The Proverbs 31 Ministries Podcast

Kaley Olsen:
Hi, friends. Thanks for joining us for another episode of The Proverbs 31 Ministries Podcast, where we share biblical Truth for any girl in any season. I'm your host Kaley Olson. And I'm here with my friend and guest, co-host Ashley Jackson. Hey, Ashley.

Ashley Jackson:
Hey, how are you?

Kaley Olsen:
I am doing great. I'm laughing right now because you and I, right before this, were talking about TikTok and how Proverbs 31 Ministries is staying trendy with the times.

Ashley Jackson:
Yes.

Kaley Olsen:
Friends, we're super-trendy over here and we're staying trendy with times. And
Ashley's one of the gals on the Social Media Team, here at Proverbs, who is getting to experiment with the TikTok. And I say that as a 31-year-old calling it the TikTok. I think once you cross over thirties, you add “the” before things like the Walmart, the Kroger, the TikTok. But Ashley, will you give our audience a little sneak peek into some of the content that you're working on for TikTok? What are some trends that you're loving?

Ashley Jackson:
Yeah. Honestly, the trends will not be trends by the time this comes out because they change so fast.

Kaley Olsen:
Yeah. That's very true.

Ashley Jackson:
But we are really working on really targeting to younger Christian woman for TikTok because that is who's hanging out there. So we are trying to share some things like, how to stay relevant in your relationship with Christ when you go to college.

Kaley Olsen:
That's great.

Ashley Jackson:
Yeah, we're going to also just give some tips and insights about how to pray during certain seasons of your life. So we'll do some fun and some trending sounds, but we also want to really share some helpful biblical content as well, as we do.

Kaley Olsen:
Yeah. Yeah. Actually I mean, I know that we're laughing about this right now, but I do want to pause and just recognize the importance of staying relevant in today's culture so that we can reach women where they are with the gospel and the mission. And if people are on the TikTok, we're going to the TikTok and we are going to bring the gospel to them.

Ashley Jackson:
That's right.

Kaley Olsen:
And so it might be something that we're laughing at and that we're kind of trying out. And I know that it's going to be super fun, but I just want to say, I'm proud of you. I'm proud of our ministry for just trying new things and being willing to say yes, even if that leads us in a direction like this, that we're just saying, OK, we're going to figure it out. And I'm excited about it. So Ashley, where can people find us on TikTok?

Ashley Jackson:
Yeah. So just Proverbs 31 Ministries.

Kaley Olsen:
There you go.

Ashley Jackson:
That's the simple tag.

Kaley Olsen:
There you go. So listeners out there, if you're on the TikTok, go look us up, follow along and you might see Ashley’s face. But Ashley, I know that speaking of ways that we want to reach women, I think that you have a resource that you wanted to highlight for our listeners.

Ashley Jackson:
Yeah. Actually, before we get into today's teaching, which is amazing, I wanted to tell you about this awesome resource that we have for you. A question that I've been talking about a lot with the team here at work and really even ourselves is, “Do we struggle with comparing ourselves?” Because on the TikTok and on the Instagram and on all the things it's so easy to see other people's lives, and we think, “Oh, compared to them, I am now judging myself as I don't have enough. I'm not doing enough.” And I start questioning my value. I think we all kind of know that in some degree.

Ashley Jackson:
But if that is you, I really would love to share this free resource with you. And it will really speak to who God says you are, because that is the most important thing we kind of have to get back into … Yeah, who does God say I am? When culture is telling me this is important, what does God say is important? It's called, “Truth for When You Question Who You Are,” it is absolutely free. And it's in our show notes for today's episode @proverbs31.org/listen.

Kaley Olsen:
Yeah, such a good resource. So be sure to check out the show notes for today's episode. And in today's episode, you're going to hear from a new friend to the ministry. Her name is
Lauren McAfee. And for those of you feeling worn out in the day-to-day, and like
Ashley said, struggling with who you are and maybe getting lost in that and comparing yourselves to others. Or maybe getting lost in the grind of living and just doing all the things like we do as women and moms and people who are in the world working, this teaching from
Lauren, I know for me, was such a refreshment and centering teaching. Teaching to be able to listen to remind me of my purpose in Christ and why I do what I do, which is so good. So friends let's jump into our conversation with Lauren.

Kaley Olsen:
All right, friends. We're excited to get to spend some time today with our new friend
Lauren McAfee. Hi, Lauren.

Lauren McAfee:
Hi. Thanks for having me.

Kaley Olsen:
We are so excited you're here. And guys, Lauren is joining us from Oklahoma City, but you're going to love it whenever I tell you this, not only Oklahoma City, but she's joining us from the Hobby Lobby corporate office. And I know I'm a Hobby Lobby fan. Lauren's laughing, but I just have to say this — Hobby Lobby for me, especially after becoming a mom, is one of those places that I go to just kind of get lost for a little while, and I leave with something always.

Ashley Jackson:
Amen. Amen.

Kaley Olsen:
Yeah. Yeah. Ashley's amening us, because it's a place that I can go and get lost, but I can feel good about getting lost there because I know that Hobby Lobby is a place that also has the same values that I have as a believer. That's so cool. And I know I found this out before you joined us, that you work in the corporate office as their Ministry Coordinator, which is really, really cool that they get back into the ministry.

Kaley Olsen:
But you're also a gal who wears a lot of hats. You're a wife, you're a mom, you're an author and communicator. You work at Hobby Lobby, which we've established and you're getting your PhD. So my first question for you,
Lauren, is when do you sleep?

Lauren McAfee:
Well … I actually love getting sleep, so it just takes a little bit of discipline.

Kaley Olsen:
That's amazing. That's amazing. OK. And then, because I said that I love a good Hobby Lobby trip. I want to know when you walk into Hobby Lobby as a customer, what's your favorite section of the store?

Lauren McAfee:
Oh man. You know what … if I'm with my daughter, usually in the craft section is where we hang out. She's four years old and she's just super into making all the things. But if it's just me, I usually am loving walking through the home decor or that section with the baskets and the organizational things. I love just walking through that space. It's the best.

Kaley Olsen:
Yeah, absolutely. I do have a secret for Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby is where I get all of my plain t-shirts. The Comfort Colors brand, you can go and get those big oversized plain t-shirts. And so I think that might be a Gen Z thing that I might be keeping up with the trends there, but that's my favorite secret about Hobby Lobby at the current moment.

Lauren McAfee:
I absolutely have done the same thing. And I like that they have Comfort Colors, but they also have some other brands of just like plain t-shirts so that if the Comfort Colors isn't your vibe, you can find the other styles and the other fits.

Kaley Olsen:
It's the best. So I love it. It's the best.

Ashley Jackson:
OK. Next, before we go into your teaching,
Lauren, we have to hear a little bit about this conference that you have coming up, which sounds so amazing. It's happening November 3 and 4, and it's called the Lumina conference, happening in Washington, DC at the Museum of the Bible, which sounds amazing. Will you tell our friends listening a little about that?

Lauren McAfee:
Yeah, I'd love to. So I am super excited about this women's conference. You mentioned it's Lumina, which means light. But the conference is going to be an amazing women's conference where you have the typical: You've got your great speakers. You've got a great worship leader. So we're going to have Jen Wilkin speaking and teaching from the Bible. We're going to have Nicole C. Mullen leading us in worship. We also are going to have testimonials, and I'm going to be there hosting.

Lauren McAfee:
But one of the really cool things about this conference is that you're not only going to get that wonderful conference experience where you're alongside other ladies who are wanting to dive into Scripture and worship the Lord, but you're also going to be taken on a personal guided tour of Museum of the Bible.

Lauren McAfee:
So for people that don't know what Museum of the Bible is, it's one of the top 10 largest museums in Washington, DC. It's right off the National Mall. It's like two blocks from this Smithsonian Air and Space museum. You can see the Capitol building from the top of the museum building. So it's right there in D.C. But this is a museum that was open in 2017. It's a beautiful new space. The architecture is amazing.

Lauren McAfee:
But within the museum, it tells the stories of the narrative of the Scripture. People can kind of walk through that narrative floor, understand the high level story of what the Bible is telling, kind of the metanarrative. And you can also walk through the history floor, which shows all kinds of artifacts. So you've got early manuscripts. You've got Dead Sea scrolls. You have manuscripts with beautiful illuminations from kind of the medieval ages. It's really cool to get to see those artifacts and understand the history of the Bible and how it has journeyed through time to become what we have when we have it today. And then you'll also get to understand the impact of the Bible on our world.

Lauren McAfee:
So it's an amazing experience. Women will not only get to hear teaching, worship the Lord, but they'll also have an experiential environment to get immersed in the Bible. So women should come. Women are going to love it. I'm super excited. So it's November 3 and 4 in Washington, D.C., luminawomen.org is the website if people want information.

Kaley Olsen:
That's amazing. That's amazing. I love hearing about different organization's visions to really get women into the Word of God and just how it aligns so much here with what we're doing at Proverbs 31 too. Because we say all the time — when you know the truth and live the truth, it changes everything. And what an incredible opportunity to really have a hands-on experience and be immersed in God's Words, through the Museum of the Bible. I think it's really cool.

Kaley Olsen:
And so guys hang out after the teaching. We'll tell you more about how you can find out more about the Lumina conference afterwards. But
Lauren, you have a teaching planned for us today, and we don't want to waste any more time getting to that. So please go ahead and share with us what's on your heart.

Lauren McAfee:
Awesome. Thanks so much. So yeah, such a joy to get to share this morning and I'm going to be teaching from the scripture, from Genesis. But first I want to talk about Harry Potter. Yep, Harry Potter. So my family enjoys Harry Potter. And I don't know if that offends some people, if so, I'm sorry. But we're fans. My husband and I are students. We're both PhD students, both studying ethics and public policy. So we like to have music on while we're studying. And because music with words can be distracting to me, I like to have a good instrumental or a soundtrack. And so the soundtrack that has dominated our study sessions has been the Harry Potter soundtrack.

Kaley Olsen:
That's amazing.

Lauren McAfee:
I love it. I recommend it. So people might be familiar with Harry Potter in that they have the seven books, but they were turned into eight films. So my husband would like to say, “four really bad films and four pretty good films.” I happen to like them all, bad ones and good ones. Despite product quality, I think they're all fantastic, and the soundtracks have been the major part of my studies.

Lauren McAfee:
So if you're really clued in though, you also probably know that there is a Harry Potter Mecca, which is the Universal Studios; the recreation of Hogwarts and the village outside of Hogwarts, which is the Wizarding World. And so this may sound irrelevant to many of you and you're probably right, but to me, it's super fun. And from our experience at the Universal Harry Potter world, one of the best experiences while you're there is that you can actually "perform magic" if you purchase the interactive wand that is sold there in the park.

Lauren: McAfee
The wands only work in Harry Potter world and they don't do that much. But the good news for Universal is that there are plenty of people, like me, who are way too willing to pay for an overpriced wand that's easily broken. They are hard to resist because how can you resist getting the chance to do magic? So the one way that you can break it though, is if you scratch the tip of the wand, which has the little device that actually makes the magic work. But it's easily breakable. So they kind of warn you of this whenever you buy it.

Lauren McAfee:
So the one day, me and my daughter Zion we're at Harry Potter world and one of her favorite things was getting to pick the wand and then go do the magic. So she picks out a wand, we walk out of the wand shop and she has the wand in her hand. And the first thing she does instead of trying to do magic, she puts the wand down as if it were a cane or a walking stick with that tip of that wand smashed up against the ground. She's pretending like she's walking like an old lady with a cane.

Lauren McAfee:
And so the wand, which is way overpriced and is now our prized delicate possession of the McAfee family, and she's doing the one thing that could easily break that tip by scraping it on the ground and pretending to lean on it. So I'm stressed out. I'm trying to correct her nicely. Like, "Hey, hey, that's not what you do. This is how you handle the wand.” And I want her to use it correctly, because I love my daughter. And I want her to have the experience of the joy of pretending that magic is real.

Lauren McAfee:
So Zion, using the wand as a cane, wasn't the intended purpose for which her wand was created. She was misusing the wand that was created to bring her joy by pretending magic is real, but only if it's used correctly. She was still having fun with her wand. But because she wasn't playing with the wand properly, she was not able to receive the maximum or the intended joy. And she was running that risk of breaking it all together.

Lauren McAfee:
So at this point, you're probably wondering why I've just spent three minutes talking about Harry Potter. But the point here that I want to make is that Zion, in not using the wand the way it was created to be used, can be similar in how we look at our lives. When you and I live contrary to God's law and design, we're like a child misusing a priceless wand like it was a broken branch. And sin has affected us so much that we don't live according to the purpose for which we were created.

Lauren McAfee:
So the purpose for which something exists is set only by the one who creates it. We offend our Maker who, as a Creator, who gets to set the purpose for all of the things He creates. We offend Him when we take what He has called good and we call its intended purpose not good enough. When we take what God has made to bring Him glory and use it instead to accomplish some form of happiness apart from Him, we worship a false God and we're guilty of idolatry. And not only that, we rob ourselves of the joy that God intended for us to experience in His good creation. So any failure on our part to enjoy life as God designed, it is evidence of our inherent sinfulness, not God's rigid commands.

Lauren McAfee:
So today I want to suggest that because God created mankind, He alone has the right to determine our identity, relationships and purpose. So because God created mankind, He alone has the right to determine our identity, our relationships and our purpose. And so I'm going to talk about those three things and make the point that we were all created on purpose for a purpose. But to know that purpose, we first have to know our identity is from the Creator, and then also connect how that relates to our relationships. So we're going to talk about purpose, but first I want to talk about identity and relationships.

Lauren McAfee:
So the first point that I want to make is that, our identity is as a representative of God in the world. So that's our identity. We have an identity and it is that we are representatives of God in the world. So looking at scripture in Genesis 1:26 to 27 says this, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all of the earth and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him; male and female he created them.”

Lauren McAfee:
So this passage in Genesis is where we get the doctrine of the imago dei. So imago dei is just a Latin term that means image of God. God created all the material world. He created all of the cosmos, but then He takes a deep breath. He slows down to not just create, but to form. So Genesis 2:7 says, “then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

Lauren McAfee:
So that scripture is showing us mankind was formed by God, and formed by God to reflect Him. We are all to be representatives of Him on this earth. We're mirrors back to God, intended to reflect His glory back to Him. Psalm 19 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." (Psalms 19:1) So in one sense, all of creation, as we kind of see here in Psalm 19, all of creation was created to bring glory to God. Yet in some unique way, God chose to place His image-bearers, us, on this planet that we might be given the breath of life and be image-bearers for Him.

Lauren McAfee:
So pre-fall this was the intention. We were created to reflect the glory of God in a unique way in all of earth, that is different than the rest of the universe. Post-fall though, as we know past Genesis 3, past the fall, we live in a fallen world. And so we don't reflect the image of our Creator perfectly. We worship images of false gods that are idols, and this is often worshiping ourselves or things that we expect to bring us fulfillment. When we worship false idols, we're not living our intended purpose and cannot find fulfillment in those things.

Lauren McAfee:
Yet even amidst our fallenness, Jesus, who according to Colossians 1:15, is the image of the invisible God. He came to earth and perfectly honored and glorified God and went to the cross to absorb the wrath of God's judgment so that we could behold His glory. So in the coming Kingdom, the question will not be, are you created in God's image? Because we know that answer — yes, we all are. But the question will be, is your identity in Christ?

Lauren McAfee:
The question will not be, did God create your life? But it will be, is your name written in the book of life? So our understanding of this identity will change how we see ourselves. We're created with an air of dignity that belongs to an image-bearer, and we were made to glorify our Creator. It also changes how we see others because as we see others as image-bearers too, it will motivate us to treat them with the dignity and kindness and love and respect that an image-bearer is due.

Lauren McAfee:
It'll also motivate us to care for the poor, to love our enemies, to love and care for those who disagree with us, or are even on the opposite side of a political spectrum of us. Because we recognize they are image-bearers, and we should be motivated by that in how we see others. Also, there is this reshaping of our identity, that is how we see ourselves and our image, and how we have relationship with God and how we have relationship with others. So our identity as representatives will then affect how we think about our relationships in terms of our purpose.

Lauren McAfee:
So the second point I want to make is that, we were created for relationships with both God and with people. Genesis 2:18-20 says, “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept he took one of the ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. And then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.’" (Genesis 2:21-23)

Lauren McAfee:
So in the creation story, we see that creation was not complete with Adam and the animals. Just Adam and the animals, that was not the finished creation. God created Eve from Adam's side that they might live side by side equal in value and purpose. God in His perfect wisdom for the praises of His name, and for the joy of His people created two genders equal in value, yet distinct in roles. These role distinctions would in some ways mirror or reflect the Trinity.

Lauren McAfee:
So we have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Three different persons, one God. They’re all equal, yet have distinct roles. God the Father creates. The Son died for our sins. The Spirit fills and empowers the church today. The Father sent the Son. The Son sent the Spirit. But to suggest that the Spirit's work is less than the Son or the Father would be to devalue His purpose and God's design.

Lauren McAfee:
So likewise, the distinct roles that men and women are created for are for God's glory and our good. One of the foundations here in Genesis is that God made everything good and for our good. He has a purpose. He has a plan. He has intentionality in all of it for our good. When we call something that God has made not good, we offend our Creator. God made you. He loves you, cares about you, and as Creator, He knows what we don't know.

Lauren McAfee:
So we were created for these relationships with one another and relationship with God. So of course, pre-fall, Adam and Eve were in relationship perfectly with God. They walked with God in the garden, and they had a perfect relationship with one another. But after the fall, those relationships and our ability to connect with God and with one another, was broken.

Lauren McAfee:
But I'm so grateful for the redeeming fact that God has sacrificed His Son in part so that you and I could be brought back into a right relationship with Him as well as being reconciled to one another. There's a relational impact when we understand our identity and purpose is to be in relationship with God and with one another. And relationships are not always easy. In fact, they're often not. But we are meant to care for and serve others sacrificially, knowing that our identity is to be God's representatives in those relationships.

Lauren McAfee:
Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All of this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation …” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)

Lauren McAfee:
So part of living out our identity in God, through our relationships, with relationships with one another and with Him, is by going about the work of reconciliation ourselves and pointing others to God, the loving Father and Creator. So as we live out our identity as God's representatives, apply that in our relationships, it brings us to that purpose of reconciliation ministry alongside Him.

Lauren McAfee:
And my final point here is just that we were created on purpose for a purpose. So with that identity and those relationships in mind, thinking about our purpose here on this earth, looking at Genesis 1:28, it says, “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish in the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Lauren McAfee:
So here, our purpose is tied to the creation mandate. So God here is saying, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth. So we are called to be a part of this creation mandate, to multiply generations, to fill the earth, to subdue creation, to work the garden, build cities, name animals. A part of our purpose is to live out our identity and our relationships as we go about this work that God has put before us.

Lauren McAfee:
Work was created before the fall, God calls us each to different types of work, whether it's mothering, or running a business or sweeping floors, doing accounting or teaching students. Whatever the work is that the Lord puts before us, we are to do it living out the purpose, knowing that God's work has dignity and that God created work before the fall. And that in our work, we have identity ourselves, in our own dignity. So we're representatives as we go about our work in this way, reflecting our loving Creator. We were created with this purpose for a purpose. And that purpose is to glorify Him.

Lauren McAfee:
So to just conclude here and just wrap up, I just want to remind all of our listeners that I know that in the reality of our day-to-day lives with our identity, our relationships, our purpose that God has given us, we are living in a post-Genesis world, in a broken, fallen world. And Adam and Eve rather than recognizing their purpose, how God defined it, sought to find their identity in something else. And as a result, that means our identity, our relationships, our purpose are marred by sin. God in cursing Adam and Eve would see that sin affected the world. He'd see that. But there was hope in the curse of the serpent.

Lauren McAfee:
God promised a second Adam, a son of Eve who would crush the head of the serpent, and would give us a new identity, one where our name would be recorded in the Lamb's book of life. It was through the actions of Eve who was a woman, who yes, sinned against God by taking that first bite of fruit. So through Eve sin entered the world, but it was through another woman, Mary, that God would bring His Son for our redemption.

Lauren McAfee:
Jesus offers us a new relationship with Him, where we are brought to the wedding supper of the Lamb in our redeemed bodies. And Jesus offers us that new purpose. So I pray that women would see their purpose through their identity in Christ, in God, their relationships and how they might care well for one another and how they might go about their every day to make an eternal impact for God's purpose.

Kaley Olsen:
Wow, Lauren, thank you. Thank you for that reminder that our identity is formed by God, and that when we are born into this earth, we already have a purpose.
Lauren, I know you're a mom. Ashley, I know you're a mom. I'm a new mom as well. I have a seven-month-old at home, and I think that after having him, I see purpose and identity differently than I think I did before because I'm a broken human. Somewhere along the way from being born into becoming who I am today, I know that there's this brokenness that happened, because I know that I do live in a post-fallen world.

Kaley Olsen:
So being able to see the purpose in the new life before he's even born has changed the way that I think, I have compassion for him and compassion for others. I'm thinking about the women who are listening, and I don't know, one day I think that my son will look in the mirror and say, "I'm not good enough."

Kaley Olsen:
But I don't know that we all use that language. I don't know that. Sometimes I don't always just look in the mirror and declare I'm not good enough. I think on really, really hard days I do that. But I think it sneaks in to our day-to-day lives. And so
Lauren, I would love to know from you, help us see some of those ways that we might be saying, “I'm not good enough,” or we might be personally calling God's creation not good enough. What does that look like in our lives?

Lauren McAfee:
Yeah, I think it happens in two ways. One, we can do that to ourselves. I mean, we all have these narratives or these things that were telling us in our head, that we're hearing ourselves say to ourselves. And a lot of times when those things are negative about ourselves, it's often not informed by what we see that God says about us. And so when I'm kind of hearing those accusatory, those negative things about myself that I'm not good enough, or why would anyone want to listen to me on this podcast even, or I'm not a ( blank ) good enough, fill in the blank.

Lauren McAfee:
Then I have to replace that with what I see in Scripture. Are those things that God is saying to me and about me? And I don't see that in Scripture. God created us in His image. We're His image-bearers. And so when I go back to those truths, that helps me both for how I'm listening to my own lies in my head.

Lauren McAfee:
But then I also see how we can kind of live that out for others in terms of looking at others and judging them, or looking at them as lesser than, or kind puffing ourselves up to maybe even make ourselves feel better because of the lies in our own head. I might belittle someone else and say, "Well, at least I'm better than this person." Or, "At least I make more money than them." Or, "I'm a better mom than this person." And we too have to stop those thoughts and look at Scripture in terms of, OK, they're an image- bearer. And yes, in a fallen world, people are going to make lots of mistakes, us and others, but we still have intact our dignity as image-bearers. And so how can we see through the lens of that love and that grace in the way we see others as well as ourselves, so that imago dei.

Lauren McAfee:
In my studies with my PhD, I'm kind of ending up focusing a lot on the imago dei and relating that to women and women's lives. I continue to see how important that understanding of our image-bearerness is, both in terms of seeing ourselves and seeing others. And so I'm always pointing back to that. Just right there at the beginning, Genesis 1, has that beautiful truth that I think is unique to what Christianity has to offer. It's this beautiful truth for both ourselves and for looking at our world, that God created us and created us uniquely in His image, that other religions or world views don't have. And so all of the implications from that are really beautiful and I think lead to flourishing for all people.

Kaley Olsen:
Yeah. I couldn't agree more, especially about having compassion for yourself and the realization of who you are, then allows you to have compassion about and for others. Because how quick are we, like you said to, when I'm feeling down about myself, the easiest thing is to also diminish someone else and bring her down to my level, rather than speaking life back into myself, that then allows me to see the life and the light in someone else. That's so good.

Kaley Olsen:
Ashley, I would love to know what you're thinking. And if you have a question for
Lauren, too.

Ashley Jackson:
Yeah. I really loved what you said, that we offend our Creator when we call ourselves not good. I think that is probably a bigger concept than we can even grasp in a way, is why do I think I am qualified to tell the world or myself that I am not OK when God has purposely created me? Apart from our sin, obviously, which we're working on and asking the Lord for forgiveness and all of that.

Ashley Jackson:
But you also mentioned that we take what God has made for His glory and we use it for our own selfishness and those false idols that come up. And I think maybe sometimes those false idols, we create them in order to soothe our own self-hatred, for lack of a better word. What do you see in women? We're obviously not bowing down to golden calves like they did in the Bible, but what are those places that we create in our lives?

Lauren McAfee:
Yeah, I think it's so easy in our culture to kind of hold these things up in our lives as idols. And like you said, the idols that we have today aren't the same necessarily as what we read in the Bible, where they have the golden calves or these actual icons or images that we're worshiping. But that can make it a bit harder for us to recognize them today because they kind of slip into our lives. And idols really are anything that we are saying is more important than our Creator and seeing our purpose in Him, and letting those things take hold of our lives more than they should.

Lauren McAfee:
And so, there's all kinds of good things that are in our lives that if we over-prioritize or put too high in our priorities, then it becomes that idol. So that could even be having fitness. I mean, fitness can be a good thing, but if we obsess and idolize over a certain amount of fitness or looking a certain way, that is our idol. We are putting all of our energy, and that's our priority, over all these other things that God might be calling us into doing and spending time with Him. That can be an idol.

Lauren McAfee:
Honestly, how as a mom, having my daughter taught me so much about my own idols, about the ways that I was selfish with my time before being a mom. And then now as a mother so easily, I want to prioritize her and just taking care of her and thinking about, how do I seem as a mom? Do people see me as a good mom? And having those things take first thought in my mind, as opposed to wanting to first see, OK, how am I honoring the Lord? How am I glorifying God through the way that I parent?

Lauren McAfee:
He has given me this good gift in my daughter and how might I live out my calling to be a mom and do that in a way that is honoring and glorifying to Him, and not caring necessarily about trying to impress the world or some other people in my life about the way? So I think again, it's very subtle and it can a lot of times be good things. But it's anything that is taking over priority in our minds, and our lives and our hearts over God, and distracting us from considering how are we glorifying Him in the way we go about engaging in these good things.

Kaley Olsen:
Yeah.

Ashley Jackson:
That's good.

Kaley Olsen:
Yeah. I agree with you so much there, Lauren. I think that speaks to our mission here at Proverbs 31. Like I said earlier, it's to help people know the truth and live the truth because it changes everything. We can't course correct and remind ourselves of who we are in God through Christ, unless we have that daily connection to Him. It's never going to be something that we're going to be able to muster up in our own strength, but it's dependent on that lifeline that we have connected to Him. And that's really the only way that we can live out our true identity.

Kaley Olsen:
And so I appreciate this teaching. It's such a breath of fresh air for me and a reminder to slow down and get into God's Word, make that the ultimate priority. Because I need this reminder and I need to live out of who I am in Christ so that I can share that image with others, and remind them of who they are and work towards bringing other people to Him. So this was incredibly powerful. Thank you so much. And, Lauren, really quick before we let you go, will you tell everyone how they can get connected to you?

Lauren McAfee:
Yeah. So you can find me on Instagram with, @Lauren A McAfee. Yeah. I love to connect with people, would love to hear from people, so people can connect with me there. I also have the website, Laurenamcafee.com.

Kaley Olsen:
Awesome.

Lauren McAfee:
And for anyone interested in the Lumina Women's Conference, we would love to have them and they can find out more information about that @luminawomen.org.

Kaley Olsen:
Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, if you are driving and don't have access to your fingers right now, because your hands are on the wheel, we have linked all of this information for you in the show notes @proverbs31.org/listen. And so if you're listening right now, hang tight, because
Ashley and I do have a few other announcements before we let you go. But
Lauren, it was a pleasure having you on the show today.

Lauren McAfee:
Thanks so much.

Kaley Olsen:
OK guys, we're back. Just a few things we're excited to remind you about. First, we heard a great teaching from
Lauren about our identity and the unique purpose each of us were created for. But in our day-to-day lives, we can so easily get caught up in the lie that, that's not true, that we are less than what our Creator says we are. And so we've created a free resource for you, titled “Truth for When You Question Who You Are,” for moments just like that, and have linked it for you to download in the show notes @proverbs31.org/listen.

Ashley Jackson:
And on behalf of Lauren, and we want to remind you one more time about the Lumina conference. It's a new one-day inspiring event for women at the Museum of the Bible, November 3 and 4, 2022. To learn more and to register, make sure you visit luminawomen.org.

Kaley Olsen:
That's great, Ashley. And that's all for today, friends. At Proverbs 31 Ministries, we believe when you know the truth and live the truth, it changes everything.