Latest / Arise Women of God / Walking with Christ: Becoming Children of Light
Transcript
- 0:00How can you and I shine God's light in a dark world in small ways?
- 0:05And does it even make a difference?
- 0:07Well, stay tuned because that's what we're going to be talking about in today's episode.
- 0:14Welcome to Bible Women in Bathrobes, the podcast where faith meets comfort.
- 0:20Join 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.
- 0:32From 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.
- 0:43Tune in live or at your leisure as we learn lessons from Scripture which empower women today.
- 0:52Foreign.
- 0:55Welcome to Bible Women and Bathrobes.
- 0:58We are so excited to have you here today and with us are Tamara Anderson, our founder.
- 1:03How are you, Tamara?
- 1:04Great.
- 1:07And a wonderful.
- 1:09LaMira Wheelwright from our advisory board.
- 1:11How are you doing, LaMira?
- 1:13It's great.
- 1:15I'm so happy to be here today and to join you again.
- 1:18Well, we're happy to have you.
- 1:20I'm excited to talk about this topic.
- 1:22For the past several weeks, or actually months really since January, we have talked about the armor of light.
- 1:30We have used Ephesians 6 to talk about the armor of God and how it applies to the armor of light.
- 1:38And we've also talked about how to fight the adversary and wind.
- 1:42And it's been truly inspiring.
- 1:45Today in our last episode, we really want to talk about bringing it all together and how now that we have all of this information, how we can move forward as children of light.
- 1:57And I want to share a scripture with you to start it off.
- 2:00So Ephesians 6 is where we find the armor of where we talked about God's armor.
- 2:06But if you go back a chapter to chapter five, Ephesians chapter five, verse eight, it says, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord?
- 2:17Walk as children of light.
- 2:20So I want to start off with the question, Tamara, what does it mean to be a child of light?
- 2:28That is a very good question.
- 2:32I think it means that we are doing our best to follow Jesus.
- 2:41We kicked off this whole series with our verses for the year for Women warriors of light, which are found in Romans chapter 13 where it talked about us.
- 2:58Let us put on the armor of light and put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.
- 3:04It's really about having Jesus walk with us in our daily life.
- 3:11And I think if I was, in fact I was thinking about that today is what does all this mean I mean, we've talked about so many things, about how the adversary attacks and all those things.
- 3:22But if I could boil it down to the bare bones of what all of this means, it really is inviting Jesus into our daily walk and.
- 3:38And trying each day to live more like him and shine his light, biting off the adversary and being that light to others.
- 3:50That's really, really what it is.
- 3:55I love that.
- 3:56That's so beautiful.
- 3:57I.
- 3:59Light has always been something that has been dear to my heart.
- 4:04And so as we talk about being this.
- 4:06These children of light, it really is putting on Christ.
- 4:09It really is becoming his child in the things that we say and the things that we do.
- 4:15So.
- 4:15That is so beautiful.
- 4:16Thank you.
- 4:16Lamyra, what are your thoughts on this?
- 4:19Oh, I.
- 4:19Just.
- 4:19As Tamara was talking, I was thinking of, you know, a person, just light surrounding them and the darkness being abated like back.
- 4:32It cannot penetrate.
- 4:34And because going along with it, Tamara said, when we are children of light, then when people look at us, they see Jesus Christ.
- 4:45Like, we don't do it for ourselves.
- 4:47We don't put ourselves out there.
- 4:50We're doing it because we're leading people to know Jesus Christ so that when they see us, they see Him.
- 4:57So when one day they see him, they'll know him because.
- 5:02Because they recognize that goodness and that light.
- 5:04And I.
- 5:05I feel like that's what we do.
- 5:06We seek for light.
- 5:08We seek for good.
- 5:10Not, you know, and we shun.
- 5:13We shun the dark and when it comes our way, because it for sure will.
- 5:18That we are able.
- 5:20We are strong.
- 5:21As we've talked about, all this armor, we have it on, and it's not there to go out and wage war.
- 5:27It's there to.
- 5:28To, like, keep the dark.
- 5:30Keep the light in, right?
- 5:31That we're going to shine that light and keep the dark at bay.
- 5:36I love that.
- 5:36That's beautiful.
- 5:37And that is the whole reason why we put on the armor of light, right?
- 5:40To push back the darkness of our.
- 5:42In our lives.
- 5:42And.
- 5:43And that is why we.
- 5:45We put on the armor so that we can be, like you said, a person of light, inside and out as they move forward.
- 5:52I was.
- 5:53I was thinking about this.
- 5:55Like, how is it that.
- 5:56How do we become children of light?
- 5:58It's more than just putting on armor, right?
- 6:00It's more than.
- 6:01It's more than saying something.
- 6:04It's really doing those things.
- 6:06And, and I.
- 6:07So Paul, after that verse, so in.
- 6:10In Ephesians 5, 8, if you read 9, he says for the in, and he puts us in parentheses.
- 6:16Which is kind of like, okay, here's my thought, but in parentheses.
- 6:19This is going to help you figure out and understand what my thought is.
- 6:23And he says, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.
- 6:30So he's talking us.
- 6:31How can we be children of light?
- 6:33Well, we can be children of light when we focus on the fruits of the Spirit.
- 6:37Spirit in the goodness, the righteousness, and the truth.
- 6:41And I, I love the scriptures on the fruit of the Spirit.
- 6:44And so I, I looked that up because I.
- 6:46I thought, okay, the fruits of the Spirit, what are those?
- 6:49And we find those In Galatians, chapter 5, verses 22 through 23.
- 6:54This is.
- 6:54But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
- 7:04Against such there is no law, and against such there is no law.
- 7:09And that's.
- 7:10And as I thought about that, I thought, wow, that's a long list of things.
- 7:14I could get lost in that and very overwhelmed trying to do all of those things all the time, every day, right?
- 7:22So what are some ways, some simple ways, or what are some ways that we can become children of light and take what we learn in Galatians and do it in a way that is easier for us to manage
- 7:35as busy women, but is also sharing light of our Savior?
- 7:40Lamyra, let's start with you.
- 7:44It's interesting as you read all those things, and I think similar traits are listed in Colossians, right?
- 7:50And I, I kept thinking that's how we polish our armor.
- 7:54We put on the armor every day.
- 7:56And doing those things as we follow, you know, we're being still.
- 8:00We're.
- 8:00We're recognizing the good thoughts, the bad thoughts.
- 8:03We're girding our loins.
- 8:05We're.
- 8:06We're, you know, shouting the.
- 8:08The preparation of peace, the gospel of peace, right?
- 8:10All of those things.
- 8:11As we're putting on the shield of faith, the kindness, the temperance, all of those things.
- 8:17It's like the polish on the armor.
- 8:19But when we say that, I also think of when we just are trying to do all those things.
- 8:25Those are the things that just come out naturally in us, that we naturally want to be kind, and we naturally not when we are unkind and we turn around, go, oh, like, even in the moment, or maybe right
- 8:36after, we might go, ooh.
- 8:38That might have been a little off.
- 8:41But sometimes I think we have to do away with the checklist because like you said, sometimes our checklists become our beating sticks, right?
- 8:52We're not good enough.
- 8:53We're not this and I had this thought just yesterday, thought we need to take that beating stick and turn it into a walking stick.
- 9:00And that's what we're using to move forward.
- 9:03And.
- 9:03And it's not a bad thing, but it's also.
- 9:06That's who we become when we're those children of light.
- 9:09Is it just.
- 9:11It's a natural.
- 9:13A natural consequence, Right.
- 9:14A natural result of being connected to God and to Jesus Christ is that it's just becoming.
- 9:22And so I think those are almost like, oh, have I hit those yet?
- 9:27It's almost like a marker of like, oh, my goodness.
- 9:29Yes.
- 9:29But not in a prideful way, but in a.
- 9:33And, oh, yeah.
- 9:34That's how we become that way.
- 9:37That's kind of the thoughts that.
- 9:39The way my thoughts went.
- 9:42It's beautiful.
- 9:43I love those thoughts, and I love how you talked about changing your beating stick into a walking stick.
- 9:48That is really profound when we think about it.
- 9:50Right.
- 9:51Because we really do beat ourselves up as women.
- 9:53And we could look at that list and look at.
- 9:56We compare ourselves to others, and we listen to be therefore perfect.
- 9:59And we know that we certainly are not.
- 10:02And so all of those things start weighing us down.
- 10:05But when we realize the armor of light, we put that on, even though it's armor, it's supposed to make us light, right.
- 10:11Less heavy.
- 10:12Like, we are actually literally lighter as we let the Lord help us.
- 10:18Because with the Lord walking with us, he literally becomes our walking stick, and we become perfected in Him.
- 10:25And he is the one that helps us to be loved, to be charitable, to do all of those things.
- 10:30He is the one that provides us with that because they're the fruits of his spirit.
- 10:34Right?
- 10:35So as he's walking with us and we're walking with him, we will receive the fruits of his spirit because they are his and they are with Him.
- 10:44I think that's beautiful.
- 10:45Thank you.
- 10:46Tamara, what are some of your thoughts on this?
- 10:50I love what you both have said here.
- 10:53I think.
- 10:54I think really the focus is walking with Christ.
- 11:04You know, we think, oh, my goodness, here's my laundry list.
- 11:07But.
- 11:08But really, if we just walk with the Lord as much as we can, and.
- 11:13And I know that our path is not straight.
- 11:18We probably wander back and forth along the path, but it's.
- 11:22It's continually moving, coming to Christ.
- 11:26It's continually coming to Christ, coming to Christ every day in the trials that we're facing, because he knows what we need to work on.
- 11:40And as we're walking with him, he helps us improve.
- 11:44He helps us realize, oh, you could have done that a little better, Tamara, you know, and so I'm thankful that anytime we walk with God, he's not going to leave us where we were.
- 11:59He's going to move us forward.
- 12:01So he's going to move us out of our comfort zone, which isn't always the favorite thing, right?
- 12:08But it is progress.
- 12:11And I think there's nothing worse than being stuck, having been stuck, or in a pausing point in limbo.
- 12:20That is the worst.
- 12:21And so I'm thankful that God's goal is to move us forward, to get us back to our heavenly home.
- 12:29And in order to do that, we just need to keep walking with him.
- 12:33We mess up, come unto Christ, you know, repent.
- 12:36Come unto Christ.
- 12:37That's really what it boils down to.
- 12:40I'm going to do a quick shout out, really quick.
- 12:43Since we've been talking about things that stretch us and make us grow.
- 12:46Do you have a child or a grandchild who is learning to face scary things, something that makes them grow as well?
- 12:55If so, I have a great book recommendation.
- 12:57I want to do a shout out for one of our endorsed providers.
- 13:01She's a Christian author named Sharon Leino and she has an amazing book series called the Adventures of Lucer and it is a fantasy story.
- 13:11It's so fantastic.
- 13:12And her first book is called Scaredy.
- 13:15Like being scared, but scaredy.
- 13:18And it is so great because you follow this wonderful 8 year old boy named Rudy and he is learning to discover his inner strength and a magical new world with bullies on his trail and his best friend by
- 13:35his side.
- 13:35And one of the cool things about this book is that it is an epic story of good versus evil and you even have the night of light and he's a symbol of Jesus Christ that comes and helps them
- 13:48in this, in this beautiful adventure land that they go off into.
- 13:53And this is a perfect book for young chapter readers and it, it's a great way for you to interact with your kids and teach them these same skills that we talk about on this podcast all the time about
- 14:06learn leaning on Christ and listening and overcoming fears and stuff like that.
- 14:12If you have kids that like to listen to books instead of reading them.
- 14:16Scaredy is also available on Audible, which is so great, especially in my situation.
- 14:22Like my son with autism loves to listen to books and follow along.
- 14:26And so that's been particularly helpful for him.
- 14:29For him, in fact, he read Scaredy not too many months ago and he absolutely loved the story.
- 14:34So get your copy of Scaredy.
- 14:37You can find it on Amazon or You can find it on Sharon Leno's website, Sharon Leino L E I n o author.com and you can also see a spotlight of Sharon in our Women warriors of Light blog, where
- 14:53you can get links to all of our endorsed providers.
- 14:55Be sure to grab this heartwarming adventure that teaches valuable lessons about bravery, friendship, self discovery, and standing up to things that are scary, like bullies.
- 15:06And now back to our show.
- 15:08Yeah, I love that.
- 15:10Thank you.
- 15:10It reminds me of.
- 15:11I was listening to a book on tape the other day, and they talked about God doesn't matter so much where you are.
- 15:20What he cares about is where you're headed, right?
- 15:23Like, he just wants our heart.
- 15:24Like, sometimes we beat ourselves up because of the things that we're not doing or the hard things that we do.
- 15:31But God doesn't care what your bank account is right now.
- 15:35What he cares about is where your heart is, the direction that you're moving, right?
- 15:38He doesn't care if your house is a mess.
- 15:40He doesn't care.
- 15:41He cares about where we're moving as we're walking with Him.
- 15:44I love that trajectory of moving forward.
- 15:46Like not being stuck, but like, just moving forward one step at a time, line upon line, until we get to where we need to be.
- 15:54And that's the beauty about light.
- 15:56You know, it's.
- 15:56It can start small, right?
- 15:58Like those small, seemingly small things that we do each day, like reading a chapter of scripture or a verse, even a verse of scripture a day, that's adding light.
- 16:08That's, you know, sending a text to a friend asking, how can I pray for you today?
- 16:12Is.
- 16:13Is putting light into the world.
- 16:15Those little things added up, overwhelm the world with light, right?
- 16:19They make a difference.
- 16:20And it's beautiful.
- 16:21Reminds me of the scripture in Matthew, which, of course we have to talk about this scripture in Matthew 5:16, where he says, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your
- 16:36Father, which is in heaven.
- 16:38So.
- 16:39So letting our light shine before men doesn't necessarily mean that we're standing on a hill.
- 16:44I know he said, you know, take it under the bushel and put it on a hill.
- 16:48But sometimes that's uncomfortable for some.
- 16:50And God, while He does expect us to get outside of our comfort zone, he doesn't expect us to do things that are beyond our capacity.
- 16:57But he does ask us to do things sometimes with him that may be outside of our comfort zone.
- 17:03Like maybe hosting a podcast, right?
- 17:07That is something that he's like, okay, Tiffany, want you to shine your light on this.
- 17:11And I'm like, okay, Lord, I don't know how I feel about that, but okay, I'll do it, right?
- 17:17So sometimes he's going to ask us to step outside of our comfort zone, and sometimes we're going to find miracles happen in that.
- 17:26And as we step out of darkness and into the light, we can truly make a difference in his world, in his children's lives and the lives of those around us.
- 17:40So what are some of the little things that we can do each day in our homes and families that will help us spread light to the people around us?
- 17:51Tamara, let's start with you.
- 17:53Oh, gosh.
- 17:55Well, I think if you just simply look back on the last couple of episodes, we've covered both reading scriptures, the power of the word, and we also covered the power of prayer.
- 18:08I think those are the general Sunday school answers.
- 18:11You know, scriptures and prayer.
- 18:13Those are things that help anchor us to the path and they help us get kind of feed our light on a daily basis so that we can then have the power to shine to others.
- 18:25But I think one of the questions I have written in, I have a little planner that I.
- 18:34That I use.
- 18:35And yeah, you can laugh because I do use a paper planner.
- 18:39I like to check lists off.
- 18:41But one of the questions I have on my little divider that I see every day, it tells me what page I'm on.
- 18:51It says, what does God want me to do today?
- 18:55And so if I pause and I ask that, sometimes thoughts will come to my mind of somebody that I need to call or text or maybe I need to post something on social media or.
- 19:10Anyway, it looks different, but I think just following the good thoughts that God puts into our mind so that we are shining in the way and reaching those he knows we can reach today.
- 19:29And that's the most important thing we can probably ask.
- 19:33And it's going to look different for us each day.
- 19:35Right?
- 19:38I love that.
- 19:39I think that's beautiful because even though we all have armor, right, that we put on how we shine it, like Lamyra said, I love how she said those are the things that we shine it with.
- 19:47How we shine it is going to look different based on where we're at, Right.
- 19:51Like, I might not be able to have temperance very much as a mom with little kids and they're all over the place, and I'm trying to just, you know, not have spilled milk all the time.
- 20:02But at the same time, like, I can practice love, right?
- 20:05That's.
- 20:06That's what I can Work on.
- 20:08So even if we take one of those fruits of the spirit and just choose one, say, God, how can I make this manifest in my life today?
- 20:15How can I be love?
- 20:17How can I be temperate?
- 20:18Whatever it is that we feel inspired to do, whatever word pops out to us, just asking him, how can I incorporate this fruit of the spirit in my life?
- 20:26I think that that is huge.
- 20:28LaMira, what are your thoughts?
- 20:31You know, I agree with everything that you both have said and these simple, these simple ways.
- 20:37And something that keeps coming to mind is, you know, I think about putting on the armor, right?
- 20:43And it's not always about putting on the armor to go forth and march forth.
- 20:47Like sometimes it's.
- 20:49I.
- 20:51The, the scripture that's really come to mind for me is in Thessalonians and first Thessalonians, right?
- 20:57And I don't know if we were going to get there or not, but I just.
- 21:01I just really like how he says in there.
- 21:06He says, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober.
- 21:11And then we skip down into verse 8.
- 21:14This is 1st Thessalonians 5.
- 21:17But he says, but let us who are of the day.
- 21:20So I'm thinking of the light, right?
- 21:21We're women of light.
- 21:23Be sober.
- 21:25Putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
- 21:29And then verse nine, he says, for God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
- 21:37And to wrath means to go forth and fight.
- 21:39And right now the world is so noisy.
- 21:44It is so noisy with so many battles of opinions of fear.
- 21:50We're worried about different, different things happening.
- 21:54And sometimes we think we're going to put on this armor and we're going to go forth and we're going to fight.
- 21:59And I don't know about you, but when I see people going forth and fighting, it's just like, you know, it just kind of pushes me off.
- 22:08But what I think is when he says, do not sleep, be aware, be awake, don't be distracted.
- 22:18Like you were saying, what do I need to like, pay attention to today?
- 22:22But we tend to get so busy.
- 22:24I know I can disassociate by scrolling doom scrolling.
- 22:29But I can also disassociate by getting so busy because then I don't have time to know what's going on over here with this.
- 22:38This issue, right?
- 22:40But I also notice when I do that, then I don't have time to go be.
- 22:46Let God direct me.
- 22:47I'm being led by everything I've put on my plate.
- 22:51And so one of those simple things really is, is putting on that armor to go forth to be defensive, to be.
- 23:01To be.
- 23:01To shine, right?
- 23:03And we're going to repel all of those fiery darts that we've talked about in past episodes, but we'll be able to do that.
- 23:11But we're not.
- 23:11We're going in saving mode.
- 23:14We're not going in fighting mode.
- 23:15We're going forth to save, right?
- 23:18And so we're being prepared.
- 23:20We're putting that on.
- 23:21And so I just feel like those little things, everything Tamara said, everything you said, but even just with the mindset of, okay, here we are, you know, and with our kids, that we're not reactive, you know, we're.
- 23:34We're responsive and we're going to respond and we're going to be deliberate in our choices and what we do.
- 23:41Just, you know, like, we said the little things like, oh, I'm not going to watch this today.
- 23:46We're going to turn this show off, or we're going to switch how we do this, or we're going to talk more about being kind within our home and admitting our mistakes and apologizing, you know, So I know that
- 24:00was a lot right there, but I just feel like sometimes we.
- 24:02We just feel like right now we are buckling up, you know, to defend instead of.
- 24:08Nope, let's put it on to move forth instead of put it on to, like, ah, protect.
- 24:14So, yeah, I love that.
- 24:17That's so good.
- 24:17I love this that you brought up Thessalonians.
- 24:19I love this chapter because it's really.
- 24:22He's talking about, how are we going to know when Jesus is coming, right?
- 24:25Like, and right now, like, the world is in turmoil.
- 24:28Like, I am one of those that is like, Jesus has got to be coming because this is a crazy town right now, right?
- 24:34We.
- 24:35We are, like, buckling, like you said, buckling up.
- 24:38And we feel like we're fighting for our lives.
- 24:40But here he's saying no.
- 24:42He's like, don't.
- 24:43Don't fear.
- 24:44Like, I love.
- 24:45I love.
- 24:46Because he talks about, you know, how a lot of people say Jesus is going to come as a thief in the night if you back up.
- 24:52Like in verse three, he says, for when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.
- 25:01And he's saying so he's talking about the world.
- 25:03When Jesus comes, it's going to be in turmoil.
- 25:05It's going to be crazy town Right.
- 25:07And then he says, but ye brethren are not in darkness.
- 25:11That.
- 25:12That.
- 25:12That day should overtake you as a thief.
- 25:15He's saying, if.
- 25:16If you are not in darkness, if you are not in darkness, that day is not going to overcome you as a thief.
- 25:24And then he says, ye are again the children of light year.
- 25:27Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day.
- 25:30We are not of the night, nor of darkness, therefore not sleep as do others.
- 25:35But let us watch and be sober.
- 25:38For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that drunken are drunken in the night.
- 25:42But let us who are of the day be sober.
- 25:44And then he talks about putting on, right, the armor again.
- 25:47Putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
- 25:51And he's.
- 25:52He is.
- 25:52He's not.
- 25:53He said, for God has not appoint us to wrath.
- 25:55You're right.
- 25:55Like, in these last days, God does not want us to be angry.
- 25:59He doesn't want us to be, like, yelling at people and like, getting upset on social media for posts that people post.
- 26:08He's asking us to be children of light.
- 26:11He's asking us to have peace in our hearts.
- 26:13He's asking us to be children of the day.
- 26:16And like you said, choosing those things that are going to bring peace into our family, into our heart, and into our life so that we can overcome the darkness of the world.
- 26:27Right?
- 26:28So that we can watch and be ready and recognize the time is coming for our Savior.
- 26:34And as we are children of light, we will get closer to him so that the spirit will be there for us to remind us and help us know what we're doing.
- 26:42And I love how you said that we stay.
- 26:46It's.
- 26:46You mentioned that the armor is something that we're not fighting about.
- 26:49It's something that is helping us to save.
- 26:52That is beautiful.
- 26:54So my thought.
- 26:56One more thought.
- 26:58We're getting close to time, but my thought is, how is it that we can live in a world and save like the Savior asked us, as children of light, rather than going out and participating in the contention of
- 27:13the world?
- 27:13What are some things that we can do to remain and hold our peace?
- 27:17Tamara.
- 27:19Oh.
- 27:23The.
- 27:26I'm like, that is a huge question.
- 27:28I'm so sorry.
- 27:29I know.
- 27:29And I didn't even.
- 27:30I just, like, came.
- 27:31I just asked it.
- 27:32It wasn't even one that I gave you.
- 27:33So this is like, guys, you're getting real and raw here on.
- 27:36Today on our.
- 27:37On our podcast.
- 27:39Oh, it's good.
- 27:40The phrase that popped into my head was that we're not of the world, you know, and Jesus isn't of the world.
- 27:49And as we're walking with him, the thought that was coming to my mind as you guys were having that last little discussion there was to be a peacemaker.
- 28:03And that just kind of kept resonating and kind of ringing through my mind as you.
- 28:07How we're having that discussion.
- 28:09And I thought, that's really what he wants us to be.
- 28:12He wants us to be light bearers and peacemakers and those.
- 28:20All those attributes of being kind and loving.
- 28:26That.
- 28:27That gift of charity, you know what she said, which is one of the greatest things of all.
- 28:33That is those are the things that we're striving to develop.
- 28:38And so I think as we continually work on just being better and being more kind and all those things, that that is what is going to make the biggest difference in the world.
- 28:54Because I think people do.
- 28:56They get tired of the contention and they don't want to listen to it anymore.
- 29:00I know my husband commented the other day.
- 29:03He says, one of the people I've been following, they've just been so angry online.
- 29:08He says, you know, you know how you have that.
- 29:11That function on Facebook where you can silence somebody and not listen to them for 30 days?
- 29:15He's like, I silence them, and so maybe be one of those people that people don't want to silence because you're bringing light into their life and not contention and anger and stuff like that.
- 29:29So I guess that's.
- 29:31That's.
- 29:31I love that.
- 29:32Yeah.
- 29:34So good.
- 29:35So good.
- 29:35LaMira, your thoughts?
- 29:37Yeah.
- 29:38Well, it's funny because Tamara, I was literally like, the backspace key is a thing, and it's a good thing.
- 29:45I recently, just yesterday, I had somebody who sent me this sweet text about how grateful she was for my measured responses online.
- 29:54And I was like, well, backspace is a thing.
- 29:57The Holy Ghost goes, are you sure?
- 29:59And you like it backspace.
- 30:01Several times you vent to somebody close to you, like my.
- 30:05For me, it's my husband or a dear friend that I'm like, oh, my gosh.
- 30:08But I do think that the word that came to me as Tamara was speaking was courage.
- 30:16Because when we are peacemakers, we're not peacekeepers.
- 30:20I think I've mentioned this in a past podcast, but we are courageous and sharing truth and light, and we do not hide from that.
- 30:31And I remember just recently, I had an experience where somebody, you know, commented the one.
- 30:39The one political post I put on, and then suddenly they all come out.
- 30:42It doesn't matter what side you're on.
- 30:43Everybody just like, oh, you do see my posts, you know, and, and it was interesting because I had to take some time and do a measured response.
- 30:54And I thought, I'm not going to be silenced.
- 30:57In the past, I would have kept the peace and just like, backed into a corner, but instead I came out and I said, you know, I think it's interesting that.
- 31:07And at the same time, because I was being accused of not being Christlike and judging people, which was not anything about that, but it did have me reflect.
- 31:16And I thought, okay, I'm going to take this, I'm going to take this feedback and I'm going to reflect on what these people are saying.
- 31:22And did I come across that way?
- 31:24And yeah, there are a couple times I went and edited.
- 31:25I was like, oh, that's not really light.
- 31:27That is not the person.
- 31:29That is not the message I want to portray.
- 31:31I do not, like you said, I do not want to repel people.
- 31:35I want to lead them to Jesus Christ.
- 31:37And so it's okay to take a minute and swallow that pride and go, okay, I was wrong.
- 31:43Like, oh.
- 31:44And yet at the same time, step into that and go, you know, be courageous and say what you.
- 31:52You say.
- 31:53Because Christ was direct, but he was kind.
- 31:56And kindness is not a doormat.
- 31:58Kindness is direct.
- 32:01And as we have this armor of light, that's what we do, is we have that, that, that sword, right?
- 32:07So I don't know, you know, hopefully that was.
- 32:09But courage and peace, Peace and courage, those go together.
- 32:13Because sometimes it takes courage not to say anything, and sometimes it takes courage to admit that you are wrong.
- 32:21Or it takes courage to, to share the gospel and be prepared for somebody to be a naysayer like it.
- 32:30Those are things that we have to be willing to do, right?
- 32:34That's so true.
- 32:36It made me think about something that my husband said once.
- 32:38Like, I've had a lot of leadership callings, and with leadership callings comes a lot of hardship.
- 32:43Sometimes there's a lot of, you know, people that will tell you what you're not doing, right?
- 32:47And it was rough.
- 32:48And, and one time I was like, I don't.
- 32:50I just don't know what to do in this situation.
- 32:53And.
- 32:53And his advice was, Tiffany, just speak truth with love, right?
- 32:58Speak truth with love.
- 32:59And I think that if we remember that, that if we remember, yes, to be courageous and that to speak truth, because truth needs to be out there, especially in a world that is so full with of so many
- 33:11different voices.
- 33:13But if we speak truth and if.
- 33:15If we speak truth with love, then it can make all of the difference it can make or break a relationship and how we approach those things.
- 33:24So I think that's beautiful.
- 33:26Thank you, ladies.
- 33:27Our time is.
- 33:28Is coming to an end.
- 33:30So let's talk about.
- 33:31What are your takeaways from today's episode?
- 33:33LaMira, let's start with you.
- 33:36You know, I think it goes back to what we talked to at the beginning, and it's just wanting to be a light, right.
- 33:43That I think the takeaway is, you know, when somebody.
- 33:47Is somebody seeing him through me, is he seeing him?
- 33:52And when I put on that armor, am I doing that because I'm connecting with my father?
- 33:57And I'm asking, like Tamara said, you know, what do you need me to do today?
- 34:01Who needs me?
- 34:02How do you need me?
- 34:03How do you need me to show up today?
- 34:06And.
- 34:07And that's because I'm putting on the armor one piece at a time and asking him and.
- 34:13And just being a light unto the world, and I just.
- 34:16That's just kind of how I feel like, nope, this is.
- 34:20This is what we are promising to do and covenanting, and so that's what need to do, you know, and be okay with.
- 34:32Was stepping into that and dismissing and repelling that darkness.
- 34:40That.
- 34:41Thank you, Tamara.
- 34:46I.
- 34:47I'm gonna tack on two things you both said and.
- 34:50And put them together because I.
- 34:53I wrote them both down.
- 34:54And I think courageously.
- 34:57Speak truth with love.
- 34:59How's that?
- 35:02That's going on a.
- 35:03Post it.
- 35:05Because I think it does take courage to stand up as a disciple of Jesus Christ, as a follower of Christ in these latter days.
- 35:14It's not popular.
- 35:16It's not easy.
- 35:19But we're not alone, because we are.
- 35:23We are walking with Christ, and we're also walking with fellow women, warriors of light, and.
- 35:29And men, other warriors of light, you know, So I.
- 35:34I think it's important to remember that it does take courage.
- 35:38But we're not alone.
- 35:40And that is so, so good to know, because I think that's one of the lies that the adversary whispers in our ears, is you're the only one.
- 35:49And we're not.
- 35:50We're not.
- 35:51There are millions of others out there who are trying just as hard as we are to be a light to the world and to stand with Jesus Christ.
- 36:03And so I'm.
- 36:04I'm thankful that we've had this time to cover the armor of light to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, because with him, we can want God strong and courageous and Be kind and loving, but speak his truth.
- 36:22So there you go.
- 36:25Beautiful.
- 36:26Thank you.
- 36:27I think for me, it is putting on Christ and it's walking that path.
- 36:33And the value of walking that path is that the closer we walk with him, the more the world falls away.
- 36:40And then those things because.
- 36:44Because light repels darkness, right?
- 36:48So the darkness of the world falls away as we become children of light.
- 36:53And the more we incrementally increase our light through daily scripture study and prayer and monitoring our thoughts and.
- 37:01And doing those kind things and saying those kind things and praying and praying for people, the more we do those and wear that armor, the more we are.
- 37:09We are binding ourselves to Christ.
- 37:11We are putting him on, and we are allowing him be the guide in our life.
- 37:17We are letting him prevail, so to speak, in all that we do.
- 37:21And as we do that, we will be able to overcome the world, be just as he did.
- 37:27He knows how to do it.
- 37:28And as we, as we put on that light, that armor of light, and become those being those disciples of peace, also lights and love and all of those fruits of the Spirit that He has, we will make a
- 37:41difference in the world one little light at a time.
- 37:44And I think that that's beautiful.
- 37:46Well, we're at the end.
- 37:49So my challenge for you today is to figure out how you can become a child of light, to put on Jesus Christ and to move forward in his work and maybe even pray to know what that work is.
- 38:02What is your mission that he has for you?
- 38:05Have a great week.
- 38:06We'll see you next time.
- 38:08Thanks for tuning in to Bible Women and Bathrobes, hosted by Women warriors of Light.
- 38:14We've loved exploring the stories of remarkable women or the teachings of the Savior.
- 38:20Today with you.
- 38:21If today's episode brought someone special to mind, be sure to spread the word and don't forget to hit that subscribe button.
- 38:29So you never miss a moment of inspiration and sisterhood.
- 38:33Just a friendly reminder.
- 38:35All opinions we share are entirely personal as we are trying to decipher and apply Bible teachings, just like you are.
- 38:43Until next time, stay faithful and may your journey be blessed and illuminated by God's love.