WHAT not why
This is a space for believers to journey together in the quest of asking God WHAT instead of why. What He wants us to do with all we go through, bad or good, is really the power of testimony that redeems and changes the world. Together we will read scripture and hear powerful examples of how shifting our question to what changed lives and made us new in His glory.
WHAT not why
Reframing Self-Worth Through God’s Unwavering Love
Have you ever felt like your past mistakes have permanently altered your worth? Imagine seeing yourself not as a crumpled piece of paper, but as a beautiful flower or a meticulously crafted piece of pottery. Join us as we explore this transformative shift from “why” to “what” through the lens of Isaiah 43:1-4, revealing how God’s unwavering love and redemption reframe our self-worth and cast off the damaging narratives of purity culture. We dismantle the harmful analogies of being “smudged glass” and embrace the truth of our divine beauty and complexity, no matter our past.
Through powerful stories of personal transformation, such as the Apostle Paul’s journey from persecutor to pivotal New Testament figure, we uncover how even the darkest parts of our stories can be redeemed for a greater purpose. Embrace a mindset of hope and potential as we challenge self-condemnation and celebrate being called by name with a unique purpose. Tune in to hear personal journeys, share your own, and contribute to this empowering dialogue that highlights God’s redemptive power in our lives. Let's shift towards a future filled with hope and potential, rooted in divine love.
Hey everybody, welcome to the first episode of what, not why. God's placed it on my heart to be asking the question what instead of why. I think why is a really common question. We wanna ask why me? Why do they do that, why this, why that? And that's our human nature to ask why. But I think there's so much power in asking what.
Speaker 1:So this podcast will be a series of looking through the Bible and applying to our life situations where we can ask what instead of why and see the power of testimony of scripture, of stories, and how we can reframe the hard things, the good things, all the things that happen to us, into a what, to show glory to God instead of a why. So we'll start with looking at scripture and then eventually have some cool guests on. So today let's get right into it and we're going to dive into the first what that I got from God and how it changed my life. So we'll read together Isaiah 43, one to four. But now thus says the Lord who created you, Jacob, and who formed you, israel do not fear, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass through waters, I will be with you. Through rivers, you shall not be swept away. And I know it's a really common verse and I think even if we just can break it down and look at it, we can see that God is not giving us any whys. He's not saying why he formed us. He's not saying why we don't fear. He's saying what is the truth. What has he done for us? He's redeemed us. He's called. Saying why we don't fear. He's saying what is the truth, what has he done for us? He's redeemed us. He's called us by name. He's formed us. We're his. We're passing through waters, we're not getting swept away.
Speaker 1:God wants us just to see what's in front of us and focus on what can we do with what's happened to us? And there's so many answers. That would only be something we gather in heaven. But when we keep our mission simple and think what can we do with the resources we've had, that's where it starts to really be something that in our short time on earth, we glorify God. And wherever you are in your faith journey, or if you have no faith background at all, we have to keep in mind that this earth, it's just a little blip, it's one second, one blink in the eternity we have. So whatever happens to us here, it really is just one blink in all of eternity and when you really believe that and I know when I really started to believe that it changed everything about the way I lived my life.
Speaker 1:So the first example of how this really formed me is the idea of purity culture and I'll kind of break it down in a really simple, quick way, because I know we got busy lives and I appreciate everyone just taking a few minutes out of their day to listen to this and start the conversation on this, because there's been so much information about purity culture that is so toxic so we're just going to have a few minute chat about flipping that on its head. So a common thing that church will say for purity culture is they'll say somebody is like a piece of paper or you know, a glass with no smudges, and each person you're with, each time that you sin and you do something sexual, then you know there's crinkles in the paper or there's smudges on your glass. But if we think about that, eventually you just become this crumpled piece of paper and that's not how God sees you. The reality is is, no matter what you've done, no matter how many bad decisions you've made and, honestly, we know most women statistically, a lot of those lines on the paper. They weren't our choice. I know me personally, the horrific things I walked through, a lot of the purity I lost. That wasn't my choice to lose it.
Speaker 1:So we think about how the church will make it seem like there's this crumpled up piece of paper. You know, and all the things you've done, whether it's just one night making out with some strangers at a bar, all the way to abortion, the things that you've done. The goal of the enemy is to make you feel so dirty and so crumpled up that you could never go into a church or tell someone the things you've done because you feel like that crumpled paper. But that's not the gospel. The gospel is that we have a savior who came down and he loved us so much that he saw that crumpled piece of paper that smudged up glass, all that dirtiness, and he said you're mine, i've've redeemed you, I've called you by name and he's not ashamed to call your name, to say that he has formed you. He created you with a purpose of all the people. He created you because the world needed you. You are so special. He loves you the way that a parent who is so obsessed with their child loves their child.
Speaker 1:And all of those lines, that purity, culture, that the church, that other people told you make you too dirty, too unlovable. They're not true. All of those different lines in your story. Jesus doesn't deny that they happened. It's not like you become a blank piece of paper again or a fresh glass. Instead, you become a flower or something new that has a lot of curves and a lot of bends and a lot of lines, or an elaborate piece of pottery with all these different lines and curves. And he uses those places that you thought were broken and thought were dirty. And instead of being that blank piece of paper, you're now a white rose and that's got so much more fullness, so much more complexity. And just because there's lines and crevices, it doesn't mean you're less than the, the new creation Jesus creates you to be. You're more, you're in fullness, you're in beauty and you're made new. And that's for everybody, that's for every single person, every single person listening. He has called you, formed you, redeemed you. He's there for you, has called you, formed you, redeemed you. He's there for you Even in your darkest moments. He is there, holding you, loving you.
Speaker 1:So when we go about our day today, think about the idea of purity culture and the way that it's been warped and the way that it's been weaponized. But really how, instead of telling people they're that crumpled up piece of paper and they're too dirty, too unlovable, tell them that they can be made new, that all those parts in their story are redeemable. If you think about the bible and you think about Paul before he became who he was called to be, he murdered Christians, or he at least organized the murdering of Christians and was responsible for the death of all sinners. But the idea is that all of these bad things in our past just later can be used by God to make you all the more glorious. So if you think about how even someone who was responsible for murders became the person who is the author of 13 books of the New Testament and someone that is quoted at most weddings with a definition of love, being patient and being kind, and that is just all the more powerful, knowing where Paul came from and think about your story, and the lower the place you come from, all the more powerful it can be to when you're on the other side. So this is just the beginning.
Speaker 1:That's just one little fraction and we're going to be sharing more and more stories and more and more detail about going from the why to the what. So so if you guys have ideas of people that you want as guests or topics or Bible passage, or you want to share a testimony of how you went from a why me situation to what can I do with this God, then send me a DM, message me, because I really want us to start thinking about the what. And this is just the very first start of one of the most powerful what's in my life Is, instead of saying over myself all of the horrible things that happened to me in my sexual past, I can say all of the beautiful ways it has made me look at someone and never think anyone is beyond redemption, never think anyone is too dirty or unlovable, and just thinking of how that changes people. So catch you later, have a good day and try and look through the scripture, through a prayer life, and ask God what he wants you to do.
