It’s difficult to put into words how much I enjoy the small part God is giving me to introduce His powerful, life-changing truth to people so desperate for it! I love partnering with Chip and Living on the Edge as I teach others the principles God has used to heal me. God doesn’t see me for all my mistakes but for who He says I am. I no longer have to be that hurt, frightened little girl. Nothing in my past that I’ve done and nothing I may do in the future can separate me from God’s love. What a dramatic contrast I saw in these precious women from our first session to the final weeks, when they exuberantly declared with confidence, “ I’m chosen!” “ I’m adopted!” “ I’m redeemed and empowered!”Īt our last gathering, I asked my students for parting comments about what they learned: We discussed the fact that God has bigger, better, more satisfying plans for all of us-and we memorized Bible verses to reinforce that truth. Near the end of the study, Chip asks a penetrating question: Apart from Christ, what do you use to medicate or sedate your sense of angst? The women admitted they’d been running to drugs, alcohol, sex, and materialism to dull their pain, but it only ever worked for a few hours. Slowly but steadily, I witnessed each girl’s resolve to abandon the “quick fixes” they’d been relying on to dull their pain-and embrace the truth that Jesus loves them and wants to know them personally! Lesson by lesson, each woman was blown away to discover she’s wanted, valuable, secure, competent, beautiful, and called by God! That night we dove into Chip Ingram’s Discovering Your True Self: How to Silence the Lies of Your Past and Actually Experience Who God Says You Are.įor ninety minutes every Thursday night, I watched their demeanors morph from heaviness to pure joy as they learned about God’s unconditional love for them. “No one loves her.” Tears dropped to her cheeks as she stared into her mirror.Ĭhasing freedom from substance addiction, all eight of these young women had enrolled in this one-year rehab program, which included a weekly Bible study. “A frightened little girl,” mumbled a woman who looked older than the rest. “Ugly and worthless,” one girl whispered. Then the sounds of sniffling, tissues being tugged from boxes, nose blowing, and choked-back sobs. After thirty seconds that felt like an hour, heavy breathing and awkward coughing pierced the silence. The silence was deafening as I watched them peer into their mirrors. I asked them what they saw when they looked in this mirror.

Taking a deep breath and steeling myself for the pain that was about to surface, I handed out small mirrors to the young women in my Bible study.

It felt like a dirty trick, but I knew it was the right way to start this study.

Chip ingram ministry