Latest / Arise Women of God / The Heart's Armor: The Breastplate of Righteousness
Transcript
- 0:00How do you guard your heart against the attacks of the adversary?
- 0:06It's a hard thing to do because it's a great place for him to attack.
- 0:11Well, get ready because we are going to cover this today and give you some amazing tips and pointers and insights from the Bible.
- 0:18Stay tuned.
- 0:21Welcome to Bible Women in Bathrobes, the podcast where faith meets comfort.
- 0:28Join us Tuesday morning as the gals from Women warriors of Light and their guests don bathrobes and dive into the inspiring stories of women in the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ.
- 0:40From Esther's bravery to the Sermon on the Mount, we explore it all with warmth, laughter, sisterhood and maybe even a few sleepy eyed moments.
- 0:51Tune in live or at your leisure as we learn lessons from Scripture which empower women today.
- 1:03Welcome to another episode of Bible Women and Bathrobes.
- 1:06I'm your host, Tamara K.
- 1:07Anderson.
- 1:08And joining me today are two of the amazing Women warriors of Light Advisory board.
- 1:13We've got Tiffany Fletcher coming back.
- 1:15Tiffany, thanks for being here.
- 1:17Thanks for having me.
- 1:18Happy to be here.
- 1:20And we also have Kari Anjewierden.
- 1:23Carrie, thanks for being here again.
- 1:25Oh, thank you Tamara.
- 1:27I always love to be here.
- 1:30And guys, the last couple of weeks we have been talking all about putting on the armor of light, casting out darkness, putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.
- 1:39And last week we talked about girding our loins with truth.
- 1:44And today we get to follow up with the next piece of armor that Paul gives us in Ephesians chapter six.
- 1:53And it is if you want to follow along, we are in Ephesians 6, verse 14.
- 1:59He talks, starts off talking about girding our loins with truth.
- 2:03And today he says and having on the breastplate of righteousness.
- 2:11And so I thought I'd kick us off today by just saying, maybe inviting Tiffany to dive into a little bit of what does the breastplate protect and why is that important?
- 2:26I love the symbolism of the breastplate because I mean all of them are important, right?
- 2:31But this one is, it's the largest piece of armor that we have and it is covering our heart, right?
- 2:37All of those vital, that vital part where the adversary is so keen on trying to get us, especially as women, because that is where we feel our love.
- 2:47That is where fear, frustration, anger, like our emotions are felt, like we have bleeding hearts as women.
- 2:52We wear our hearts on our sleeves sometimes.
- 2:55And that that breastplate is shielding our hearts from the adversary, which I think is such a symbolic thing in, in today's world.
- 3:04And it's something that, that we need to Be mindful of that.
- 3:08That's a place where he attacks us often as women.
- 3:12And so I'm excited to talk about more of it today and some things that we can do to combat it.
- 3:19I love, I love that.
- 3:22And I think symbolically, I mean, if you're going to maim someone, you'll probably go for an armor leg, but if you want to really do bad, bad damage or kill someone, you're going to go for the heart.
- 3:32Right.
- 3:33And so I think this is such an important piece of armor to talk about, like, how we can truly protect ourselves, because Satan's going to attack wherever he can in whatever effective way, and so he's going to be
- 3:46attacking all over.
- 3:47But think, yeah, I think this is really, really important.
- 3:50Any insights into this as we dive in?
- 3:52Kari?
- 3:54I mean, really, yes, it, it definitely protects the heart, but, but a lot of our vital organs are protected by that.
- 4:02So it, it, it really is the part of our body that needs the most protection.
- 4:08And in today's world, when our battle is not a physical battle, but a spiritual battle, that's especially important to have that in place.
- 4:18And sometimes that's hard because we can't see what we're fighting.
- 4:22In olden times, when they're fighting these battles, or even in, in today's times fighting battles, you kind of have an idea of what you're up against.
- 4:32And when you can't see your adversary, it's more difficult to know how to protect yourself.
- 4:43So, yeah, this piece of armor is especially vital to get into place.
- 4:49And, and that, for me, would be just making sure that every day I am doing those little things that, make sure that that stays solid and doesn't go anywhere.
- 5:03Yeah, I love that.
- 5:05I love that.
- 5:06Now, it's interesting, he calls it the breastplate of righteousness, that righteousness is something that can protect us.
- 5:18And I don't know about you, but I had never thought about righteousness being a protecting factor in my life.
- 5:28And so I'd like to kind of pause and just say, wow.
- 5:31Any thoughts there, Tiffany?
- 5:35Yeah, I, I, you know, in our previous podcast, we talk about light, like, the thoughts that we do, like, the things that we do, like how we bring light into our lives.
- 5:45Like, every righteous act that we do is just adding more light and increasing art.
- 5:50Like, it really is putting on the armor of God.
- 5:54And, and the thing is, is that as we, and sometimes I think it's hard for us to, like, and be like, oh, I'm not righteous.
- 6:01I get angry.
- 6:02I do.
- 6:03You know, I yell at My children, I get upset with someone who cuts me off in traffic.
- 6:08Like, am not a righteous person, right?
- 6:10Like, we get down on ourselves and we don't give ourselves enough grace and we don't recognize the value of repentance every single day.
- 6:17And because we live, the price of living in mortality is that we are going to have weaknesses and sins and it's going to happen.
- 6:24And so we just have to, like, acknowledge it.
- 6:27We use the joy of repentance because that really is like putting on Christ every single day is repenting and turning around to Him.
- 6:35And that's one of the things that I love.
- 6:37Like, so I homeschool my kids.
- 6:39And I was reading in a history book once, a geography book, and we were talking about the sun.
- 6:44And it said, did you know that the sun never rises and the sun never sets?
- 6:48What happens is when this night comes, when the sun.
- 6:51When the earth turns away from the sun and sunrise happens, when the earth turns back to the sun, and that's when you get the light.
- 7:00And I stopped for a moment.
- 7:02I had this wonderful, beautiful conversation with my children about.
- 7:05This is exactly what repentance.
- 7:06Repentance does, right?
- 7:08Like it.
- 7:09When we turn back to the sun, then we are putting on.
- 7:13We are walking in the light.
- 7:14And that really is what it is.
- 7:16Like our client, the deeds that we do, the good deeds, increase our light.
- 7:20Repentance gets rid of the old stuff that we're not doing, right?
- 7:25And then when we do those acts, it continues to increase our light.
- 7:28And so it's this beautiful, beautiful cycle of really enduring to the end, right?
- 7:33Like.
- 7:34Like rinse, repeat, wash, rinse, repeat kind of thing.
- 7:37Like, like you, it's.
- 7:39It's a beautiful heart.
- 7:41Righteousness is a beautiful part of the gospel because when we are doing those righteous acts, they're increasing our light and bringing us closer to the Savior and making us more like him, which I am so grateful for.
- 7:53And there's so many scriptures that talk about the importance of.
- 7:57Of walking in the light, right?
- 7:59Of.
- 8:00Of doing those deeds of.
- 8:03I love the scripture found in Micah 6, 8.
- 8:06And this is what it says.
- 8:07He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God.
- 8:18To me, righteousness is just the Lord inviting us to walk with him, right?
- 8:22It's just us inviting the Lord to walk with him.
- 8:25And then when we do, we walk in his light and we push back the darkness and we.
- 8:30We ask for Forgiveness and we repent and then we continue walking with Him.
- 8:34And I think it's a beautiful thing.
- 8:36Like, it absolutely has everything to do with putting on our armor of light and protecting ourselves from the darkness.
- 8:43Oh, so, so good, Kari.
- 8:46Wow, that is so wonderful, Tiffany.
- 8:49Thank you.
- 8:50It's also when we are doing those things that turn us to God, when we are watching so that we can.
- 9:03Looking for God to walk with him, we want to be doing those things, right, but we also need to be looking for, where is he?
- 9:11Where is he showing up?
- 9:13What's he doing?
- 9:15What, how is he showing up in my life so that I want to walk with Him?
- 9:22But as I do that and I walk with him and I come to know him, then this heart of mine that I'm trying to get his protection for not only turns to him, but it turns to other people.
- 9:40And then you start to see this ripple effect of how powerful the heart is in our lives and what it can do for each of us in our lives.
- 9:51Just, we need each other.
- 9:55We really need each other.
- 9:57We can be each other's angels, right?
- 9:59And as we are, are doing those things that turn us to God.
- 10:06As we walk with God, then we can really walk with others and be, be that support for other people and truly love people the way he did.
- 10:19He's told us to love with charity.
- 10:23And how do we get to that space?
- 10:25We have to walk with God to get to that space.
- 10:29And, and that path definitely gives us that protection because God is going to protect that at all cost.
- 10:39He wants, he wants us back with him.
- 10:42So as we are able to support each other through fall, like through looking to him, it, it truly makes a huge difference.
- 10:54But first we have to be looking for Him.
- 10:56Where is he?
- 10:57Where is he showing up?
- 10:58What's he doing for me?
- 11:00Yeah.
- 11:01I love what you both have said, you know, the power of, of God constantly changing our hearts.
- 11:10I, I love that symbolism you said of the earth turning away from the sun and then coming back to it.
- 11:15Because I feel that is so parallel, that so parallels my life, you know, and, and I think God meant it to be that way.
- 11:24I think he meant us to see that doesn't matter if you've turned away, you can come back.
- 11:31It doesn't matter if you've made this mistake or made it again or made it 365 days in a row.
- 11:37You can still turn back to the sun and do the works of righteousness.
- 11:42And I think that is part of turning our hearts to God.
- 11:45It is a process it doesn't just take once.
- 11:48It is a process of becoming and turning toward him again and again and consciously making that choice of I choose God.
- 11:57I love that verse in Joshua of choose you this day.
- 12:00It is a conscious choice.
- 12:01We each get to choose with each decision we make.
- 12:05And sometimes we choose right, and sometimes we choose wrong.
- 12:08And not letting those lies that Satan says, oh, you've made it too many.
- 12:13You've made that mistake too many times.
- 12:15You're lost now.
- 12:17You've done too many things.
- 12:18God can't possibly love you anymore.
- 12:20There's no hope for you.
- 12:22Whereas the invitation of Christ is come unto me, come.
- 12:27Doesn't matter where you've been.
- 12:28I mean, he spent his days ministering to the brokenhearted, to those who are downtrodden, to those who felt marginalized.
- 12:36And we all feel that way sometimes.
- 12:38And so that should give us hope that we can turn to God, that we can do the works of righteousness.
- 12:43No matter where we've been, we can turn to Him.
- 12:48I love that verse in Micah.
- 12:53I think Tiffany brought this one up earlier in Micah chapter six, and I think I'm actually just going to turn there really quick and read it to you guys, because I think these are the works of righteousness.
- 13:04And it's Micah chapter six, verse eight.
- 13:07And it says, he hath shewed the O man, what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God.
- 13:21So he's saying what?
- 13:23Basically saying, what are the works of righteousness?
- 13:25What does that look like for you?
- 13:28And he wants us to be just.
- 13:31He wants us to love mercy.
- 13:34Pause and think about that.
- 13:36That applies to ourselves, which is so often hard to do.
- 13:41Give ourselves the mercy we deserve because we are our own worst critic, but also give that mercy to others and to walk humbly.
- 13:49It's so interesting to me that in.
- 13:53In the Scriptures, we find people being called out for the hardness of their hearts.
- 13:59You know, turning our hearts of stone into fleshy tables of the heart.
- 14:02You know, those are the symbols that we see kind of woven throughout the scriptures when we're talking about the heart.
- 14:09And maybe that reflects our righteousness.
- 14:13How humble are we that walk with how humbly before God?
- 14:17How humble is our heart?
- 14:19Are we being prideful?
- 14:21Are we being humble?
- 14:23Are we submitting to God?
- 14:25These are.
- 14:25These are all such hard questions that really make us pause.
- 14:29An example, how can I make my heart more like, more righteous?
- 14:36I guess is it's the breastplate of Righteousness, right?
- 14:39So how can I make my heart more righteous?
- 14:42Because that is what is going to protect my soul.
- 14:45That's what I'm going to protect, the most vital organs against these attacks of the adversary.
- 14:50So I thought I'd just open that up, carry any thoughts on the heart and being more righteous in that regard, being more soft and pliant and all that.
- 15:03One of the things that was coming to my mind as you were talking is the parable of the virgins, right, as they are trying to wait for the bridegroom.
- 15:17And, and that is the ultimate joy, right, is to be able to be invited to this wedding, to go in and to celebrate in this wedding.
- 15:29And they're, and they've been waiting for hours and they.
- 15:33But what are they doing during that time?
- 15:36You know, they're sleeping, but, but not, you know.
- 15:41And as we get more into that story, we learn that there are some who had been preparing, like they spent their whole time preparing.
- 15:50There were others who were sleeping, and when the call came, only half were prepared.
- 15:59And, and if those women represent us as followers of Christ, what were they doing to prepare?
- 16:09And you can't fully prepare for something last second.
- 16:14You just can't.
- 16:15You have to be preparing along the way.
- 16:19And that's those daily drops of oil that are that goodness, that righteousness, that really truly loving God so much that we are seeking that all the time, even when we make those mistakes, we're turning immediately back to God.
- 16:41You know, that, that repentance is not, not a once a year thing.
- 16:46It's not a once a day thing.
- 16:48It's.
- 16:49It's a continual, minute by minute thing that we're doing all day long as we recognize.
- 16:55Oh yeah, I didn't mean to talk to my kids like that.
- 16:59And I'm really sorry, sorry to my kids.
- 17:01Sorry I talked to you that way.
- 17:03But turning to God and saying, I'm so sorry that my, my heart isn't changed enough yet, but I want to, but I want to.
- 17:11And then putting, you know, finding ways to make that change through, it has to be through Christ's mercy, through his grace, through his help, but he'll help us to get there.
- 17:29And as we're continually doing that and putting those little drops of oil in, that's why they can't be shared.
- 17:37Because they're those intentional moments with God where we really are, are living our lives to bring glory to him, not just to ourselves, but to Him.
- 17:54And wanting to shine that light as Tiffany was talking about with those around us, so that Then they want to do the same thing.
- 18:03So then we can go as a group to this wedding.
- 18:05We can go together and be there together, celebrating.
- 18:11That's our ultimate goal.
- 18:13It's what we truly want.
- 18:15And.
- 18:16And I think that's what God is trying to teach us is when your hearts are soft, when your hearts are looking to me, they automatically turn to those around you and wanting to share that light with others and
- 18:34teach them the things that you've learned.
- 18:38Thank you so much.
- 18:39I.
- 18:40I love so much of what you said there.
- 18:41Thank you so much.
- 18:42I love that, especially how you applied it to the parable of the 10 virgins.
- 18:45Because we are living in the last days.
- 18:46And that was very symbolic of us in our times.
- 18:49Because the bridegroom is coming, right?
- 18:51And we need those daily drops.
- 18:53Tiffany just.
- 18:56It made me think about the parable of 10 virgins.
- 18:58Like, the whole purpose, like, of that of the 10 virgins is their job.
- 19:04Those virgins was to light their lamps and come out and meet the bridegroom and then light the way for the bridegroom to come to the bride.
- 19:12And I think that that's so symbolic of our day, right?
- 19:15Because we are invited to come out and to meet him and to spend time with them.
- 19:20I love how you said intentional moments with God.
- 19:24Like that is really key, right?
- 19:26What intentional moments are we creating with God that are going to help us in our time of need?
- 19:32And I think sometimes we get so overwhelmed with all of the bad that we're doing that we.
- 19:38It gets us down.
- 19:39Like the adversary uses it to make us feel that we're not enough, that we're not worthy that.
- 19:45I had a friend once who said, I don't pray to God because he's got so many other children that he has to worry about.
- 19:51I just don't think he has time for me.
- 19:53And I thought, you know, those lies are the lies that Satan's giving us because, you know, we're not good enough.
- 19:59We're too busy.
- 20:00We don't have time.
- 20:00But we need to make those intentional moments with God.
- 20:04And in those intentional moments, that's where we turn to him and we repent and we ask for forgiveness.
- 20:10And then I.
- 20:10I like to do two things.
- 20:12I like to ask him two questions.
- 20:13Like, one, what is something that I am doing that I should stop doing?
- 20:18That is making.
- 20:18That is keeping me from coming to you, right?
- 20:21That is keeping me.
- 20:22That is barring away from me feeling your spirit.
- 20:24And two, what am I not doing that I should start doing so that I can understand what I can work on in order to move forward.
- 20:33And I love the scripture In Galatians, chapter 5, when it talks about the fruits of the Spirit, 5 verses 22 through 26, it says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
- 20:52meekness, temperance.
- 20:54Against such there is no law.
- 20:57And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
- 21:01If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
- 21:04Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another and being one another.
- 21:09And I love that.
- 21:10But I don't know about you.
- 21:11When I read that, I'm like, I do not feel like I am any of those.
- 21:15Like, I have so far to go.
- 21:17And, you know, the first time I read that, I was like, well, that is just very depressing because I don't have any.
- 21:25That is not me, Heavenly Father.
- 21:27That's it.
- 21:27I am not walking in the Spirit.
- 21:29I am not getting into heaven, because I am just so far below what is expected of me.
- 21:35But here's the beautiful thing about having the fruit of the Spirit and walking with the Spirit is the Spirit.
- 21:40Says Tiffany.
- 21:41You don't have to do all of these things all at once.
- 21:44And you don't have to be all of these things today.
- 21:48You can choose one and you can work on it, or as long as you need to work on it.
- 21:53And if you work on it for a week and come back next year and work on it again or next month or next week, because you still feel like you need to work on it.
- 22:00That is the beauty of line upon line and precept on precept here a little, there a little.
- 22:05And working the best that you can to.
- 22:08To walk in the Spirit with our Heavenly Father.
- 22:11Perfection is not required because the Savior was perfect.
- 22:13So we don't have to be.
- 22:15Yes, we're striving to be perfect like him, but we will never be perfect in this life.
- 22:20Our bodies will continue to decay.
- 22:21Believe me, I know this as I get older, that it's.
- 22:24I'm getting less perfect, then I am more perfect.
- 22:28But at the same time, I am perfected in Christ.
- 22:31And when I put on him and when I spend those intentional moments with him and when I learn from him what I need to stop doing.
- 22:39And just one of those things.
- 22:40Okay, Heavenly Father, what should I work on a day?
- 22:42Joy.
- 22:42Okay, I'm going to work on finding joyful moments in my day today.
- 22:46Joyful moments with my kids, joyful moments with Myself looking at myself and finding joy in the body that he has given me, that has borne five children, that has hugged my friends, that is sat with my people that
- 23:01have been hurting.
- 23:03There are so many things that our body does that we as women don't recognize because we are.
- 23:08We are.
- 23:09Our hearts.
- 23:10Satan tries to get us to feel like we are not enough, but in reality, how beautiful it is that we have these vital organs that can help us birth children, that can help us grieve with them, that can
- 23:24help us love them, that can help us give those gifts of the spirit to them as they are striving in their own lives to find the gifts of the spirit in their own lives.
- 23:33I just.
- 23:34I.
- 23:34I think.
- 23:35I.
- 23:35I think it's so important that beauty of grace and walking in the spirit and.
- 23:41And giving ourselves the understanding that.
- 23:43That when we're walking in the spirit, having intentional moments, allowing ourselves to have those intentional moments, that's when the Savior can really speak to us and help us become the person that he needs to be and.
- 23:54And do the things that we need to do to feel that we are enough for Him.
- 23:58Wow.
- 23:59That is beautiful.
- 24:00Love.
- 24:01Love.
- 24:02Scripture that goes with that a little bit with what you were talking about, Tiffany, because that is so beautiful.
- 24:08It's in Isaiah 61:10, and it says, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord.
- 24:13My soul shall be joyful in my God.
- 24:16For he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.
- 24:20He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
- 24:31That's exactly what you're talking about, Tiffany, and how beautiful that we're talking about a breastplate.
- 24:38But here I love how Isaiah is saying, it's a robe of righteousness is a full covering.
- 24:44And it's not just for utility, but for joy.
- 24:49It's for beauty and for joy.
- 24:51And He.
- 24:54He wants to give us so much that we can be joyful about those things.
- 25:01I love that.
- 25:02So thanks for sharing all of those things, Tiffany.
- 25:05Yeah.
- 25:06So good.
- 25:08The thoughts that were coming to my mind as you both were talking about these qualities and.
- 25:13And getting.
- 25:15We often are thinking with our minds like it's a tally.
- 25:20You know what I mean?
- 25:21Like, oh, I did these things good today.
- 25:23I did these things wrong.
- 25:24And.
- 25:24And as I was pondering that, I'm like, I don't think that's how God sees us.
- 25:28And then the verse that popped into my brain was the one where Samuel is looking to anoint the new king of Israel.
- 25:38And he goes to Jesse's house and he looks at all these strong, strappling boys and he's like, oh, this one for sure is the right one.
- 25:46And he kind of interviews all of Jesse's sons and.
- 25:49Do you have any more?
- 25:51No.
- 25:52Well, there is David, you know, and.
- 25:56And he's this young boy.
- 25:57He's not even fully grown into manhood yet.
- 26:00And the verse that is in 1st Samuel 16, Seven says, but the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him.
- 26:13For the Lord seeth not as man seeth for the man.
- 26:18Look at on the outward appearance.
- 26:19But the Lord looketh on the heart.
- 26:23And so he knew the heart of each of those brothers, and he also knows each of our hearts.
- 26:31And when I think about that, I also think it gives me the chance to look at myself with more mercy.
- 26:38Because if the Lord knows my heart when I make a mistake, he knows how I feel.
- 26:45He knows how I'm probably beating myself up about it, right?
- 26:49And.
- 26:49And he knows my heart.
- 26:51He knows that my desires are good.
- 26:53He knows that I'm doing my best, I'm trying my hardest to be righteous.
- 26:59He knows that is the desire of my heart.
- 27:02And he is granting me mercy because he knows my heart.
- 27:08And so I just need to remember that.
- 27:11That he loves me and he will grant me mercy.
- 27:14And I need to grant myself mercy when I make those mistakes all the time, right?
- 27:22And remember that.
- 27:24I don't know.
- 27:24That was just a thought that was popping into my brain.
- 27:29Now there was one other thing that kind of popped into my brain and.
- 27:33And it's that verse that kind of repeats throughout Scripture from the Old Testament to the New.
- 27:39And that is that we need to love the Lord our God, that first and great commandment, with all of our heart, might, mind and strength.
- 27:48And sometimes they mix those up and put a different word first.
- 27:51But it's interesting that heart is always used, right?
- 27:56It's that heart.
- 27:58And I just wanted to throw that out there for some comments really quick.
- 28:03Let's see.
- 28:04Tiffany, let's start with you.
- 28:06I love the heart because I think it's about being intentional, right?
- 28:11I think sometimes we, like you said, in our mind, we have a checklist of things.
- 28:16Did I read my scriptures today?
- 28:17Did I say my prayers?
- 28:18Did I do all of the things?
- 28:20But it's really not a checklist.
- 28:21It is being intentional.
- 28:22And sometimes being intentional is reading one verse of scripture and pondering it all day.
- 28:28Long, right?
- 28:29Like pondering how it applies to you and how you can come closer to Christ and change your natural man to align your heart to be more along the lines of what the Savior would have.
- 28:41And I feel like in a lot of ways too, it shows how important the heart is to our Heavenly Father and heart.
- 28:48He's always talking about love.
- 28:50Like he, you know, it talks about God is love.
- 28:54Literally, the Bible says God is love, right?
- 28:57And so if we want our hearts to be in a place where we can be like him, then we need to invite love into our lives in all areas.
- 29:07And that means.
- 29:09And that means letting go of contention, like, forgiving, like, and all those things.
- 29:14I mean, they're natural men and they're going to come and.
- 29:17But the thing is, is that we get a choice, right?
- 29:19We get a choice on whether or not we're going to follow down that vein and let it continue festering in our hearts and our mind, or if we are going to let go of it and let God's love
- 29:30fill that space and be able to move forward in love.
- 29:35And I'll be honest, sometimes there are people that I'm like, I just can't love them, Heavenly Father.
- 29:40Like, I just struggle to love them.
- 29:43And sometimes it's my, you know, when my kids were little, sometimes I'm like, I just, I like you a lot.
- 29:49But right now I'm struggling.
- 29:50I'm struggling to have that love for you, right?
- 29:53Maybe I love you and I just don't like you right now.
- 29:55I don't know how it works.
- 29:56Sometimes it's really hard.
- 29:58And that's when we, in our walk with God, we invite him, first of all, cast out the spirit of contention, right?
- 30:05Because the Satan is the spirit of contention.
- 30:07He's the devil, you know, father of contention.
- 30:11And then we invite that love into our lives.
- 30:13And so many times I said, heavenly Father, can you please help me see them the way you see them so that I can love them the way you want me to love them, right?
- 30:23And it's life changing when you do that, when you try to live in love.
- 30:28Now, I'm not perfect at it.
- 30:29There are still days when I struggle to love people.
- 30:32But more and more, I am learning to give people the benefit of the doubt, show grace and mercies, even to myself, and be able to love the way God loves, especially ourselves.
- 30:47Because I think that sometimes as women, we can be really good about loving other people.
- 30:52Like, it's our.
- 30:53It's our superpower, right?
- 30:55We can love, but loving ourselves, that's Way harder.
- 30:59And so sometimes we even need to say, God, can you help me love myself, right, so that I can.
- 31:05Because we need to be able to have that love and walk in that love.
- 31:10And if we're not walking in love for ourselves, we're not living in righteousness.
- 31:14We're not doing what God needs us to do to be able to fill his spirit.
- 31:18We're.
- 31:19We're blocking his spirit from us by not accepting ourselves as God's daughter and creation in the way that he would want us to.
- 31:28So that's what I think about, you know, loving God, loving our neighbor, but also loving our neighbor as ourselves.
- 31:34Meaning loving ourselves as is part of the, of the deal, part of the package, right?
- 31:39We are his.
- 31:40His child.
- 31:41And.
- 31:42But I, I do believe that when we love him first, it's easier to love ourselves.
- 31:46Fully agree with that.
- 31:47Kari, any thoughts?
- 31:49That is so beautiful.
- 31:51Yeah.
- 31:51As you were talking, I kind of along those same lines, I was thinking, you know, the heart is the life force, our heart, if it stops beating, you are no more.
- 32:05Right.
- 32:06That truly is the life force.
- 32:09And it's continually moving things.
- 32:12So you were talking about, you know, moving things out, letting things go.
- 32:17And I think.
- 32:18I think the heart is such a beautiful symbol of that, that, that the old stuff moves away and the new stuff comes in to lighten and brighten and, and strengthen and.
- 32:32And that is a continual thing.
- 32:34And we do need that for ourselves first.
- 32:38Because just like that oxygen mask in the airplane, right?
- 32:42You have to put it on yourself first because if you don't, you can't help somebody else.
- 32:48And I, I think that really is true.
- 32:50If you're not loving yourself, it makes it 10 times harder to love other people or to truly see them in the way God sees them.
- 33:01If you cannot see yourself with that love that God sees you with, you're not going to have.
- 33:07Be able to have that full charity for someone else.
- 33:10And so I really love that, that example.
- 33:14And, and they really do all work hand in hand, you know, turning to God, loving ourselves.
- 33:22And, and I love especially that you were saying, Tiffany, that we need to ask him help me to see.
- 33:29Help me to see myself the way you see me.
- 33:32Help me to see my family or other people.
- 33:37And especially when it's difficult to love someone, right?
- 33:41I mean, we, we've experienced how difficult it is to love ourselves in some moments.
- 33:46So we understand, we understand that.
- 33:49But what are we doing to love ourselves?
- 33:52And then what are we doing to have God help us see others in that way that can help that life force keep moving, you know, old stories out and new stories in.
- 34:05Because we're all changing all the time, and we're not the same people we have always been.
- 34:11And so we can give ourselves that grace and realize that maybe I'm not where I want to be on this particular thing today, but I can learn it and I can change it.
- 34:22And especially with God's help, I can move mountains, right?
- 34:25I can do all of those things.
- 34:27Nothing is impossible.
- 34:29I.
- 34:30I can keep.
- 34:31Keep at it every day.
- 34:33Keep at it every day.
- 34:35In Isaiah 59, verse 17, it talks about he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak.
- 34:45And I love that word, zeal, because that's what God's asking us to do, right?
- 34:52Is to get that zeal for change, for learning, for coming to him and asking and.
- 34:58And for keeping that life force moving all the time.
- 35:02And as we do that, that righteousness will continue to cloak us and to protect us and to cover us in those moments when, when we do falter, when we do struggle, when we are having a hard time, that
- 35:18that cloak is already there and we already know the source to go to, to lift ourselves again out of that space so that we can keep things moving.
- 35:30Wow.
- 35:31We've had some amazing thoughts and.
- 35:34And discussion about what the heart symbolizes, what we can do to have our heart protected.
- 35:41It's so interesting that words like love and mercy and repentance and humility have all kind of played into this discussion of it being a breastplate.
- 35:54Right?
- 35:55That these are the qualities that we develop over time.
- 35:59Quick takeaways and.
- 36:01And then we'll end the episode.
- 36:02Kari, let's start with you.
- 36:05I just really am so grateful for God's love for me, for his heart that covers me, that covers those mistakes, that I can go to him time and time again and change and learn and grow and keep progressing
- 36:31to be the person that I know he knows I am, that I've always been.
- 36:38And maybe I don't know that person yet.
- 36:40Maybe I've forgotten who that person is.
- 36:43But as I keep turning to him as he is, I keep seeking to know his heart.
- 36:50It softens mine.
- 36:52And it brings me to that place where I truly am able to make those changes and become that person in my own space and then soften my heart enough then to turn to someone else who may be struggling,
- 37:09who may be having a hard time, and to be able to put my arm around them and to help then myself be part of that cloak.
- 37:20Part of that protection, part of that space that someone may need for a moment when they're struggling to regather, regroup, and to enter for themselves how God sees them and that they are loved and, and so beautiful that
- 37:41God in his love for us has given us that ability to truly do that, not just for ourselves, but for others as well.
- 37:54I really love that.
- 37:56Thank you.
- 37:57Thank you for sharing that.
- 37:58Tiffany.
- 37:59Quick takeaway for me.
- 38:01I really want to be more intentional, I think just more intentional with my prayers and I, and I feel like, what a great question every morning to be like, heavenly Father, what would you have me do today so
- 38:12that I can walk with you more fully in my discipleship with you?
- 38:16Or maybe that may be helping a neighbor, that may be self care for yourself, that may be doing something, smiling, holding the door open for a stranger.
- 38:26But there are so many different ways that he can allow us to be an instrument in his hands if we are willing to ask the question, how can I, what can I do today to walk with you and
- 38:37walk that path of righteousness and to come closer to you today and, and just really pondering that and, and asking him what to stop doing and what to start and, and I just think that that for me is,
- 38:49is such a game changer in my day to day life is, is doing that.
- 38:53Oh, so beautiful.
- 38:56Thank you.
- 38:57I, I guess my final takeaway today is I love something that Carrie said.
- 39:02Help me understand your heart, God, so that I can, you know, that I can then change my heart to be more like that or something.
- 39:10Like you said it much more beautifully than that.
- 39:12But I think that that kind of blends together both what you were just saying there, Tiffany, about him helping us change our heart little by little, but having that soft heart, you know, praying, God, help me to have
- 39:24that soft heart.
- 39:25Help me to understand your love better so that I can be a vessel of your love to others.
- 39:31But we can't do that unless our heart is humble and our heart is full of mercy and grace and all those things, qualities that God has in perfection.
- 39:42But I'm, I'm just an embryo right now.
- 39:45I'm just, I'm still a baby and learning how to be all those things.
- 39:50And so I'm thankful that he looks on my heart and he knows it, he knows my desires and that he is along that path with me as I try to shield myself and protect myself from the attacks of
- 40:04the adversary.
- 40:05So thank you ladies for joining me today and God bless each of you on your journey towards righteousness.
- 40:13On your journey towards protecting your heart and soul from the attacks of the adversary.
- 40:17It is possible with God's help.
- 40:21Thanks for tuning in to Bible Women and Bathrobes, hosted by Women warriors of Light.
- 40:27We've loved exploring the stories of remarkable women or the teachings of the Savior today with you.
- 40:34If today's episode brought someone special to mind, be sure to spread the word.
- 40:39And don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss a moment of inspiration and sisterhood.
- 40:46Just a friendly reminder.
- 40:47All opinions we share are entirely personal as we are trying to decipher, not apply Bible teachings just like you are.
- 40:55Until next time, stay faithful and may your journey be blessed and illuminated by God's love.