
(09:34):
And with discernment.
It's not just saying,okay, this is witchcraft
in witch talk and tarot cards.
Yeah, that's all evil.
And then this is good.
It's the church, it'sChristianity.
It's so easy to discernbetween those two.
But what's hard to discern iswhen they're mixed together
and when it's so close and it'sit's like discerning
between what's rightand what's almost right.
(09:55):
So you're kind ofteetering that line
and some things can look right.
But in reality they're filledwith darkness
and they can look pure,but in reality they're filled
with darkness.
And so we have to be like,okay, Lord, what's pure
like what's truth?
And somethingthat's really helped me
is getting rootedin the scriptures.
My parents helped disciple megrow growing up, and I'm
so thankful for that,because then once I launched out
(10:17):
into the world,you know, everyday life and work
and being around peoplewho are not saved,
I had that foundationin the word and that helped me
almost repel from the world.
I know some people are like,oh well, your kids
need to be aroundall those things.
And then they, you know,need to get used to it.
They need to get used tothe world.
But kids are like spongesand we soak things up.
(10:37):
And so I noticed thatonce I got launched
into the world,I had this innocence about me
that maybeyou want to repel from it.
And it helped mediscern more between
this is good and this is evil.
And like, I want to stayaway from this
and I don't want to, you know,participate in these things
because it doesn't pleasethe heart of a ward.
And so,I just got this mindset of,
(10:59):
this is our instructionmanual to life.
And just like this chairthat I'm sitting in right now,
the person that put it togetherand created the instruction
manual for this chair,they know how it's
going to function the best.
And Karen, you and I,if they did not,
if the person who builtthis chair didn't use
the instruction manual,we probably would have
a one way ticketto the floor. Yes.
And we sitting on the floorright now. Right.
(11:21):
And so that's what Ilook at the Word of God
like is, you know, Jesus diedon the cross for us
and he set us freefrom the power of sins.
We're no longer bound to it.
And so this is our instructionmanual to life.
And when we liveour life out this,
when we're rooted in this,this, that's
what will keep us pure and holyand help us to discern
this is right.
And this is so wrong.
(11:42):
So that's great. No.
That's good.
And for, you know, ourlisteners sake,
what is your storyof coming to Christ?
I mean, wereyou saved at a young age?
Was this a journey for youthat you went
through in high school?
Or like where,when did you get saved
and how did that work?
Yeah, so like I said,my parents raised me in
the word, raised me in church.
I definitely wentthrough the motions for years.
(12:04):
And I realize at age 13,I actually started
to pursue relationshipsfor the first time,
and I just started to havesome curiosity
towards those things andlike, okay.
And so I startedto rebel against my parents
and kind ofgo away from the Lord
a little bit.
And the Lordjust pulled me right back
and I got convicted.
(12:24):
I remember I was at schooland I had a secret
relationship at school. No.
And it was crazybecause I don't even think
I've ever talkedabout this, like, publicly.
But it randomly got found outbecause the guy
that I was dating,you know, it's a middle school
relationship.
So there's air quotes.
Yeah.
This paper fellunderneath the locker
because this girlwrote this funny story
(12:44):
about our relationship.
Oh, no.
And there was like,no PDA allowed at school.
And so the.
Principal found it out.
I got called to the office,and it was wild
because even somethingso silly and simple.
Yeah,that actually convicted me.
I was sitting there and I lookedat my principal cause
I went to a I think Ialready said this,
but a Christian school,And I said, I don't have
(13:05):
a real relationship with Jesus.
And I started breaking downin my principal's
office and crying.
I had so much mascara on,oh my gosh, blessed
middle school days.
I started crying and Ijust remember all this black
going down my face,it all over my sweatshirt,
and I said,I need to give my life
to Jesus right now.
And so he ended upsending me to the
(13:28):
school counselors office,and she led me to the Lord.
She walked me through Romans.
And now that I realize,I think she actually walked me
through Romans eight.
And to this day,that's one of my favorite books
of the Bible.
And so, yeah,I just gave my life to the Lord,
and I remember oursin the secret place.
After that, my friendgroups immediately changed my
whole perception,even of school.
When I came back,the next day was
(13:49):
totally different.
I just viewed it as, you know,oh my goodness,
I need to make friendsthat, you know,
walk with the Lord and,you know, help me
go down the right paththat I need to be walking.
And it just my wholeentire perception change.
And so yeah, from that dayforward, just been following
the Lord in the secretplace, studying the word
and all those things.
That's incredible.
Thank you for sharing that.
(14:09):
And and your parentsare probably like,
oh, I didn't knowabout bad. No. Yeah.
No they knew they knew.
Okay, good. Oh my dad.
Oh no.
It's just oh God.
The whole. School.
Situation. Yeah.
Oh wow.
I'm thankful for it now.
Yeah I mean obviously yeah.
That's great.
Well, how does your faith shapethe work that you do
with the work that you doon YouTube and TikTok
and all the other placesthat you're at?
(14:30):
I mean, how does your faithshape that?
Because there isthere's an interesting
kind of trend on TikTok,YouTube, all the rest
where, you know,girls really are.
I call it click baitinga lot of their content
because they wantto get viewers, you know, they
they're saying, I'm a Christian,but yet what they're putting out
there is a little lessthan, you know.
Yeah, but coming of a Christianyoung lady.
(14:51):
So how do you keep your faith,you know, driving your content?
Yeah. That's good.
I call it thirst traps,if I can be frank.
Okay. Thank you.
I think there was a word for it.
I know my kids told mewhat it was once.
I just kind of remember.
Yeah.
They call it thirst trap.
So. Yeah. Thank you. I.
I think we made their trap.
Okay.
Like, made their shot.
Yeah. So, Yeah.
So I've actually beenseeing other
(15:12):
Christian influencerstalk about this
because they'll put aBible verse, but then they'll be
flaunting themselves and it justkind of contradict.
Yeah, contradictoryto one another.
And it goes backto the purity of the heart
because, because the Lordhas transformed my heart
and helped purify mefrom the inside out as I could.
It hasn't been easy,let me tell you.
(15:34):
There's been a lot of refiningeven the past year.
The amount of refiningthat the Lord
has had to take me through.
It's a process for everyone,so we have to have
grace for ourselves.
But yeah, because I've allowedthe Lord to mold me in that way.
It doesn't come from outward.
Me dressing modestlydoesn't come from my outward.
It doesn't come from fear.
It comesbecause I love the Lord.
So much that I want toplease him with my body
(15:56):
and how I present myself online.
And so no matter what I post,I want it to be honoring
and pleasing to the Lord.
And so that's why I even set upaccountability in my life.
That's great.
And so I have mentorsand leaders around me
that I've given themspace and permission.
If they see anythingI post online
and it's off on like,please text
me and rebuke me. Okay.
(16:16):
That's great.
Yeah.
So please let me know.
And so they have that spacein my life to do that.
And I think that's so importantfor Christian influencers
and just influencers in general.
Have somebody in your lifewho's able to do that
and bring youback to the Lord if needed.
And so, yeah, itflows from my heart,
I would say,because the Lord has
transformed my heart,because Hannah on my own,
(16:36):
I am not special.
I would be postingprobably wild content.
Okay, fine.
But I'm so they willfor Jesus, use
dreads for my hair in my lifeand I love him so much
that I want to please him.
And so it definitely flowsfrom that place.
But I haven't been perfect,so I just want to keep growing.
None of us are.
I mean,we live in a fallen world,
so I mean, but that's great.
I think that's goodadvice to you.
I, I just think thatmore people need
(16:57):
to hear that. Yeah.
So you talked a lotabout accountability there.
So you know,that's our sweet spot
at Covenant Eyes.
We love accountability.
So let's talk a little bitabout accountability.
I mean it's weird to mebecause in business you know
there's all sorts ofaccountability in place.
You know, you haveaccounting departments
that make sureyou're accountable for your,
you know, bookkeeping records.
And when you're working out,you tend to have an
accountability partnerin the gym.
(17:19):
I mean, why is it weirdthat people don't
have accountabilityon their technology
where I think we need it?
Yeah. That's so good.
That's a good point.
Because if I didn'thave my county
accountability partnerin the gym, I probably
would have stoppedworking out mine.
I would have been donea long time ago.
Yeah, yeah.
But yeah,that's a great question.
And I feel likeit's lacking a lot.
(17:40):
And if young peopleunderstood that
community is so important,God has created us for community
and connection.
And our phones, even thoughwe're the most connected
generation, are cell phones.
Yeah, we're the alsomost disconnected generation
I've seen so far.
I mean, I'm only 25, but,you know, studying history,
it seems likewe're so disconnected
and so God has created usfor fellowship and for community
(18:03):
and for accountabilityand walking alongside
each other and, you know,pushing each other
on an iron sharpening iron.
And so I've seen thatin my own life
as I've, you know, pulledin accountability in my life.
People have called me higher.
And there's areaswhere they're like, you know,
you know, that wasn'tvery Christlike.
And it made me realize,oh my goodness.
Wow.
And, you know,they're not only telling me
that's not Christlike like my parents
(18:24):
when they raised us, they didn'tjust tell us no,
but they also discipled usand showed us the why
and the how and the what,and actually
showed us scripture.
And so that wasreally helpful for me
because it helpedshape my worldview.
Like, okay,this is it's not that.
It's just wrong.
This is whyI don't do this. Yeah.
And so with online,we don't need to
(18:45):
just be floating out there.
And I was talkingabout ministers earlier
and how ministersare falling left and right.
Yeah.
Well my question waswhere is the accountability.
Where was the personwhere years ago
where you fell into sinor you fell into sexual sin?
Where was the personthat called you out
and called you higher and said,hey, let's take a break.
You know, let's step backand let's get some counseling.
(19:05):
Let's go to therapy.
Let's go tospiritual therapy. Right.
You know, it's so, yeah, that'sbeen so important in my life
to have those peoplewalking alongside me.
And, even the Covenant Eyesapp, I have put it on my phone
and I love the app.
And I remember years backwhen you guys, we first started
communicating and,just trying out the album.
(19:26):
This is so coolthat young people and ministers,
I have met so many ministerswho have Covenant
Eyes on their phones, and that'sso encouraging to my heart
because it it shows me thatthey're actually
taking practical stepsto guard their purity
and to guard their heartbefore the Lord.
So yeah, having those peoplewho can check in on you
and even watchingwhat you're looking at
on Instagram and hit that on it,not interested,
(19:48):
but and if needed,when something
comes up on your feed, you know,I mean, there's times
where I've literally takenthe TikTok app off of my home
screen, right?
Because things have popped up.
I'm like, this is awful.
Yeah.
So I'm justgoing to take it off there.
We're going to take a break.
I want to give it a breather.
Yeah.
No, I thinkI think that's a good way
to deal with it too.
A lot of timeswe need a technology break.
(20:08):
I mean detoxes from technologyare so important.
Do you ever implementanything like that
in your life at all?
Like, yeah, a breakfrom all the technology,
all the social media. Yeah.
So yeah, I'm definitely oneon social media fast.
And the clarity of the mindthat I have after
social media fastis such a blessing in my heart.
I mean, I remembereven to like 2 or 3 years ago,
I, I noticed myselfstarting to get this
(20:32):
more influencer mindset,and I was starting
to get connectedwith more influencers.
And I'm like, Lord,I don't want this.
So I actually took 2 or 3 monthsoff of social media
at one point.
And I had I think at that pointI had a social media
manager, butI was just thinking,
I need to detox.
Yeah, I need to.
Take a break from this.
I do not want any partin this mindset.
(20:53):
And, you know,I just want to stay low
and humble before the Lord.
And so we're in thisfor the long haul.
So that's that'sthe thing with ministry is
we are in thisfor the long haul.
And there's a generationthat's looking up to us.
Even when I seeall these ministers falling,
you know, I have compassion withfor them
because we're all human,you know, we all sin
and we need forgivenessfrom the Lord.
And thankfully we have thatbecause of what Jesus
(21:13):
did on the cross.
And so there's grace,and there's
no need to be ashamedwhen you repent and you give
that to the Lord,he frees you of that stuff.
But we should be in itfor the long haul.
And we need to realizethat people are looking up
to us.
Young peopleare looking up to us.
And so I want to lastfor the long haul, you know?
Yeah, no, that's good.
That's why I'm.
Thankful for Covenant Eyesand, you know, screen
(21:34):
accountability and,yeah, friends
and mentors in my lifewho've just called me higher.
Now that's really good.
I think that's important.
And I think that speaks volumesto your character as well.
Just knowing, you know, when youbecause as an influencer,
I'm sure the pressuresare pretty intense and,
you know,you can easily be lured in.
We've seen lots of peoplein those positions.
You know,that get sucked into things
(21:54):
they don't want to.
So I think that's great.
I love that, and I thinkit's good advice for everybody
to take a little breakonce in a while.
Yeah. Okay, good.
Well, talk to us a little bitabout some of the things
that you're doingin your ministry.
New things that might,you know, be on the horizon
for you and your ministryand for your channels.
Yeah. Yeah.
So honestly,last year was a hard year
for me.
I lost somebodywho was very close to me.
So I took a littlebit of a break.
(22:16):
And so I'm really just nowgoing back at it
and revamping things.
And I've been rebranding latelyand really seeking the Lord
on what exactlyhe wants it to look like.
And yeah, I just been goingthrough that process.
And so what's been onmy heart is gospel
outreach events.
You know, even in my city,Charlotte, there's
so much darknessthat goes on in every city,
(22:36):
honestly, now. Yeah.
But seeing what's going onand just the pride
parades and, you know,the impurity within sexuality
that's leading people downa path of darkness.
I would love to see, you know,those people even be set free
and come back into alignmentwith how God created them.
And so, yeah, I mean, gospeloutreaches have
been on my heart.
(22:57):
Also, local Biblestudies, I've been wanting
to launch those again, where I'mmeeting with people,
you know, in personand just reading
the word togetherand praying together.
I remember doing thatsome years back, and we just met
with a bunch of girlsin a coffee shop.
I rented a coffee shop out and,yeah, it was just cool
to see the freedomthat happened.
(23:17):
Literally in the middleof a coffee shop where we were
just praying for peopledriving by the coffee shop.
We're probably thinkwe're crazy. That's okay.
It's okay, it's okay.
But it was like all glass.
And, you know,people can see inside.
We're just layinghands on each other,
praying for each other.
And so people were gettingset free and delivered.
And so yeah, I would loveto get back into that again.
The Lord's reallybeen putting stuff like that
(23:38):
on my heart to really do thingsmore so at a local level.
But yeah, I plan to continueto travel, speak,
you know, do things locallyand also online and,
yeah, I'm just pumped.
I plan to honestly launch somecourses in the future
on just being pure online.
And you know, howto walk that out.
Oh, amazing.
Yeah, we need some of that.
There's actuallynot a lot of content
(23:59):
related to that topicand how Christian, you know,
young people can navigatethe purity culture because it
really got a bad rap back in theI don't know,
maybe it was the 90sor the 2000, you know,
I think it went overboard.
You know,I think people ended up
walking in fearversus understanding what it is
and why you want to be pure andand save yourself for marriage.
(24:20):
So yeah, I'mglad to see that there's
a revival of that conversation.
How do you navigate,some of these hot button
you know, cultural issuesand how do you talk about them?
By offering compassionand grace and, and,
but also biblical truth, like,how do you do that?
Yeah. So good.
I mean, I go back to Romanseight where it talks
about the spiritof adoption, cries
(24:41):
out, ABBA, father! And knowingthat we're sons
and daughters of God, thatis change my life.
It has changed my life.
Knowing my identity in Christand knowing that he has set
us free from sin like it talksabout in Romans six.
And so it says, we're no longerslaves to sin,
but now we're slavesto righteousness.
And knowing thatI'm free of shame,
(25:02):
I'm free of condemnation.
Because literally,Jesus took on condemnation
on the cross for us,which blows my mind
all the time.
I'm like, wow, Lord,you're so good
to do that for us.
And so as I have thisperspective biblically
and knowing yes, we'resupposed to live pure,
Jesus said, be holy, forI am holy and knowing
that we're supposedto walk in purity.
(25:24):
So knowing these things,but also knowing that we're sons
and daughters of Godand He loves us so much,
he just wants to see uslive, right?
And he doesn'twant us getting hurt because sin
ultimately leads us to hurt.
And so that's the perspectiveI got as I go online.
And that even helps meto be bold within these topics.
You know, I haven't always hadthese mindsets.
There have been times in my lifewhere I've walked into
(25:45):
major legalism,more so fear based. Yeah.
But now having this perspective,it helps me see better online
and to tackle these topics.
And you know, the Bible saysthe righteous are
as born as a lion.
And so going on thereand just having this compassion
for young people and not justlooking at them and saying,
oh, they're just dirty sinners.
And like, all they want to dois just sleep around
(26:05):
and all this stuffor watch pornography, but seeing
they're really searchingand they're searching
for their identityand they're searching
for their purposeand they want to know truth.
And so, yeah, it just gives methis boldness
to get on there and say,this is the way, even if it's a
really uncomfortablesubject to talk about.
But yeah, seeing themget set free in that way.
(26:26):
And it's, it's been so coolto see the testimonies
that have come outfrom, you know, being online
and doing ministry.
So it's a blessing.
It's been such a blessing.
You probably hear from a tonof different people
all over the globe,I would imagine.
So it'swhat's that like hearing,
you know, how your ministryis impacting them
and shaping them and helpingto transform their heart
and lead them to Christ?
(26:46):
It honestly brings me to tears.
I've seen different peopletext me and just say, hey,
I was healed of this thingon the live stream.
Or, you know, I just got,you know, healed of vertigo
or whatever, just seeingdifferent testimonies
like that or, you know,we saw this transgender girl
end up giving her life to Christafter meeting her online
and then meeting herfor coffee in person.
(27:07):
And sothere's just been different
things like that.
That is so soberingbecause it's not me.
It's truly the Holy Spirit.
Hannah is an imperfect,sometimes very unorganized.
Person who. Needs the Lord.
Help me on a daily basis,let me tell you.
But it's just so coolbecause it's
truly the power of God.
Because the same spiritthat raised Jesus from the dead
(27:29):
lives on the inside of us.
And so it's so sobering.
It's like, Lord, you use ushuman, just imperfect.
But you love us so muchthat you want to partner with us
in kingdom advancement.
And so yeah, it's beensuch a blessing in my heart.
It just makes me cry, honestly.
And just so thankfulto the Lord to see.
Yeah, peopleonline getting set free.
(27:50):
So incredible.
You've done a few episodesabout dating and you've talked
a lot about purity.
You did one on dating thatI thought was
really interesting.
What is what is your stanceon, you know, Christians, young,
young people dating like what?
What do you tell people?
Yeah, I really dohave the perspective
that I thinkwe should be friends
before we jump straightinto a relationship.
You know, there has been areas,like I mentioned
(28:11):
earlier where I thinkI've become a little legalistic,
and I've honestly beenworking out those belief systems
with the Lordand just seeing what
the Lord's heart is on that.
Instead of going at itwith a fear based mentality.
But I think, likeI was mentioning earlier,
is that a lot of timeswhen we start to look for our
future spouse,which is such a blessing
and again, it's somethingfrom the Lord and it's something
(28:32):
that it's normal to desire.
I think sometimeswe can shame ourselves
for even having desires,to want to be married.
But I feellike having that friendship
foundation helps buildthis strong foundation
at the beginning.
And so that's thedesire of my heart
is to not just jump in straight.
Yeah, just jump straight into aromantic relationship
(28:53):
where that's the foundation.
Because then if I'm marrieddown the line and I knew
I could be compatiblefriendship wise with this person
and something happens,then I know no matter what,
we have built a solid foundationof friendship and built
this foundation in Christthat we're not
going to be shaken.
And so I love havingthis selfless perspective,
(29:13):
you know, towardsdated and towards marriage.
It's not about us. Yes.
It's so beautifuland it's awesome and it's fun,
but ultimately it's about Jesusand serving him and his kingdom
and so when it comesto boundaries, when it comes
to those things, again,it's not legalism.
But I set boundariesbecause I love Jesus so much,
and I want to savethose things for marriage,
you know, like sex and so,again, beautiful
(29:35):
within marriage.
Yeah.
Outside of marriage, it'sjust not God's design
and ultimatelyleads us to brokenness.
And so setting upthose boundaries
to where it helps put guardrailsin our relationship
to, you know,lead us to that place, you know,
first of all, honoring the Lord.
And then second, you know,getting to marriage
one day, hopefully.
And so I think that's important,actually getting to know
(29:57):
the person asking hardquestions, like, ask those hard
questions up frontbecause you never know.
Yeah, you get down the lineand all of a sudden
you find out things that youshould have found out
in the beginning,but you're surprised
and you're shocked now.
It's happened to me before.
I've gotten months downthe line.
I'm like, I should have askedthis question at the beginning.
I should have asked themif they had any addictions,
you know. Yeah.
And what was going onin their lives.
(30:17):
So yeah, yeah, I think it'ssuper important
to ask those questions upfront.
That's a reallythat's a smart thing.
I think young people needto take that advice for sure.
How do young peopleget connected nowadays.
So because everybody'sso like in their technology
and they're you know,you mentioned this earlier,
but your generation isthe most connected
but disconnected.
So how you know,how do young people
(30:38):
even get connectedin the real world nowadays?
I mean, it seems like it's hard.
I mean, it wasn't that waywhen I was a young person.
So yeah, we.
Didn't have. Technology.
So honestly, I kind of envy youa little.
Bit in your generation.
You guys went on side more.
We did. Yes.
I know we didn't havecell phones.
That's such a blessing.
Honestly, if I could go.
Back, that'd be great.
Yeah, but yeah,it it's a struggle at times
(30:58):
and I've had to navigatethat myself.
Like, how can I make friendshipsoutside of social media?
Because most of my friendsnowadays I meet online.
Yeah.
Which I don't thinkis a bad idea.
I mean, I've met friendsfrom all over the US,
on social media, on Instagram,and we've connected.
I've got to knowthem, got to know
their families.
I don't just fly out,meet random people. Yeah.
God did other ministry,you know, it's so yeah,
(31:21):
I have friendsfrom all over the US
where we talk on FaceTimeand then
sometimes out of the yearwe'll just fly out
and meet each other up.
And you know, they're passionateabout purity to it.
So it's really cool just to havethat relationship
and that connection where we cansharpen each other.
But that andalso getting plugged,
plugged intogroups at your church.
So finding a churchthat has good discipleship
(31:41):
groups, small groups,I know the young
adults group at my church,I love getting plugged in there
and just, you know,going to things
like worship nightsor coffee shop,
you know, gatheringsand hangouts
and things like that.
And so I try to bevery intentional
with inviting friendsout for coffee or,
you know, hanging outwith friends in person.
And if I'm going to talk to themonline, like, we might as well
(32:03):
go and grab coffee. Yeah.
You know, and so I think that'ssuper important
to be intentional,to be so intentional it makes a
difference is impactedmy heart so much.
Just meeting upwith other friends
and hanging out with them.
And I think sometimesyou can become so depressed
being in our homeson our phones all the time.
Remember in lockdown,during Covid, this is the worst.
(32:23):
Yeah, that was bad.
Yeah.
And so depression,depression rates and anxiety
and suicide rates skyrocketwithin the younger generations.
I honestly think it'sbecause we're so disconnected
and we were lackingthis connection that we need
so desperately.
And so yeah,I encourage young people
to go out,get outside of your house,
(32:43):
you know, go to coffee shops,go to your local church,
go to your local gym and just,you know, see if you can connect
with peoplewho are solid on fire
for the Lord, who's going tosharpen you in your faith
and not drag you down.
So that's good advice.
Yeah.
Well, let's talka little bit about,
you know, you you talked toso many different people.
So I would imaginethere are listeners
of your YouTubechannel or TikTok
(33:03):
that reach out to youwith pornography
addiction strugglesand talk to us a little bit
about whatyou, you know, guide them.
You talk to them about,obviously
you point them to CovenantEyes, I'm sure.
But you know,how do you relate to them
and coach themthrough that? Yeah.
First of all,I try to really help them
through the shame cycle of itbecause I think a lot of times
(33:24):
it really does keep peoplebound, is
being stuck in that shameand not wanting
to open up about it.
So the fact thatthey even open up about it,
I encourage thembecause it even talks
about in Jamesconfessing your faults
to one another,that you may be healed.
And so with young people,I really think, again,
having that accountabilitywith somebody you trust, not
(33:45):
everybody is trustworthy.
I encourage them in thatbecause it's so brave
that they evenopened up about it
and they shared about it,you know.
And so I do actually suggestCovenant Eyes.
I have linked it in almost everyone of my YouTube
descriptions and my videosnow, and it's
been cool to see peopleusing that on their phones.
I have friends of minepersonally who live locally
(34:06):
and they have CovenantEyes on their phones
and they link itto their pastor's phone.
And so yeah, I think it'sa great resource
to have accountability.
And so yeah, so one,I push them towards,
you know, freedom from sin,getting free from shame,
walking them through Romans sixand showing them
that our identityis no longer sinner.
Because I think sometimeswith these sin cycles we think,
(34:27):
oh, I'm just a sinner.
I'm a sinner saved by grace.
And I know it's popular.
I get the idea of that phrase.
And yes, we do mess up in sinat times.
However,if we have the identity,
whatever we identify with, it iswhat we're going to walk in.
And so I try to show themin Scripture
we're free from sin.
We've been set freefrom the power of sin
(34:48):
on the crossbecause of what Jesus
did through the blood of Jesus.
And so you no longerhave to walk in that shame.
In those sin cycles.
Jesus has set you free.
And so when you help themget set free from the shame,
showing themthat they're free of sin,
and showing themthat Jesus has given us
the abilityto have a purified heart,
(35:09):
then they can see, oh wait,I can be set free
from this thingbecause I also encourage,
you know, thingslike going to bed early,
you know, or setting your phoneoutside of your room
doing things that you need to dopractically.
I think it's so important.
But if we don'thave the mentality
that we're set free, then it'sgoing to be so easy to walk
right back out of that roomand grab that phone
(35:30):
and bring it right back inand start the addiction again.
And so, yeah,I really encourage people
and getting set freefrom those shame cycles
in the sin cyclesand knowing who we are in Christ
and getting plugged into a local church.
That's one of myfirst questions to people.
Yeah.
Are you pluggedinto a local church?
Do you have a pastoryou know, who's walking
alongside of you?
(35:50):
Typically, if it's a guywho messages me, I don't
engage in conversation a lot.
With. That matter.
You know, I direct themmainly to pastors.
But if it's a girl, you know,we have more of
these conversations,and then I will,
you know, direct them to,you know, their local pastor.
So that's great.
I love thatand I love that you're
driving them backinto that community element
where they can be connectedin real life.
(36:12):
So that's good.
Well, talk to me a little bitabout some of your
favorite scriptures.
I know you have some.
I mean, this isthis is what you do.
So share with mesome of your favorites
and thingsthat would be encouraging
to our audience. Yeah.
Well, actually a couple of themI've pretty
much already mentioned.
So the I think it'sJohn chapter eight
where it talks about Jesus said,you shall know truth,
(36:34):
and the truth iswhat will set you free.
And then also Romanschapter eight
I have a pulled up here.
Let me just read it for y'all,Romans chapter eight.
And I quoted it as well.
But I'm just goingto read says for as many
this says Romans chaptereight, verse 14,
for as many as are ledby the Spirit of God,
(36:55):
these are the sons of God.
For you did not receivethe spirit of bondage
again to fear, but you receivethe spirit of adoption,
by whom we cry out,ABBA, father!
The Spirit himself bearswitness with our spirit
that we are children of God.
And if children, then heirsheirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ, if we indeedwe suffer with him,
(37:17):
that we may alsobe glorified together.
And so this passage,this is one of the
most like highlighted, you know,parts of my Bible,
just because this is truly helpme walk in the identity
of being a daughter of God.
And so everything that I doin my life, I want it to flow
out of that place like I am adaughter of God,
and I want to representJesus well
and everything that I do.
(37:38):
So yeah, these have beensome of my life
verses, you know, being setfree from sin and, and,
you know, even the Matthew,I think it's Matthew
chapter ten, verse22 where it talks
about those who endure tothe end shall be saved.
And so this life is really,you know, endurance.
Even in the timesthat we're living in,
we have to keep our eyesfixed on Jesus.
And I believe the Lord is evencalling us back to a time
(37:59):
of fixing our eyes on him.
And we're seeing all this chaosin the world.
So yeah,a lot of these Scripture
verses, especially in Romans,Romans chapter
six through Romanschapter eight, have been some of
my favorites.
Romans is the best,I love Romans.
There's so muchto be gleaned. Yes.
Oh my God, I agree.
Well, you know,in this culture of, you know,
social mediaand Instagram filters
(38:19):
and all of this stuff,I mean, you've
talked a little bitabout keeping it real
and staying centered,but for the listeners out there
that maybe, you know,especially if they're
struggling with addiction,you know, we put on a facade,
we go to churchand we paint a face
and that's not really whowe are or what we're feeling.
So how do you coach someoneinto being there
on authentic self and really,you know, sharing,
(38:41):
their strugglesbecause we all struggle.
We're all we're all sinners,you know, and we're redeemed
and saved by the grace of God.
But we do need to, you know,address those things
in our lives.
So talk to mea little bit about that.
Yeah. Yeah.
So when it comesto being online,
I have always tried to havethe mentality of just be myself.
(39:01):
You know, everyone else isyou know, and this
like line is so cheesy,but it says everyone else
take it.
I like I heard thatwhen I was a little kid,
but everyone elseis getting online
and they're doing their thing.
But I've seen this generationbe so hungry for authenticity
and people who are justbeing their authentic self.
(39:22):
I think in past generationswe've seen more of the TV
type culture where, you know,we're so used to more
of the makeup aren't,which I love makeup,
but you know, you know,glam and the TV and just very
professional set up.
And now this generationactually most of them,
they want to be influencersand they love to watch content
(39:45):
that they canrecreate themselves.
And so a lot of even iPhonecontent is super
popular nowadays.
And so yeah, I just think it'sreally interesting
that they just wantto see people
who are being them,their authentic selves.
Like, who has Godcreated you to be?
You know, what personalityhas he given you?
Just be yourself.
I love being goofy online.
Yeah.
You know, putting funny, musicto my Instagram story.
(40:07):
That's not great.
And just being a goofball.
Yeah.
You know, even you being herein Nashville, I remember earlier
I waslooking for a country song.
Dude, I don't even listento country music.
Like what I will hearbecause I'm in Nashville.
I'm in Nashville.
So I was lookingfor a country song
to put to my story.
And so just be yourself.
Like whoever you are,you know, in Christ,
whoever he's created you to be,don't be afraid to get online
(40:28):
and just be your authentic self.
And you know, I love I'm a girl,I love filters,
you know, I love,you know, dressing up
I love makeup. Yeah.
But at the same time,I have to always keep in mind
that, you know, authenticity isso beautiful.
It's who God's created us to be.
And so even just being honestabout personal journeys
and stories and,you know, even me
(40:49):
sharing my grief journey online,that has not been easy,
but it's been somethingI've see.
I have somethingI've seen impact
so many other peoplebecause they're walking
through similar things.
Yeah, but I think a lot of timeswhen we put on this perfection
and acting likewe never do anything wrong,
it actuallyaffects us negatively
because it doesn't help ussee, okay, other
(41:11):
people are also walkingthrough the same thing
that I'm walking through,and I think it actually helps
other people free to see, oh,they walked through this
and they got through it.
They saw the light of theat the end of the tunnel
and God set them free.
And so I just love to continueto share more
of my story online.
And I plan to continue to.
I mean, there's parts of my lifethat I love to be sacred.
Yeah, that's what's hardabout social media.
(41:33):
But at the same time,I think being authentic
is really helpfulbecause it shows people I'm
not in this alone.
And ministersand people on social media,
they're not perfect.
They have normal lives.
I'm a normal person.
I get up and I drink mycup of coffee
and I sit with the Lord,and then I go to work. Yes.
Oh, that's great.
Well, our time is comingto a close today.
So, you know, in closing,are there any
special messages or,you know, words of wisdom
(41:54):
that you want to sharewith our audience?
Yeah.
I mean, always keeping your eyesfixed on Jesus.
It sounds so simple, but truly,in the times
that we're living in, you know,the Bible talks about,
I think it's Matthewchapter 24 says,
the love of many will grow cold.
And so many ministers againfalling away right now
all across the nation.
And we're hearing rumors of warsand all this stuff is going on
(42:17):
that's like complete chaos.
And you know, we're,you know, in a season
that's just wild.
And so I really believethat the Lord is calling us
to get our eyes off of menand get our eyes
back onto Jesus again,and to see him
as the center focusin our churches, in our lives
and our ministries.
Getting back to communityaccountability,
getting back to the tablewhere we're gathered around,
(42:39):
we're having mealstogether again, and we're doing
local discipleshipand walking hand in hand
and actuallydoing life together.
And so, yeah, that'sbeen on my heart.
I really believe that the Lord'strying to root us in the word
and, you know, rootedin community and be people
who are ledby the Spirit of God.
And so, yeah,that has changed my life.
And I just so passionateabout other people
(42:59):
seeing that as well.
That's great.
Well, I think that's a great wayto wrap up today's episode.
And, you know,remind our listeners
like it is a call to joinin with your local church
and get tapped in.
You need community.
It's essential accountabilityas part of that walk.
But at the center of itall is Christ.
And so yeah,thank you so much, Hannah.
This has beena great conversation.
Thank you for your,you know, your optimism,
(43:21):
your energy and your passionto serve the Lord.
We need more of thatin this world.
So thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks to all our listenersfor tuning in today.
Take care. God bless.
Hey, everybody, welcomeback to The Covenant Eyes
Podcast, Karen Potter here.
I'm the director of marketingfor Covenant Eyes
and also the hostof The Covenant Eyes Podcast.
And this is our special editionof the Voices of Victory
podcast episode,where we actually sit down
with guests in person,which is amazing, no zoom,
and we get to talk and learna little bit
about their faith journeyand talk about all sorts
(00:27):
of great things.
And today we have an amazingguest joining us.
We have HannahWilliamson joining us.
She is a preacher, teacher,an amazing woman,
and she also isa Christian influencer out there
making a differencein the world.
Hannah, welcome to the podcastHigh.
Gear and thank youso much for having me.
I'm so excited.
I love coming, I so I'm justso excited to be here.
I feel like we've beenconnected forever and finally
(00:48):
get to meet y'all in person.
So yeah,this is going to be fun.
I know we've communicatedfor years over email, so it's
a nice to be in person.
Finally. Yes.
One-hundred percent.
Awesome.
Well, for the listenersthat aren't familiar
with your work,which I don't know how
they couldn't be because you'reeverywhere online,
but can you talk a little bitabout what you do
and why you do it? Yeah.
So I obviouslyam passionate about Jesus.
(01:09):
And so my heart is to get Gen-Zback to biblical truth
and not just Gen Z,but all generations.
I feel like we have a generationthat's going after all
different kinds of things,like witchcraft, New Age,
you know, pornography.
And they're runningtowards every other thing
except for Jesus.
And Jesus said,you shall know truth,
and the truth iswhat will set you free.
And so that's my heart,because that's
(01:30):
what has set me freecontinually over the years,
is just coming backinto alignment
with the Word of Godand just being led
by the Holy Spirit.
So that's my heart for Gen Z.
I'm like,I want them to know Jesus
and to know the Word of Godand to be led
by the Holy Spirit.
So yeah, with everythingI do online, with YouTube,
Instagram, TikTok, you know,all the social media
platforms, that'smy heart is incredible.
(01:51):
You know?
Then back to biblical truth.
Yeah, it's. Great.
And we need thosevoices out there
because unfortunately,culture is pushing
their own narrative. Right.
How do you see thatimpacting your generation
specifically?
Because I knowI mean, your generation
grew up with technology,and technology
has a mind of its own, and it'sdefinitely sharing a worldview
that sometimesis countercultural
to the biblical worldviewthat a lot of us have.
(02:12):
Yeah. It's wild.
I remember a couple years ago,I think it was like
2 or 3 years agoI got on TikTok,
and all of a suddenthis live stream
popped up of a witchdoing a free tarot card reading.
Whoa. Yeah.
It was wild.
It blew my mind.
I'm like, wait, what?
And she was having young peoplecome with their names,
(02:33):
and as they committedtheir names,
she was giving them freetarot card readings.
And so you used tohave to go somewhere
and pay somebody to do this.
But now you can go on TikTokand get it for free.
And it's a hashtagcalled witch talk.
So there's witches on TikTokwho go on there
and they're doingall these things and teaching
this generationhow to be witches.
And so samewith even pornography.
(02:54):
We used to have to go somewhere,go to a store and buy it
and pay somebody,and now you can get it
at the palm ofyour hands on your phone.
And so it's crazyhow it's impacted
this generation.
At the palm of their hand,they can go to anything
they want to go to.
And everybody'sgoing after my truth
now instead of the way,the truth of the lie,
which is Jesusand what they don't know
(03:16):
is all these other pathsare sending them down
a path of darknessand destruction.
And so, yeah, I'mjust mind blown.
I'm like, I cannot believe thisstuff is so accessible online.
So it's wild.
That is wild. Yeah.
And you know, social mediais it's incredible
because so many parentsnowadays are letting
their kids get onlineearlier and earlier ages.
And so they're getting exposedto this stuff.
(03:36):
Imagine an 8 or 9 yearold getting exposed to that,
that witchcraft,you know, TikTok thing.
And that would be detrimentalbecause I can
take them on a rabbit holethat they can't get out of.
So yes, as you'respeaking online and you're doing
all the work that you doonline in different ways,
are you also goingplaces and preaching
and teaching in person, likedo you get out there
because, I mean,I feel like we build these
(03:58):
like online personasand like these online lives,
but we can't get awayfrom the body of Christ
being community.
So how do you balance all that?
Yeah, that's so good.
And I've seen a lot.
I mean, we're seeinga lot of ministers
falling right now.
And so my hearthas been so burden
for the body of Christ.
And like whatwhere have we gone wrong?
You know, what are we doingwrong here.
And so my heart is localdiscipleship as well as online
(04:20):
because online I love itbecause it's free.
And you can get on there.
And just likeyou guys are doing,
you guys are posting, you know,Covenant Eyes and sharing that
with people online.
Well, we can get onlineand we can share about
Jesus and it's free.
And that's amazing.
This is the first timeever in years
where we've been ableto share the gospel
online for free, but alsoif I'm going to be online
(04:41):
and preachingand teaching the gospel,
I also want to be a disciplein on a local level.
And that doesn't meanjust across the US.
That also meanson a local level,
like where I live. Yeah.
And so I try to pool young girlsif I, you know, have friends
with young girls in my communityor at church.
And, you know,we start to just become
friends and like, hey, like,let's go grab coffee
and just walking themthrough the Word of God and,
(05:03):
you know, being friends to themand just being there for them.
And I feel like we've lostthat art of discipleship
and walkinghand in hand with people.
And so if we could get backto that again in the church
and accountabilityand walking hand
in hand with people and actuallytaking young girls
under our wing,if we're, you know, women or men
(05:24):
taking young menunder their wing
and actually showing themthe ropes, like showing them
the word of God, like,this is the instruction
manual to life,and this is the path
that leads us to life.
I feel like we've lost that.
So yeah, I teach a preachacross the U.S, but also
I want to make surethat I am staying low
as an influencerand stayed humble
and making surethat I'm walking alongside
(05:44):
people where I live locally.
And so that's plus my heartso much.
Yeah, I have,you know, awesome community
there that I can just,you know, hang with and,
you know, help disciples.
So yeah.
So yeah.
So, you know, talk to mea little bit about,
how pornography is impactingyour generation
because certainly,you know, it's
got to be difficultfor a young Christian woman
(06:04):
who might be of the dating agelooking for people.
I mean, for a malecounterpart today, I mean,
they're all being exposed,and so many of them
are addicted.
How is that impactingthe dating culture
for Christians as well?
Oh my goodness, Karen.
It's yeah, it'sinteresting for sure.
I feel like we havean oversexualized culture where
(06:25):
that is our brain now.
We think of people in that way.
We look at peoplewith those eyes
because, you know,you have Victoria's Secret
and just all of this stuffgoing on in our culture
with movies, with TV shows.
And so our brains are moreso starting
to be wired that way,especially because
we're on our phonesall the time.
And so I think that'swhy the Bible says,
(06:45):
do not be conformedto the patterns of this world,
but be transformedby the renewal of your mind.
And again, that's the paththat leads to life.
That's what actuallybrings our mind
and our heart. Life.
But yeah, I've just seen evenwithin the dating scene, it's
become so oversexualized.
And I think that's actuallywhat fuels legalism as well.
And I've seen so many peoplebecause of that.
(07:08):
You know, you havethe sexual revolution.
Take that, take what's happeningand respond to it with things
like purity culture.
And you know thatI'm so passionate about purity
that is my heart.
Yeah.
But I think that within datingwe have to have pure hearts
and not just have this fear.
Yeah, this fear basedmentality of
I have to be perfect.
(07:29):
I have to, you know, bepure in my relationship.
Otherwise God'sgoing to strike me down.
And I feel like that'sbeen our response
to what's happening,when in reality we just need to
have pure hearts before the Lordand have this reality
that we're sonsand daughters of God,
and he loves us so much,and we love him so much
that we want to please him,even with our dating lives.
(07:50):
Like, I love Godso much that I don't want
any other worldly thingin the way of that.
And so I've just seenthis hookup culture and,
you know, you have pornographythat fuels that.
And so people are goingfrom person to person,
and we're buildingrelationships off
of this romantic foundationinstead of building friendship
and then bringing thatin once it's time. Yeah.
(08:10):
And so it's yeah,it's just cause us to chase
after that rather than to chaseafter Jesus.
And then that comes inin the perfect timing.
And so I would just loveto see this generation shift
their mindsetwhen it comes to purity
and get free of theselegalistic mindsets
that fill us with shamewhen it comes to dating,
and know that it'snatural desires.
(08:31):
Their God given desires,and it's holy within marriage
to desire things like sex.
But to know that we haveto have pure hearts
before the Lord.
And that's what actuallyhelps us to live holy
and to live pure.
It's not fear,but it's a love for Jesus
and knowing that he loves us.
And so, yeah, I kind of wentoff on a tangent with the whole
dating thing. But yeah.
I see that whether thedating culture is
(08:52):
just people or, you know,they're going wild.
And again, it's fueled by,I believe, pornography.
So yeah, our culturecertainly is porn ified.
I mean, we see it in musicand when we hear it music,
we see it inTV, movies everywhere.
I feel like maybe Christiansare even becoming desensitized,
and that'sreally dangerous for us.
So what steps can youngpeople take to
(09:13):
get their discernment backso that they're better able
to navigate culture andand technology and movies
and all the rest, right.
Yeah, that's.
Honestly something thatI've also been talking
about lately.
Me and my friendshave been literally
talking about this where, like,the church needs to exercise her
discernment musclemore than ever because we have
so many thingsbeing thrown at us.
(09:34):
And with discernment.
It's not just saying,okay, this is witchcraft
in witch talk and tarot cards.
Yeah, that's all evil.
And then this is good.
It's the church, it'sChristianity.
It's so easy to discernbetween those two.
But what's hard to discern iswhen they're mixed together
and when it's so close and it'sit's like discerning
between what's rightand what's almost right.
(09:55):
So you're kind ofteetering that line
and some things can look right.
But in reality they're filledwith darkness
and they can look pure,but in reality they're filled
with darkness.
And so we have to be like,okay, Lord, what's pure
like what's truth?
And somethingthat's really helped me
is getting rootedin the scriptures.
My parents helped disciple megrow growing up, and I'm
so thankful for that,because then once I launched out
(10:17):
into the world,you know, everyday life and work
and being around peoplewho are not saved,
I had that foundationin the word and that helped me
almost repel from the world.
I know some people are like,oh well, your kids
need to be aroundall those things.
And then they, you know,need to get used to it.
They need to get used tothe world.
But kids are like spongesand we soak things up.
(10:37):
And so I noticed thatonce I got launched
into the world,I had this innocence about me
that maybeyou want to repel from it.
And it helped mediscern more between
this is good and this is evil.
And like, I want to stayaway from this
and I don't want to, you know,participate in these things
because it doesn't pleasethe heart of a ward.
And so,I just got this mindset of,
(10:59):
this is our instructionmanual to life.
And just like this chairthat I'm sitting in right now,
the person that put it togetherand created the instruction
manual for this chair,they know how it's
going to function the best.
And Karen, you and I,if they did not,
if the person who builtthis chair didn't use
the instruction manual,we probably would have
a one way ticketto the floor. Yes.
And we sitting on the floorright now. Right.
(11:21):
And so that's what Ilook at the Word of God
like is, you know, Jesus diedon the cross for us
and he set us freefrom the power of sins.
We're no longer bound to it.
And so this is our instructionmanual to life.
And when we liveour life out this,
when we're rooted in this,this, that's
what will keep us pure and holyand help us to discern
this is right.
And this is so wrong.
(11:42):
So that's great. No.
That's good.
And for, you know, ourlisteners sake,
what is your storyof coming to Christ?
I mean, wereyou saved at a young age?
Was this a journey for youthat you went
through in high school?
Or like where,when did you get saved
and how did that work?
Yeah, so like I said,my parents raised me in
the word, raised me in church.
I definitely wentthrough the motions for years.
(12:04):
And I realize at age 13,I actually started
to pursue relationshipsfor the first time,
and I just started to havesome curiosity
towards those things andlike, okay.
And so I startedto rebel against my parents
and kind ofgo away from the Lord
a little bit.
And the Lordjust pulled me right back
and I got convicted.
(12:24):
I remember I was at schooland I had a secret
relationship at school. No.
And it was crazybecause I don't even think
I've ever talkedabout this, like, publicly.
But it randomly got found outbecause the guy
that I was dating,you know, it's a middle school
relationship.
So there's air quotes.
Yeah.
This paper fellunderneath the locker
because this girlwrote this funny story
(12:44):
about our relationship.
Oh, no.
And there was like,no PDA allowed at school.
And so the.
Principal found it out.
I got called to the office,and it was wild
because even somethingso silly and simple.
Yeah,that actually convicted me.
I was sitting there and I lookedat my principal cause
I went to a I think Ialready said this,
but a Christian school,And I said, I don't have
(13:05):
a real relationship with Jesus.
And I started breaking downin my principal's
office and crying.
I had so much mascara on,oh my gosh, blessed
middle school days.
I started crying and Ijust remember all this black
going down my face,it all over my sweatshirt,
and I said,I need to give my life
to Jesus right now.
And so he ended upsending me to the
(13:28):
school counselors office,and she led me to the Lord.
She walked me through Romans.
And now that I realize,I think she actually walked me
through Romans eight.
And to this day,that's one of my favorite books
of the Bible.
And so, yeah,I just gave my life to the Lord,
and I remember oursin the secret place.
After that, my friendgroups immediately changed my
whole perception,even of school.
When I came back,the next day was
(13:49):
totally different.
I just viewed it as, you know,oh my goodness,
I need to make friendsthat, you know,
walk with the Lord and,you know, help me
go down the right paththat I need to be walking.
And it just my wholeentire perception change.
And so yeah, from that dayforward, just been following
the Lord in the secretplace, studying the word
and all those things.
That's incredible.
Thank you for sharing that.
(14:09):
And and your parentsare probably like,
oh, I didn't knowabout bad. No. Yeah.
No they knew they knew.
Okay, good. Oh my dad.
Oh no.
It's just oh God.
The whole. School.
Situation. Yeah.
Oh wow.
I'm thankful for it now.
Yeah I mean obviously yeah.
That's great.
Well, how does your faith shapethe work that you do
with the work that you doon YouTube and TikTok
and all the other placesthat you're at?
(14:30):
I mean, how does your faithshape that?
Because there isthere's an interesting
kind of trend on TikTok,YouTube, all the rest
where, you know,girls really are.
I call it click baitinga lot of their content
because they wantto get viewers, you know, they
they're saying, I'm a Christian,but yet what they're putting out
there is a little lessthan, you know.
Yeah, but coming of a Christianyoung lady.
(14:51):
So how do you keep your faith,you know, driving your content?
Yeah. That's good.
I call it thirst traps,if I can be frank.
Okay. Thank you.
I think there was a word for it.
I know my kids told mewhat it was once.
I just kind of remember.
Yeah.
They call it thirst trap.
So. Yeah. Thank you. I.
I think we made their trap.
Okay.
Like, made their shot.
Yeah. So, Yeah.
So I've actually beenseeing other
(15:12):
Christian influencerstalk about this
because they'll put aBible verse, but then they'll be
flaunting themselves and it justkind of contradict.
Yeah, contradictoryto one another.
And it goes backto the purity of the heart
because, because the Lordhas transformed my heart
and helped purify mefrom the inside out as I could.
It hasn't been easy,let me tell you.
(15:34):
There's been a lot of refiningeven the past year.
The amount of refiningthat the Lord
has had to take me through.
It's a process for everyone,so we have to have
grace for ourselves.
But yeah, because I've allowedthe Lord to mold me in that way.
It doesn't come from outward.
Me dressing modestlydoesn't come from my outward.
It doesn't come from fear.
It comesbecause I love the Lord.
So much that I want toplease him with my body
(15:56):
and how I present myself online.
And so no matter what I post,I want it to be honoring
and pleasing to the Lord.
And so that's why I even set upaccountability in my life.
That's great.
And so I have mentorsand leaders around me
that I've given themspace and permission.
If they see anythingI post online
and it's off on like,please text
me and rebuke me. Okay.
(16:16):
That's great.
Yeah.
So please let me know.
And so they have that spacein my life to do that.
And I think that's so importantfor Christian influencers
and just influencers in general.
Have somebody in your lifewho's able to do that
and bring youback to the Lord if needed.
And so, yeah, itflows from my heart,
I would say,because the Lord has
transformed my heart,because Hannah on my own,
(16:36):
I am not special.
I would be postingprobably wild content.
Okay, fine.
But I'm so they willfor Jesus, use
dreads for my hair in my lifeand I love him so much
that I want to please him.
And so it definitely flowsfrom that place.
But I haven't been perfect,so I just want to keep growing.
None of us are.
I mean,we live in a fallen world,
so I mean, but that's great.
I think that's goodadvice to you.
I, I just think thatmore people need
(16:57):
to hear that. Yeah.
So you talked a lotabout accountability there.
So you know,that's our sweet spot
at Covenant Eyes.
We love accountability.
So let's talk a little bitabout accountability.
I mean it's weird to mebecause in business you know
there's all sorts ofaccountability in place.
You know, you haveaccounting departments
that make sureyou're accountable for your,
you know, bookkeeping records.
And when you're working out,you tend to have an
accountability partnerin the gym.
(17:19):
I mean, why is it weirdthat people don't
have accountabilityon their technology
where I think we need it?
Yeah. That's so good.
That's a good point.
Because if I didn'thave my county
accountability partnerin the gym, I probably
would have stoppedworking out mine.
I would have been donea long time ago.
Yeah, yeah.
But yeah,that's a great question.
And I feel likeit's lacking a lot.
(17:40):
And if young peopleunderstood that
community is so important,God has created us for community
and connection.
And our phones, even thoughwe're the most connected
generation, are cell phones.
Yeah, we're the alsomost disconnected generation
I've seen so far.
I mean, I'm only 25, but,you know, studying history,
it seems likewe're so disconnected
and so God has created usfor fellowship and for community
(18:03):
and for accountabilityand walking alongside
each other and, you know,pushing each other
on an iron sharpening iron.
And so I've seen thatin my own life
as I've, you know, pulledin accountability in my life.
People have called me higher.
And there's areaswhere they're like, you know,
you know, that wasn'tvery Christlike.
And it made me realize,oh my goodness.
Wow.
And, you know,they're not only telling me
that's not Christlike like my parents
(18:24):
when they raised us, they didn'tjust tell us no,
but they also discipled usand showed us the why
and the how and the what,and actually
showed us scripture.
And so that wasreally helpful for me
because it helpedshape my worldview.
Like, okay,this is it's not that.
It's just wrong.
This is whyI don't do this. Yeah.
And so with online,we don't need to
(18:45):
just be floating out there.
And I was talkingabout ministers earlier
and how ministersare falling left and right.
Yeah.
Well my question waswhere is the accountability.
Where was the personwhere years ago
where you fell into sinor you fell into sexual sin?
Where was the personthat called you out
and called you higher and said,hey, let's take a break.
You know, let's step backand let's get some counseling.
(19:05):
Let's go to therapy.
Let's go tospiritual therapy. Right.
You know, it's so, yeah, that'sbeen so important in my life
to have those peoplewalking alongside me.
And, even the Covenant Eyesapp, I have put it on my phone
and I love the app.
And I remember years backwhen you guys, we first started
communicating and,just trying out the album.
(19:26):
This is so coolthat young people and ministers,
I have met so many ministerswho have Covenant
Eyes on their phones, and that'sso encouraging to my heart
because it it shows me thatthey're actually
taking practical stepsto guard their purity
and to guard their heartbefore the Lord.
So yeah, having those peoplewho can check in on you
and even watchingwhat you're looking at
on Instagram and hit that on it,not interested,
(19:48):
but and if needed,when something
comes up on your feed, you know,I mean, there's times
where I've literally takenthe TikTok app off of my home
screen, right?
Because things have popped up.
I'm like, this is awful.
Yeah.
So I'm justgoing to take it off there.
We're going to take a break.
I want to give it a breather.
Yeah.
No, I thinkI think that's a good way
to deal with it too.
A lot of timeswe need a technology break.
(20:08):
I mean detoxes from technologyare so important.
Do you ever implementanything like that
in your life at all?
Like, yeah, a breakfrom all the technology,
all the social media. Yeah.
So yeah, I'm definitely oneon social media fast.
And the clarity of the mindthat I have after
social media fastis such a blessing in my heart.
I mean, I remembereven to like 2 or 3 years ago,
I, I noticed myselfstarting to get this
(20:32):
more influencer mindset,and I was starting
to get connectedwith more influencers.
And I'm like, Lord,I don't want this.
So I actually took 2 or 3 monthsoff of social media
at one point.
And I had I think at that pointI had a social media
manager, butI was just thinking,
I need to detox.
Yeah, I need to.
Take a break from this.
I do not want any partin this mindset.
(20:53):
And, you know,I just want to stay low
and humble before the Lord.
And so we're in thisfor the long haul.
So that's that'sthe thing with ministry is
we are in thisfor the long haul.
And there's a generationthat's looking up to us.
Even when I seeall these ministers falling,
you know, I have compassion withfor them
because we're all human,you know, we all sin
and we need forgivenessfrom the Lord.
And thankfully we have thatbecause of what Jesus
(21:13):
did on the cross.
And so there's grace,and there's
no need to be ashamedwhen you repent and you give
that to the Lord,he frees you of that stuff.
But we should be in itfor the long haul.
And we need to realizethat people are looking up
to us.
Young peopleare looking up to us.
And so I want to lastfor the long haul, you know?
Yeah, no, that's good.
That's why I'm.
Thankful for Covenant Eyesand, you know, screen
(21:34):
accountability and,yeah, friends
and mentors in my lifewho've just called me higher.
Now that's really good.
I think that's important.
And I think that speaks volumesto your character as well.
Just knowing, you know, when youbecause as an influencer,
I'm sure the pressuresare pretty intense and,
you know,you can easily be lured in.
We've seen lots of peoplein those positions.
You know,that get sucked into things
(21:54):
they don't want to.
So I think that's great.
I love that, and I thinkit's good advice for everybody
to take a little breakonce in a while.
Yeah. Okay, good.
Well, talk to us a little bitabout some of the things
that you're doingin your ministry.
New things that might,you know, be on the horizon
for you and your ministryand for your channels.
Yeah. Yeah.
So honestly,last year was a hard year
for me.
I lost somebodywho was very close to me.
So I took a littlebit of a break.
(22:16):
And so I'm really just nowgoing back at it
and revamping things.
And I've been rebranding latelyand really seeking the Lord
on what exactlyhe wants it to look like.
And yeah, I just been goingthrough that process.
And so what's been onmy heart is gospel
outreach events.
You know, even in my city,Charlotte, there's
so much darknessthat goes on in every city,
(22:36):
honestly, now. Yeah.
But seeing what's going onand just the pride
parades and, you know,the impurity within sexuality
that's leading people downa path of darkness.
I would love to see, you know,those people even be set free
and come back into alignmentwith how God created them.
And so, yeah, I mean, gospeloutreaches have
been on my heart.
(22:57):
Also, local Biblestudies, I've been wanting
to launch those again, where I'mmeeting with people,
you know, in personand just reading
the word togetherand praying together.
I remember doing thatsome years back, and we just met
with a bunch of girlsin a coffee shop.
I rented a coffee shop out and,yeah, it was just cool
to see the freedomthat happened.
(23:17):
Literally in the middleof a coffee shop where we were
just praying for peopledriving by the coffee shop.
We're probably thinkwe're crazy. That's okay.
It's okay, it's okay.
But it was like all glass.
And, you know,people can see inside.
We're just layinghands on each other,
praying for each other.
And so people were gettingset free and delivered.
And so yeah, I would loveto get back into that again.
The Lord's reallybeen putting stuff like that
(23:38):
on my heart to really do thingsmore so at a local level.
But yeah, I plan to continueto travel, speak,
you know, do things locallyand also online and,
yeah, I'm just pumped.
I plan to honestly launch somecourses in the future
on just being pure online.
And you know, howto walk that out.
Oh, amazing.
Yeah, we need some of that.
There's actuallynot a lot of content
(23:59):
related to that topicand how Christian, you know,
young people can navigatethe purity culture because it
really got a bad rap back in theI don't know,
maybe it was the 90sor the 2000, you know,
I think it went overboard.
You know,I think people ended up
walking in fearversus understanding what it is
and why you want to be pure andand save yourself for marriage.
(24:20):
So yeah, I'mglad to see that there's
a revival of that conversation.
How do you navigate,some of these hot button
you know, cultural issuesand how do you talk about them?
By offering compassionand grace and, and,
but also biblical truth, like,how do you do that?
Yeah. So good.
I mean, I go back to Romanseight where it talks
about the spiritof adoption, cries
(24:41):
out, ABBA, father! And knowingthat we're sons
and daughters of God, thatis change my life.
It has changed my life.
Knowing my identity in Christand knowing that he has set
us free from sin like it talksabout in Romans six.
And so it says, we're no longerslaves to sin,
but now we're slavesto righteousness.
And knowing thatI'm free of shame,
(25:02):
I'm free of condemnation.
Because literally,Jesus took on condemnation
on the cross for us,which blows my mind
all the time.
I'm like, wow, Lord,you're so good
to do that for us.
And so as I have thisperspective biblically
and knowing yes, we'resupposed to live pure,
Jesus said, be holy, forI am holy and knowing
that we're supposedto walk in purity.
(25:24):
So knowing these things,but also knowing that we're sons
and daughters of Godand He loves us so much,
he just wants to see uslive, right?
And he doesn'twant us getting hurt because sin
ultimately leads us to hurt.
And so that's the perspectiveI got as I go online.
And that even helps meto be bold within these topics.
You know, I haven't always hadthese mindsets.
There have been times in my lifewhere I've walked into
(25:45):
major legalism,more so fear based. Yeah.
But now having this perspective,it helps me see better online
and to tackle these topics.
And you know, the Bible saysthe righteous are
as born as a lion.
And so going on thereand just having this compassion
for young people and not justlooking at them and saying,
oh, they're just dirty sinners.
And like, all they want to dois just sleep around
(26:05):
and all this stuffor watch pornography, but seeing
they're really searchingand they're searching
for their identityand they're searching
for their purposeand they want to know truth.
And so, yeah, it just gives methis boldness
to get on there and say,this is the way, even if it's a
really uncomfortablesubject to talk about.
But yeah, seeing themget set free in that way.
(26:26):
And it's, it's been so coolto see the testimonies
that have come outfrom, you know, being online
and doing ministry.
So it's a blessing.
It's been such a blessing.
You probably hear from a tonof different people
all over the globe,I would imagine.
So it'swhat's that like hearing,
you know, how your ministryis impacting them
and shaping them and helpingto transform their heart
and lead them to Christ?
(26:46):
It honestly brings me to tears.
I've seen different peopletext me and just say, hey,
I was healed of this thingon the live stream.
Or, you know, I just got,you know, healed of vertigo
or whatever, just seeingdifferent testimonies
like that or, you know,we saw this transgender girl
end up giving her life to Christafter meeting her online
and then meeting herfor coffee in person.
(27:07):
And sothere's just been different
things like that.
That is so soberingbecause it's not me.
It's truly the Holy Spirit.
Hannah is an imperfect,sometimes very unorganized.
Person who. Needs the Lord.
Help me on a daily basis,let me tell you.
But it's just so coolbecause it's
truly the power of God.
Because the same spiritthat raised Jesus from the dead
(27:29):
lives on the inside of us.
And so it's so sobering.
It's like, Lord, you use ushuman, just imperfect.
But you love us so muchthat you want to partner with us
in kingdom advancement.
And so yeah, it's beensuch a blessing in my heart.
It just makes me cry, honestly.
And just so thankfulto the Lord to see.
Yeah, peopleonline getting set free.
(27:50):
So incredible.
You've done a few episodesabout dating and you've talked
a lot about purity.
You did one on dating thatI thought was
really interesting.
What is what is your stanceon, you know, Christians, young,
young people dating like what?
What do you tell people?
Yeah, I really dohave the perspective
that I thinkwe should be friends
before we jump straightinto a relationship.
You know, there has been areas,like I mentioned
(28:11):
earlier where I thinkI've become a little legalistic,
and I've honestly beenworking out those belief systems
with the Lordand just seeing what
the Lord's heart is on that.
Instead of going at itwith a fear based mentality.
But I think, likeI was mentioning earlier,
is that a lot of timeswhen we start to look for our
future spouse,which is such a blessing
and again, it's somethingfrom the Lord and it's something
(28:32):
that it's normal to desire.
I think sometimeswe can shame ourselves
for even having desires,to want to be married.
But I feellike having that friendship
foundation helps buildthis strong foundation
at the beginning.
And so that's thedesire of my heart
is to not just jump in straight.
Yeah, just jump straight into aromantic relationship
(28:53):
where that's the foundation.
Because then if I'm marrieddown the line and I knew
I could be compatiblefriendship wise with this person
and something happens,then I know no matter what,
we have built a solid foundationof friendship and built
this foundation in Christthat we're not
going to be shaken.
And so I love havingthis selfless perspective,
(29:13):
you know, towardsdated and towards marriage.
It's not about us. Yes.
It's so beautifuland it's awesome and it's fun,
but ultimately it's about Jesusand serving him and his kingdom
and so when it comesto boundaries, when it comes
to those things, again,it's not legalism.
But I set boundariesbecause I love Jesus so much,
and I want to savethose things for marriage,
you know, like sex and so,again, beautiful
(29:35):
within marriage.
Yeah.
Outside of marriage, it'sjust not God's design
and ultimatelyleads us to brokenness.
And so setting upthose boundaries
to where it helps put guardrailsin our relationship
to, you know,lead us to that place, you know,
first of all, honoring the Lord.
And then second, you know,getting to marriage
one day, hopefully.
And so I think that's important,actually getting to know
(29:57):
the person asking hardquestions, like, ask those hard
questions up frontbecause you never know.
Yeah, you get down the lineand all of a sudden
you find out things that youshould have found out
in the beginning,but you're surprised
and you're shocked now.
It's happened to me before.
I've gotten months downthe line.
I'm like, I should have askedthis question at the beginning.
I should have asked themif they had any addictions,
you know. Yeah.
And what was going onin their lives.
(30:17):
So yeah, yeah, I think it'ssuper important
to ask those questions upfront.
That's a reallythat's a smart thing.
I think young people needto take that advice for sure.
How do young peopleget connected nowadays.
So because everybody'sso like in their technology
and they're you know,you mentioned this earlier,
but your generation isthe most connected
but disconnected.
So how you know,how do young people
(30:38):
even get connectedin the real world nowadays?
I mean, it seems like it's hard.
I mean, it wasn't that waywhen I was a young person.
So yeah, we.
Didn't have. Technology.
So honestly, I kind of envy youa little.
Bit in your generation.
You guys went on side more.
We did. Yes.
I know we didn't havecell phones.
That's such a blessing.
Honestly, if I could go.
Back, that'd be great.
Yeah, but yeah,it it's a struggle at times
(30:58):
and I've had to navigatethat myself.
Like, how can I make friendshipsoutside of social media?
Because most of my friendsnowadays I meet online.
Yeah.
Which I don't thinkis a bad idea.
I mean, I've met friendsfrom all over the US,
on social media, on Instagram,and we've connected.
I've got to knowthem, got to know
their families.
I don't just fly out,meet random people. Yeah.
God did other ministry,you know, it's so yeah,
(31:21):
I have friendsfrom all over the US
where we talk on FaceTimeand then
sometimes out of the yearwe'll just fly out
and meet each other up.
And you know, they're passionateabout purity to it.
So it's really cool just to havethat relationship
and that connection where we cansharpen each other.
But that andalso getting plugged,
plugged intogroups at your church.
So finding a churchthat has good discipleship
(31:41):
groups, small groups,I know the young
adults group at my church,I love getting plugged in there
and just, you know,going to things
like worship nightsor coffee shop,
you know, gatheringsand hangouts
and things like that.
And so I try to bevery intentional
with inviting friendsout for coffee or,
you know, hanging outwith friends in person.
And if I'm going to talk to themonline, like, we might as well
(32:03):
go and grab coffee. Yeah.
You know, and so I think that'ssuper important
to be intentional,to be so intentional it makes a
difference is impactedmy heart so much.
Just meeting upwith other friends
and hanging out with them.
And I think sometimesyou can become so depressed
being in our homeson our phones all the time.
Remember in lockdown,during Covid, this is the worst.
(32:23):
Yeah, that was bad.
Yeah.
And so depression,depression rates and anxiety
and suicide rates skyrocketwithin the younger generations.
I honestly think it'sbecause we're so disconnected
and we were lackingthis connection that we need
so desperately.
And so yeah,I encourage young people
to go out,get outside of your house,
(32:43):
you know, go to coffee shops,go to your local church,
go to your local gym and just,you know, see if you can connect
with peoplewho are solid on fire
for the Lord, who's going tosharpen you in your faith
and not drag you down.
So that's good advice.
Yeah.
Well, let's talka little bit about,
you know, you you talked toso many different people.
So I would imaginethere are listeners
of your YouTubechannel or TikTok
(33:03):
that reach out to youwith pornography
addiction strugglesand talk to us a little bit
about whatyou, you know, guide them.
You talk to them about,obviously
you point them to CovenantEyes, I'm sure.
But you know,how do you relate to them
and coach themthrough that? Yeah.
First of all,I try to really help them
through the shame cycle of itbecause I think a lot of times
(33:24):
it really does keep peoplebound, is
being stuck in that shameand not wanting
to open up about it.
So the fact thatthey even open up about it,
I encourage thembecause it even talks
about in Jamesconfessing your faults
to one another,that you may be healed.
And so with young people,I really think, again,
having that accountabilitywith somebody you trust, not
(33:45):
everybody is trustworthy.
I encourage them in thatbecause it's so brave
that they evenopened up about it
and they shared about it,you know.
And so I do actually suggestCovenant Eyes.
I have linked it in almost everyone of my YouTube
descriptions and my videosnow, and it's
been cool to see peopleusing that on their phones.
I have friends of minepersonally who live locally
(34:06):
and they have CovenantEyes on their phones
and they link itto their pastor's phone.
And so yeah, I think it'sa great resource
to have accountability.
And so yeah, so one,I push them towards,
you know, freedom from sin,getting free from shame,
walking them through Romans sixand showing them
that our identityis no longer sinner.
Because I think sometimeswith these sin cycles we think,
(34:27):
oh, I'm just a sinner.
I'm a sinner saved by grace.
And I know it's popular.
I get the idea of that phrase.
And yes, we do mess up in sinat times.
However,if we have the identity,
whatever we identify with, it iswhat we're going to walk in.
And so I try to show themin Scripture
we're free from sin.
We've been set freefrom the power of sin
(34:48):
on the crossbecause of what Jesus
did through the blood of Jesus.
And so you no longerhave to walk in that shame.
In those sin cycles.
Jesus has set you free.
And so when you help themget set free from the shame,
showing themthat they're free of sin,
and showing themthat Jesus has given us
the abilityto have a purified heart,
(35:09):
then they can see, oh wait,I can be set free
from this thingbecause I also encourage,
you know, thingslike going to bed early,
you know, or setting your phoneoutside of your room
doing things that you need to dopractically.
I think it's so important.
But if we don'thave the mentality
that we're set free, then it'sgoing to be so easy to walk
right back out of that roomand grab that phone
(35:30):
and bring it right back inand start the addiction again.
And so, yeah,I really encourage people
and getting set freefrom those shame cycles
in the sin cyclesand knowing who we are in Christ
and getting plugged into a local church.
That's one of myfirst questions to people.
Yeah.
Are you pluggedinto a local church?
Do you have a pastoryou know, who's walking
alongside of you?
(35:50):
Typically, if it's a guywho messages me, I don't
engage in conversation a lot.
With. That matter.
You know, I direct themmainly to pastors.
But if it's a girl, you know,we have more of
these conversations,and then I will,
you know, direct them to,you know, their local pastor.
So that's great.
I love thatand I love that you're
driving them backinto that community element
where they can be connectedin real life.
(36:12):
So that's good.
Well, talk to me a little bitabout some of your
favorite scriptures.
I know you have some.
I mean, this isthis is what you do.
So share with mesome of your favorites
and thingsthat would be encouraging
to our audience. Yeah.
Well, actually a couple of themI've pretty
much already mentioned.
So the I think it'sJohn chapter eight
where it talks about Jesus said,you shall know truth,
(36:34):
and the truth iswhat will set you free.
And then also Romanschapter eight
I have a pulled up here.
Let me just read it for y'all,Romans chapter eight.
And I quoted it as well.
But I'm just goingto read says for as many
this says Romans chaptereight, verse 14,
for as many as are ledby the Spirit of God,
(36:55):
these are the sons of God.
For you did not receivethe spirit of bondage
again to fear, but you receivethe spirit of adoption,
by whom we cry out,ABBA, father!
The Spirit himself bearswitness with our spirit
that we are children of God.
And if children, then heirsheirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ, if we indeedwe suffer with him,
(37:17):
that we may alsobe glorified together.
And so this passage,this is one of the
most like highlighted, you know,parts of my Bible,
just because this is truly helpme walk in the identity
of being a daughter of God.
And so everything that I doin my life, I want it to flow
out of that place like I am adaughter of God,
and I want to representJesus well
and everything that I do.
(37:38):
So yeah, these have beensome of my life
verses, you know, being setfree from sin and, and,
you know, even the Matthew,I think it's Matthew
chapter ten, verse22 where it talks
about those who endure tothe end shall be saved.
And so this life is really,you know, endurance.
Even in the timesthat we're living in,
we have to keep our eyesfixed on Jesus.
And I believe the Lord is evencalling us back to a time
(37:59):
of fixing our eyes on him.
And we're seeing all this chaosin the world.
So yeah,a lot of these Scripture
verses, especially in Romans,Romans chapter
six through Romanschapter eight, have been some of
my favorites.
Romans is the best,I love Romans.
There's so muchto be gleaned. Yes.
Oh my God, I agree.
Well, you know,in this culture of, you know,
social mediaand Instagram filters
(38:19):
and all of this stuff,I mean, you've
talked a little bitabout keeping it real
and staying centered,but for the listeners out there
that maybe, you know,especially if they're
struggling with addiction,you know, we put on a facade,
we go to churchand we paint a face
and that's not really whowe are or what we're feeling.
So how do you coach someoneinto being there
on authentic self and really,you know, sharing,
(38:41):
their strugglesbecause we all struggle.
We're all we're all sinners,you know, and we're redeemed
and saved by the grace of God.
But we do need to, you know,address those things
in our lives.
So talk to mea little bit about that.
Yeah. Yeah.
So when it comesto being online,
I have always tried to havethe mentality of just be myself.
(39:01):
You know, everyone else isyou know, and this
like line is so cheesy,but it says everyone else
take it.
I like I heard thatwhen I was a little kid,
but everyone elseis getting online
and they're doing their thing.
But I've seen this generationbe so hungry for authenticity
and people who are justbeing their authentic self.
(39:22):
I think in past generationswe've seen more of the TV
type culture where, you know,we're so used to more
of the makeup aren't,which I love makeup,
but you know, you know,glam and the TV and just very
professional set up.
And now this generationactually most of them,
they want to be influencersand they love to watch content
(39:45):
that they canrecreate themselves.
And so a lot of even iPhonecontent is super
popular nowadays.
And so yeah, I just think it'sreally interesting
that they just wantto see people
who are being them,their authentic selves.
Like, who has Godcreated you to be?
You know, what personalityhas he given you?
Just be yourself.
I love being goofy online.
Yeah.
You know, putting funny, musicto my Instagram story.
(40:07):
That's not great.
And just being a goofball.
Yeah.
You know, even you being herein Nashville, I remember earlier
I waslooking for a country song.
Dude, I don't even listento country music.
Like what I will hearbecause I'm in Nashville.
I'm in Nashville.
So I was lookingfor a country song
to put to my story.
And so just be yourself.
Like whoever you are,you know, in Christ,
whoever he's created you to be,don't be afraid to get online
(40:28):
and just be your authentic self.
And you know, I love I'm a girl,I love filters,
you know, I love,you know, dressing up
I love makeup. Yeah.
But at the same time,I have to always keep in mind
that, you know, authenticity isso beautiful.
It's who God's created us to be.
And so even just being honestabout personal journeys
and stories and,you know, even me
(40:49):
sharing my grief journey online,that has not been easy,
but it's been somethingI've see.
I have somethingI've seen impact
so many other peoplebecause they're walking
through similar things.
Yeah, but I think a lot of timeswhen we put on this perfection
and acting likewe never do anything wrong,
it actuallyaffects us negatively
because it doesn't help ussee, okay, other
(41:11):
people are also walkingthrough the same thing
that I'm walking through,and I think it actually helps
other people free to see, oh,they walked through this
and they got through it.
They saw the light of theat the end of the tunnel
and God set them free.
And so I just love to continueto share more
of my story online.
And I plan to continue to.
I mean, there's parts of my lifethat I love to be sacred.
Yeah, that's what's hardabout social media.
(41:33):
But at the same time,I think being authentic
is really helpfulbecause it shows people I'm
not in this alone.
And ministersand people on social media,
they're not perfect.
They have normal lives.
I'm a normal person.
I get up and I drink mycup of coffee
and I sit with the Lord,and then I go to work. Yes.
Oh, that's great.
Well, our time is comingto a close today.
So, you know, in closing,are there any
special messages or,you know, words of wisdom
(41:54):
that you want to sharewith our audience?
Yeah.
I mean, always keeping your eyesfixed on Jesus.
It sounds so simple, but truly,in the times
that we're living in, you know,the Bible talks about,
I think it's Matthewchapter 24 says,
the love of many will grow cold.
And so many ministers againfalling away right now
all across the nation.
And we're hearing rumors of warsand all this stuff is going on
(42:17):
that's like complete chaos.
And you know, we're,you know, in a season
that's just wild.
And so I really believethat the Lord is calling us
to get our eyes off of menand get our eyes
back onto Jesus again,and to see him
as the center focusin our churches, in our lives
and our ministries.
Getting back to communityaccountability,
getting back to the tablewhere we're gathered around,
(42:39):
we're having mealstogether again, and we're doing
local discipleshipand walking hand in hand
and actuallydoing life together.
And so, yeah, that'sbeen on my heart.
I really believe that the Lord'strying to root us in the word
and, you know, rootedin community and be people
who are ledby the Spirit of God.
And so, yeah,that has changed my life.
And I just so passionateabout other people
(42:59):
seeing that as well.
That's great.
Well, I think that's a great wayto wrap up today's episode.
And, you know,remind our listeners
like it is a call to joinin with your local church
and get tapped in.
You need community.
It's essential accountabilityas part of that walk.
But at the center of itall is Christ.
And so yeah,thank you so much, Hannah.
This has beena great conversation.
Thank you for your,you know, your optimism,
(43:21):
your energy and your passionto serve the Lord.
We need more of thatin this world.
So thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks to all our listenersfor tuning in today.
Take care. God bless.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!