Laura: Hi, Sarah, and welcome to unsung stories. Thanks so much for joining us.

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Sarah: Hi, Laura. Thanks for having me.

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Laura: It's my pleasure. Just so that our listeners can get to know you a little bit more. Could you tell us a bit about you and your family life and just what regular, everyday life looks like for you?

 

Sarah: Yeah, sure. So I'm in my forties. I'm married to Ben. We've been married for 21. We've got four gorgeous boys. I have twins that are 16, a 13 year old and a 10 year old. So that's our family. I work part time as a town planner. So about four days a week, I help out with some ministry through our church and yeah, that's.

Greece and exercise in through the week. Then I do that too, but that's what life looks like for me and what my week looks like. Yeah.

 

Laura: So four boys, that's pretty amazing. And you're working and how do you manage to balance all of that?

 

Sarah: Yeah, it's full on. I, that I like it like that, but balance is probably one of those naughty words in the mother's fee,  cause I constantly say to my family, if we're multitasking, where that just means that we're doing multiple things badly, it doesn't mean that we've actually achieved balance. So I was thinking in juggling, it all is like juggling and. All of the different things that you have. So family and ministry and work and all of those things, they're all like juggling balls.

And some of those juggling balls are made of glass that you can't drop. And some of them are made of rubber balls. Yeah. You have to like bounce and let them go for a little while.

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Laura: That's a really good analogy.

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Sarah: Something that I've come to of late. Yeah. It's hard to achieve that balance. That's unattainable.

 

Laura: Yeah. Yeah. So I'd love to chat through all of these big things that you're juggling. But before we jump into that, I'd love to know how, or when did you become a Christian?

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Sarah: Yeah, so I was in my. Early twenties. So Ben and I had been dating through high school and I guess adult life, and we're getting serious and starting to talk about marriage.

He came from a Christian family and so talked to me one night about the fact that Jesus was important to him. And he wanted me in heaven with him. And confronted me with where did that I was with God confronted me with what he understood the gospel to be that if I didn't trust in Jesus, that I would be apart from him in eternity.

So meaning hell and that was a hugely confronting conversation, which led me to pursuing, knowing more about. I'd always believed in God as I was little, I'd been to Sunday school and scripture, so knew about God, but I didn't actually know where Jesus was in the picture, how he feels. And so went through church to life and few other kind of intro to Christianity courses and just really understood that I'm, wasn't a good person.

As I suspected that I was living a life that wasn't pleasing to God and that. Left to my own devices that I would be apart from him for eternity. And I sat through the gospel of mark with a friend and she led me to understand that it was actually quite a simple gift that Jesus had given us Yvette by dying on the cross.

My sins were forgiven and that I had a place with him in eternity and that I didn't contribute to that. My biggest thing was in my understanding faith was that I was a sinner. I had never grasped that before that hadn't been told to me before that I needed forgiveness. And that actually one of the most stunning parts of that gospel message was that actually I didn't bring or contribute anything to that.

Myself was a gift. Yeah. It was quite a stunning and simple message. Actually, if you repent and believe, then you will be saved. I still remember looking at that and going that can't be particularly

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Laura: when you've just been told that I'm not right with God and looking at where you will be spending eternity and that's the simple solution. It's nothing I can do.

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Sarah: Yeah, absolutely. And so my personality or. How do I get in and fix this and do this? Yeah. It's yeah, I put my trust in Christ at that time, before we got married, that was something that was significant for me to understand if we were to marry that would be big part of our life together.

Yeah, I'm thankful that God did that working in may, in both of us actually, so that we could start married life in that place. So

 

Laura: you mentioned that it was your personality to feel that you needed to do stuff to come to God. How did becoming a Christian affect your identity? In more ways than just becoming a Christian, but did it, you mentioned it impacted your marriage.

What about how you viewed work or just life going forward?

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Sarah: So, Quite significantly, because I'd never lived alongside Christian people who trusted in Jesus. And having come to the gospel and realized that there is an eternity that is real. That it matters how we live our life today. That turned everything on its head for me.

Two beautiful things that have come out of it for me is both that there is enormous purpose in this life. When it is weaved for God and that his purposes are grand and beautiful and that he wants us to be part of those is just amazing. And for that personality in me, that, wants those themes.

So thinking about identity, that's a beautiful gift that he gives us that he has grant purposes and that he wants us to be part of. But also. Peacefulness in that yes, this life matters and the decisions that we make matter in this life, but they're also pale in comparison to what's comes next. And what eternity is and the peacefulness of, thinking about marriage and work and those things that are important, but they not, everything.

Without attorney perspective, they become everything. But when you have that bigger picture of eternity, there's not the stress or there's a peacefulness. Yeah. There are a lot more

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Laura: I guess, insignificant.

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Sarah: Yes. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. There is a pace that comes with knowing that eternity's everything this is just for now.

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Laura: So you've been a Christian for 20 ish years now, over 20 years. What have you found the things in life that you wrestle with putting your identity in? Yeah, so I guess the things that we pale insignificant in terms of eternity, but that

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Sarah: are. Big Lewis that we want to be putting our identity. Yeah, absolutely.

And as women, there's lots of them, in this day and age we have work definitely for me, work has always been. Something that I'm trying to shove my identity into. I've always grown up with strong women around me who work hard, who strive ambitiously. That was certainly my generation's legacy or what are out of that as a legacy of feminism.

Yeah. Feminism strong women in the workplace in leaders, we can do it

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Laura: all at all.

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Sarah: Definitely that was a legacy for me.. Definitely motherhood in a different way and in a surprising way. Quite interestingly, I've never wanted kids.

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Laura: yeah.

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Sarah: That's, God's beautiful sense of humor or you think you want this is your best. And I keep coming back to my personality. To go all in. So if I'm going to do something, I will go all in for work and all in some other hoods. And there, there might be two, , where I want my identity to be found in those areas.

Oh, certainly where I've chased it. Yeah, definitely. What's so appealing about

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Laura: them for you. So in what ways do they tempt you to put your identity in them? Primarily? Why do you choose this?

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Sarah: I've chased them and do still chase them because they give me a value that the world tells me that I'm after or that I made.

The value is different. Work is a very tangible, very obvious, rewarding place to find value and meaning because you'd get praise and power and obviously financial benefits. And the world tells you that those things are key. How do I measure my success is how far up the ladder I am. I'm a nineties woman, so I want to be right at the top of the ladder.

And so for that, area of the world, It's an easy way to find your value. Being a mum is less obvious, but I still think there's trapping in. I find my value through how my kids present to the world and how I'm seen in my mothering. So not as overt, but definitely.

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Laura: And in Christian circles, we let the motherhood one slip a little bit too much because we value motherhood so highly.

And we value being mums that want to raise good. Christian kids go hard in disciple making with your kids and pointing them to Jesus and all of these good things. But they, and it is a good thing, but it can really slip in as. As a key identifier rather than who we are in. And I

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Sarah: see, motherhood was one that I just, I loved being a mom and.

It was a quick and easy one to fall down into that trap. You're right, because it is a good thing. The Bible does encourage us as women and we see so many good examples in the Bible of women who raise their children well and have impact on the lives of people around them, if they're faithful and good.

So you're right. They are good things to be pursuing. And if that's my legacy, then. My, that my children are faithful to Christ. Then that's a wonderful legacy that I leave, but you're right. It's also, it's too much for motherhood and our tuition to bear that we put all of our identity on them.

And that's an easier thing for me to see. Now in this stage of life where things aren't quite as perfect as what they potentially were when they were littler and our failures seen and evidence. And yeah, if our identities on our children that's too much for them to be they can't live up to that.

They're not strong enough to hold our whole identity, so it crushes them, but it also crushes us before. Being a mom while a lifelong thing, the investment in them is also temporary baker up and they move on. So it's also crushing for us to have our whole identity in how we parent and mother, and not be left with anything else.

And so whilst work and being a mum are two good things that God gives us without having that lens for eternity or the gospel. Over those things, you're right. They become dangerous and we take them too far. They're good things that God gives us, but we quickly pervert them when we ask too much of them.

When really only God is big enough to hold their identities. And may God is, he's our creator. He made us, he is far bigger than us. He's big enough to hold out a whole identity. Those are the things that he's given us.

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Laura: So you've touched on how we wonder from our identity being in, in God or looking through things with a gospel lens.

What do you, what does this mean and why does it matter?

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Sarah: So having a lens for the gospel or having that attorney's perspective is understanding our place in God's world, in his kingdom. And understanding what purpose he has for us in that. And as we live faithful lives in that it's orienting everything.

Every decision we make there began a small through that lens of who am I before CRI or before God what has Christ done for me in this? And how do I live in obedience to him in this, whatever this is. So that's the lens that, that's how I look. That's how I see it, which is of course huge and completely overwhelming.

But then we go to those beautiful passages that talk about Christ. Having completed the work we rely on his work. There's no condemnation for those moments where we feel. Inadequate to leave even to live in Christ's kingdom, to be part of his kingdom work. That's no condemnation. Prostate is sufficient for us.

He has a will bring us to completion all those beautiful promises that we have at an inheritance already kept for us in heaven that will never perish, spoil or fade. We have those promises of assurance now. Where we fail at leaving faithfully when we wobble. And, even when we were Rocky, get meets all through that lens of my relationship with Christ.

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Laura: And this and that. So comforting, when we do get tempted to put our identity in the other big identifiers in the world, whether it's work motherhood as a wife, whatever we are going to fail at all of those things. And there's no. There's no sweetness and there's no assurance.

Work can just be taken away, someone else could get that promotion or somebody will get up and tell our kids or our kids, don't want to, there's so many things, but when we're living with Jesus, even when the bad things happen, like you're saying we have full assurance in what Jesus did for us. It's not on us.

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Sarah: You're right. It is. God does promise that in those times of sheer weakness and misery there, the times that he uses for great growth. And I guess if COVID does teach us anything, it is that our relationship of Christ is sure.

And first locked down. That was definitely my big lesson when things were being taken away from me. That was the solid rock that I had. That was that, that I only piece of Eternity and hope that we had. Yeah,

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Laura: that's beautiful.

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Sarah: Why does it matter? I was thinking about this in one sense. Actually it matters for everything. It's huge. If we deny who we are as creatures of God then we're actually denying, crossed. In one sense, that's everything. We're denying the gospel. He has bought us for a price.

And so if we deny him we're denying the gospel. Yeah. Yeah. So it's, it matters. It matters for Trinity that our identities rise. Plus there's the practical side of things, as we've talked about already, it identities in everything that we do. So it's. It's every day, it's the big picture of eternity, but it's everyday.

It's how I speak to my husband. It's how I relate with my children. How do I go off to work? Yeah, so it's, it matters hugely. But when you say it's huge, it's that overwhelming part? But we come back to, there is no condemnation. Christ is sufficient. We have grace in our lives.

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Laura: That's really beautiful. So what does the Bible say about who we are or what does God say?

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Sarah: Thinking about what the Bible has to say about who we are and identity.

When you list down all of the words that God uses to describe us as those that are now he's, that are redeemed, it's this beautiful, intimate least of relational words. So we're adopted we've been troved. That's beautiful to be these things. We're a child of the heavenly creator that, Hey, who flung stars into the sky, seeks me out to hear my kids and needs that just continues to blow me away with his son the beautiful picture of the prodigal son.

Which is in Luke chapter 15, this beautiful image of this father who waits patiently for his son to return home. I'm not expecting him to come home, but runs out in it's embarrassing and ridiculous public display. When the son who we are, that's who we are in that story where the prodigal son who returns.

Yeah, embarrassed as himself with such great affection and love. That's the God that chases us down. , yeah, there's just the one in Ephesians that we talk about lots in our family that God uses. I forget which verse it's chapter two or three, where God uses the broken church. To hold up to the heavenly beings to say, look at what I do.

This is what I do. He uses us as his bragging rights to the heavenly realms. I just think that's that to ask that too. We ought to be Scott it's. Yeah, it's it's amazing to use a word that is overused.

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Laura: Yes, and I find it quite humbling because so often I still try to make myself amazing for God and just to get so humbled and a little bit embarrassed actually to come to God and be , oh, totally put myself on a pedestal and thought, and either I get embarrassed by my prayers. I can't believe I prayed that to you. How proud I was

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Sarah: and that you still do,

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Laura: Holds me up, even

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Sarah: though I look like

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Laura: a mumbling bumbling fool in front of you. Yes, I, you said that we're children of God. And as, as you were saying that, I was , yes, I really am a child of God. I'm not is wise does amazing things

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Sarah: in comparison to we, we get that because we have that affection for our children and, a desire for good things for them. They're all those things that they are ours for

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Laura: as with cross.

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Sarah: So yeah. You think about the things you think for your children. God has

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Laura: those for us. Does that love

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Sarah: as well? Yeah,

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Laura: you're right.

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Sarah: Another big one is . This is more to, for when I have doubt or when I when I doubt the goodness of the message that I've, that I know is to remember that it's staked in history. That's a really significant part when you're overwhelmed by the idea of eternity or Contemplating the bigness of heaven and hell.

And those matters. We can actually chase this down to a man who lived in history in our world. And our identity was at that moment on the cross. That's when our identity was made formed and that we can trace it through history, makes it relatable to us. It brings it into our world. Into a tangible time and place.

And that also there's a peacefulness and a a sobriety that comes with that's the moment that our identity was created and filled. So we don't need to keep chasing these other things it's actually completed and done for. We have all of those things that we just talked about.

We have that inheritance. We are those children. We are the betrothed. We are the elected and adopted all of those words. That mean we, we are in Christ. Now. We are part of his kingdom. We are part of his purposes part of his church family. There's no waiting for those things. But other things that we chase after in our identity, may never come to fruition.

We may pursue them our whole lives and they never fight. They never land. Whereas we have this inheritance now and it's sure, and it's it's certain which is very different to those other things. So that's a helpful Landing place when the bigness of all of these things feels too much.

 

Laura: And do you have any practical tips for orientating ourselves to the truth? I'm just thinking they are amazing things that we need to be remembering and need to be having a. The lens that we see everything through, but just as you live everyday life and you do juggle kids and work and everything going on, it's so easy to forget to let the other things pop up.

So yeah. What have you found over the years? That's helped. To keep coming back to them. And I

 

Sarah: think that's really helpful. Cause it is an active there's so many places in the Bible that tell us that we, while God has promised these things for us, we are involved in it. And he calls us to work at our what is it?

What can our salvation in fear and trembling remind ourselves. Paul says so many times, remind yourself. Yeah, I remember that's right.

 

Laura: Even back in the old Testament, ,

 

Sarah: yeah. So I have a big ride all over your home person. Nice to know

 

Laura: humanity. Hasn't changed from

 

Sarah: Deuteronomy. Sorry. I, and I am still that person that I literally need the word in front of me all the time.

Otherwise I will wander for day. And ignore it, or so definitely we have Bible verses all over our house. In part two, I'm a visual learner. So if I just have them up everywhere, it used to be quite a funny thing. People would come to our house and in our toilet we have all of these Bibles.

That's the place where you remember things. But yeah, so definitely just being saturated in God's word, in that life of faithfulness, which is grounded in his word. Beyond that too. It's faithful Christian life. So it's it's podcasts, Christian podcasts, which, you can share stories and hear how the word has impacted on other people and have a live Christian lives.

I was a non-Christian for 20 years of my life, and now I'm raising children who I've never seen him. Bible time if kids or teach them the Bible or loved my husband in a way that that shows the Bible. Coming to life in our heart. So we need each other we need good friendships.

And women are older and younger than us so that we can see them doing life faithfully in different stages. They would be big things of late I've been reading old Christian biographies and. Just saying how people in the past have lived faithful lives and what that looks like for them.

So yeah, it's a matter of actively pursuing relationship with Christ. It doesn't come by saying I'm a Christian and then putting the cruise control on, or draws us to himself. He wants, you wants us. For himself. As Christian women we need to be proactive in pursuing that relationship.

like we would pursue any other relationship. We need to give time to it. So it's prayer and Bible time.

 

Laura: And I even just, prioritizing our weight to be around being a part of a church community, being part of people who live out Jesus. Okay. I carve out Bible study time and.

Going to church on a Sunday. That kind of makes it easier when things come up, , do we do nippers or for other things, it's , no that's what we sent her our week around.

 

Sarah: Not other in family life that you have those items, as you say in your calendar.

 

Laura: And that's, that sets the tone rather than other interests that we have. Filling up. Yeah.

 

Sarah: Because everything is fluid and could be moved around. And you could Ms. Church one week and then one week becomes two. And then as you say, you're at your sport every Sunday and it becomes, you're now no longer communicating or you no longer connecting with God's community, God's family. Yeah.

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Laura: Or even just the self-discipline I noticed with COVID, it's very easy to not watch church on a Sunday morning because it is hard with kids and I would often say, oh, I'll just listen to the podcasts throughout the week. And it's very rare that I actually did listen to the podcast throughout the week or I'd be scrambling Saturday night.

That sort of thing that you think you're going to be more self-disciplined

 

Sarah: anyway. Yeah. Look, that's the fruit of the spirit, isn't it? It's that self control of knowing who we are, knowing that we are broken human beings and that we won't do this well. God has given us the beautiful structure of church and meeting regularly and being accountable to each other that that we do those things almost on autopilot.

But it is also a discipline, but that they

 

Laura: actually are foundational parts of living as a Christian, not out of rules, but out of, yeah, just accountability and that's who we are. As God's people who want to be sitting under his word, learning more about him and being part of community.

 

Sarah: Absolutely. Our identity is that we are his kingdom. And we are family. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. And that's what connects us and draws us under the headship of our Lord. Yeah. So it would be denying our part of our identity in Christ to not be together.

 

Laura: Yeah, that's beautiful. Hey Sarah, so

 

Sarah: how would you suggest we

 

Laura: navigate this whole having a voice and feminism and actually working and, it's good to work and climb the ladder, that sort of thing.

But how would we navigate that as a Christian woman?

 

Sarah: Yeah, beautifully. This is something that has been Knowing my history, something that I constantly wrestle with I constantly prickle over particular chapters in the Bible. But beautifully over the years in looking at these things, the Bible actually has much grander and.

More beautiful picture of womanhood than what feminism can ever bring and what equality can ever achieve. And that sounds a little bit like a Christian platitude or apologetic, but as someone who's grown up in a generation and generations to follow and more pointedly of light, the idea of equality between men and women.

The Bible's perspective on that is beautiful in that it actually honors women for who they are. And. Upholds them for the things that God has made them as uniquely and powerfully for women only rather than trying to measure them by a standard that potentially was created through a man's vision of the world.

So as women to to look at how do we live faithfully in a world that is changing? I guess underneath our feet, the idea of what womanhood should be and has been for a while. So that's not new. But he's changing it quite starkly. I've late. It's the same principle that we navigate all of our issues in terms of work and being a mom.

And we come back to the gospel and we come back to those granting truths or. Who I, who am I in Christ? What does the Bible say? Who I am which has lots to say on who we are as women. There's a lot of misinformation about what the Bible says about women in popular culture. So it's good to come across these beautiful moments in the Bible that actually drill down into.

In really deep and profound ways that you wouldn't expect they show us powerful women who are living fateful lives as Queens of ancient nations, but all, or as a servant. And what that looks like for those two women is fundamentally the same in that. They will, are living faithful to who God has made us to be.

What is the Bible state he has made us for? Christ has redeemed us for that purpose. For me, as a woman who grew up pursuing feminism To to chase after the equality that I so wanted for women actually leaves me feeling quite empty or that version of feminism is quite inadequate to what the gospel offers and what the Bible sees as women who follow God and what God.

Desires or esteems in women is far more profound than what feminism office.

 

Laura: I also feel with the Bible offers so much beauty and grace and rest, and just this nice cushion he placed the land, whereas feminists. At least my experience and observations of it is that we've got a fight.

It's a battle and , sometimes it's a good thing and I'm really thankful for feminism of course, but it's not that soft and cushiony thing. So if that's what you're dedicating your life to it.

 

Sarah: It's pretty abroad and they say there's a real, ugly induct side to it that if you are so captured up into that it can be quite quite dangerous, as women of God to be caught up in that, you're right.

There's beautiful and good things that have come from women being treated equally in the world. Absolutely. But, yeah there's a dark age to that. That also brings a lot of perversity and and evil even digging too far down.

 

Laura: And just want to explicitly say that neither of us here are saying that the Bible doesn't say that women and men aren't equal, we are equally in our worth and value just that we have different roles and different ways of expressing our beauty and goodness and qualities that we bring to life.

Just like men have different qualities that are amazing in their own way. So we believe. We have equal value. Yeah. That's not what we're talking about

 

Sarah: for saying that is good to good to bring to the fore that we are equally valued by God equally made in Coez yeah, that's right.

 

Laura: Yeah. Yeah, whether it's being a wife or a mom or a business owner or an influencer, or all the other tempting identifiers out there and that we're all gonna wander down at some point or another. What biblical truths would you encourage us to clean to?

 

Sarah: Yeah, and definitely we. And there are some that will be tempting for us for our whole lives. But we will keep wandering down that same path that we've been down before. So the things that we've talked about already who are we in Christ? What has he done for us? What does he say does for his purposes in the Bible for what we what we saved for.

But it's also helpful to think about when we are chasing down those roads. And certainly something that I've learned to help me when I'm heading down those roads. I'm still not at the point where I'm not going down those rights, but look at what I'm chasing after what's the under what's the need that's not being met when I'm chasing down the path of career or.

Mother notoriety or I want to say what promise of God do I not feel has been answered by what I'm chasing pole? That's what I'm trying to say. Does that make sense? What promise of God do has not been met by me running after this thing?

I'm running after something, then I have a doubt in my mind that one of the God's promises has not been sufficient for me in that area, which is a lie.

So that's something that I would ask myself.

This is what I preach to myself saying this is what's

 

Laura: makes me do we think

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Sarah: so little of all Christ did for us that we think yeah. Scenes of greater than grace. Yeah. That's not quite it. Yeah. It's the same premise though. I'm chasing after something that God has an answer for, but I've either forgotten that or I've convinced myself of a lie that God's promise is not sufficient for that.

Yeah. God's premise is not sufficient for these things that I am chasing up.

 

Laura: I was just thinking what do you do when you're in that spot?

 

Sarah: Yeah. PRI can face, there's power in understanding that you are chasing it that.

That's pretty humbly. Yeah. There's a sinfulness in that too. Like it's not an innocence to that too. That's helpful to, to understand that there is an element of seen in that, that needs to come before God and to be repented all. But also that whole idea of preaching to you.

So God's truth Romans eight various nano condemnation for those who are in Christ because we will chase down those rabbit holes constantly. And some will get less, some rabbit holes will close off because God will put them under his authority and power in our lives. Yeah. So understanding that there is a scene element to that and confessing that and bringing that to cross knowing that you are no longer bound to condemnation.

 

Laura: That's really helpful. Do you have any advice or encouragement as we're wrestling with these things?

 

Sarah: Yeah, so to bring it to God in prayer he knows the desires of our hearts and beautifully has given us all different things that we will chase and wrestle with. He knows. When I'm chasing down my career and wanting it to give me the value and credibility or authority, whatever those things are. He knows that they're on my heart. He knows that I want them. He knows that either. They're not good for me, so he's not giving them to me.

Or he knows that he will use them in such a way that will be for his good purpose. So there is goodness in, having that reflection. Yeah. Things that I do chase after I'm bringing it back to him in prayer and confession. Sharing life as Christian women together, we will all struggle with different things, but there will be common elements.

As Christian moms sit together. You feel a legacy of how do you bring your parenting under Christ? How do you be a mother who is faithful? How do you be a wife who is safe or there are those things that we share together. And as we share those lives together, as we're called to do we will share with each other, the truth of the gospel in how we live it.

Life with each other. We will pray for each other. We will share scripture and encouragement. We will share good doctrine with each other. So that's a really powerful names of encouraging each other as women. If we think about it as women, but even broadly in the community, we do that for each other as well.

 

Laura: Yeah, that's beautiful.

 

Sarah: Heavenly father, we thank you that you have given us the blessing of life of mercy.

We thank you that you draw us together under your sun. That in him, we can know we are children that are redeemed and known by you that you desire relationship with us in such staggering ways that you chase us out with a love that. Yeah, we just, we don't recognize it's so overwhelming. Lord, we thank you for the truth of your gospel and for the sweet relief.

It brings as we put a lens that gospel lens over all aspects of life Lord, knowing we don't need to chase after these other things that are small by comparison to your vision of eternity, Lord. But we do come up against them each and every day they are. In lots of ways, gifts from you as we are given marriage or children or work or whatever circumstance of life that you've put us in Lord.

There are things that we come up against that we seek to put our whole identities in rather than keeping them, keeping that identity in you. Lord, we know that you are sure us, that you have. Saved us that you are redeeming us, that you are drawing us to a kingdom of people in your name. But Lord, as we wrestle with the things in this world that are flashy and immediate, so we chase after them.

But we pray that you would fix our eyes on. That you would help us to come to you in confession where it's needed, help us to lean on your sweet mercy and grace, both those words of mouth, no more condemnation such a powerful bomb. When we feel a sense of failure or an inadequacy to leave for you to.

Put aside the things of this world. So we thank you for your word that gives us those powerful messages, thought that we've talked about. Lord, we thank you that your message helps us know you helps us know your son and the work that he's done for us on the cross Lord. We pray as each and every one of us struggles with different temptations in this world.

As we seek to. Chase after the things that can never complete or fulfill us in the same way that knowing you will we pray that you would help us to lean on each other. When we feel these temptations, when we feel weary from fighting these temptations. We pray for each other. We would be vulnerable and truthful as we share our struggles together that we wouldn't be ashamed of those things that tempt us Lord, cause we're all in that same position.

And we know that your grace is mighty and then all of these temptations, Lord, we pray that you would help us to remain faithful in your word to come to you quickly in repentance. But also knowing that we're here, we have the ear of a heavenly father. We pray that we would be diligent in working at remaining faithful to you to keeping our identity fixed firmly in your attorneys vision.

Lord, we pray that you would help us to encourage each other as we do this each and every day, God help us to continue to turn areas of our lives over to you. We know with confidence law that you are doing that work through your holy spirit. Amen.

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