Purity Over Everything | Girls Gone Bible

Summary

GIRLS GONE BIBLE — EPISODE SUMMARY
Episode: “Purity Over Everything”
Hosts: Angela Halili & Arielle Reitsma
Date: May 15, 2026

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EPISODE OVERVIEW
This episode centers on the theme of purity—not merely as a set of religious rules or avoidance of behaviors, but as a lived commitment to inner and outer holiness, deep relationship with God, and radical removal of idols (anything that distracts from or competes with one’s devotion to Christ). Drawing on the story of King Josiah in 2 Kings 22–23, Angie and Ari discuss how true purity involves heart transformation, repentance, and a willingness to break generational cycles and performative Christianity. The conversation is candid, honest, and rooted in their personal journeys.

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KEY DISCUSSION POINTS & INSIGHTS

1. Lighthearted Opener and Personal Updates

• The episode opens with Ari recalling a word from God during her fast—stop speaking negatively about men and focus on the goodness in people (03:05–03:46).
• A playful banter about perceived height, coffee preferences, pets, and handling mundane life events like car troubles lays a relatable foundation (04:24–08:49).
• Quote:
  • “There is no more talking—no more talking negative, no more talking bad about men.” —Ari (03:12)

2. Falling in Love with the Old Testament & Connecting the Story

• Both hosts emphasize the transformational moment when the whole narrative of the Bible “clicks.”
  • “The whole story of the Bible as a whole clicks for you and you understand, wow, this is what this means. This is how this person is connected to this and how it all points to Jesus.” —Angie (09:45)
• Ari describes being hungry for scripture, especially the Old Testament, and how it brings revelation and spiritual excitement (10:54–12:29).

3. Introduction to Josiah & the Story’s Relevance

• Angie introduces King Josiah as the biblical “banner of purity,” highlighting that he was the only king who did right by God after generations of idolatry and failure (18:20–21:19).
• “I remember thinking, hallelujah Josiah. Hallelujah. This is just so exciting. It put this burning desire for purity in my heart.” —Angie (20:56)
• Emphasis that purity is more than abstinence or external behavior—it’s about undivided allegiance, loyalty, and a heart aligned entirely with God (21:19–22:30).

4. The Power of Scripture – Conviction and Repentance

• The rediscovery of the Book of the Law (Deuteronomy) by Josiah sparks deep national repentance; reading the Word acts as a mirror, exposing how far one can drift from God (22:30–28:24).
• Quote:
  • “Scripture functions as a mirror to the soul. It’s the only book you read that reads you back.” —Angie (26:52)

5. Purity, Repentance, and Mental Health

• The hosts draw parallels between spiritual “open doors” (sin/idolatry) and personal suffering—highlighting how unrepented sin impacts one’s mental health (30:36–32:06).
• Ari shares from her own experience with OCD and depression, emphasizing the peace found in Christ:
  • “The way my mind is so free—not to say I don’t have it sometimes—but I do not suffer the way I did. I truly, and I mean this with my heart, I live in peace.” —Ari (31:14)

6. Religion vs. Relationship—Why We Pursue Holiness

• Angie distinguishes between abstaining from sin for self-benefit and living in purity out of love and reverence for Jesus (35:13–36:41).
• “He’s worthy of it... That’s where it goes from religion to relationship.” —Angie (36:36)
• Ari adds, “When you love someone... you want to please them in every way. I want to live for you. I don’t ever want to do anything outside of you.” (36:41–37:11)

7. The Pain and Frustration of Watching Others ‘Not Get It’

• The hosts share the struggle of walking closely with Jesus while friends or loved ones remain spiritually disconnected, and the necessity of prayer for the Holy Spirit to open hearts (37:35–39:00).

8. Josiah’s Radical Reform & Modern Application

• Reading through 2 Kings 23, the hosts describe Josiah’s aggressive action to remove every trace of idolatry, paralleling the need for Christians today to destroy—not just manage—the things that lead them to sin (47:56–52:44).
• Quote:
  • “You don’t manage sin, you don’t manage the idols in your life. You destroy them.” —Angie (54:01)
• They challenge listeners to physically list out potential idols and intentionally tear down those strongholds.
• “How much more should we be tearing down, burning down, destroying anything that is a bridge to sin?” —Angie (52:44)

9. Power and Necessity of Christian Community

• Living in purity and holiness is a communal effort. The women stress the role of community, friends, and mentors in holding each other accountable (50:02–50:23).
• “We will fall if we don’t have people. 100%. That’s why we were able to walk in purity, because we had community.” —Ari (50:02)

10. Generational Patterns, Family, and God’s Mercy

• Ari reflects on breaking unhealthy cycles, drawing from Josiah’s lineage as inspiration to not use upbringing as an excuse for continued sin (61:48–66:11).
• Quote:
  • “It ended with me...my yes to Jesus, and my consistent pursuit, has literally restored my family, my friends, you guys. And so it can end with you.” —Ari (66:11)

11. Purification Isn’t Performative—It’s Messy & Honest

• The hosts candidly share their own struggles with “performative Christianity,” emphasizing that true purity requires brutal honesty, humility about one’s shortcomings, and a willingness to be continually changed by Jesus (69:05–72:39).
• “True purification for me looks like having an interaction and being like, my heart was not good there...Purity is just being so brutally honest.” —Angie (70:18, 70:31)
• “Being messy and honest. That’s what we preach.” —Ari (72:39)

12. The Heart of God—Not Just Rules, but Relationship and Mercy

• They revisit the image of God in the Old and New Testaments—not as harsh, but as a loving Father desperate to forgive and restore His children (73:39–74:20).
• “You don’t have to live in shame. Look at Josiah: the moment he repents, he is under God’s covering, no matter how far you’ve turned.” —Angie (74:20)

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MEMORABLE QUOTES WITH TIMESTAMPS

• “No more talking negative, no more talking bad about men.” —Ari (03:12)
• “Scripture functions as a mirror to the soul. It’s the only book you read that reads you back.” —Angie (26:52)
• “Sin will destroy you.” —Angie (30:36)
• “You don’t manage sin, you don’t manage the idols in your life. You destroy them.” —Angie (54:01)
• “He’s worthy of it... That’s where it goes from religion to relationship.” —Angie (36:36)
• “When you love someone...you want to live for them. You never want to disappoint them.” —Ari (36:41)
• “Being messy and honest. That’s what we preach.” —Ari (72:39)
• “You don’t have to live in shame.” —Angie (74:20)
• “It ended with me because my yes to Jesus...has restored my family, my friends, you guys. And so it can end with you.” —Ari (66:11)

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IMPORTANT SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS

• 03:05 — Beginning of spiritual discussion after sponsor messages
• 09:45 — Discussion about reading and understanding the Bible’s full narrative
• 18:20 — Introduction to the story of Josiah and the theme of purity
• 28:24 — Personal conviction after encountering truth in scripture
• 32:06 — Role of sin/mental health/spiritual doors
• 47:56 — Josiah’s radical reform: tearing down idols
• 50:02 — The necessity of Christian community
• 61:48 — Breaking generational cycles
• 69:05 — Struggle with performative Christianity; call to authentic purity
• 73:39 — God’s heart as a loving Father longing for repentance

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CONCLUSION / CALL TO ACTION

• Practical Challenge: Make a list of idols in your life and take steps to tear them down.
• Seek Real Community: Find people who will hold you accountable and push you toward holiness.
• Honest Repentance, Not Just Words: Real repentance means a changed heart and intention to do differently.
• Break the Cycle: Don’t let your upbringing or family history determine your spiritual trajectory.
• Embrace Messy Authenticity: Purity is being brutally honest with yourself, not about perfectionism.
• Receive God’s Grace: Restoration, freedom, and peace are available instantly when you truly turn back to God.

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Tone
Conversational, honest, vulnerable, practical, deeply rooted in biblical narrative, and always circling back to the heart of relationship over mere religion.

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This summary distills the journey and heartbeat of the episode for all listeners—whether new to faith or longtime believers seeking deeper authenticity.

Transcript

[Angie]

Foreign

[Ari]

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[Ari]

But during my fast, God spoke to me.

[Angie]

What? What did he say?

[Ari]

He said.

[Angie]

He said, go outside.

[Ari]

No, he said, shut up. He said, I know. Dre was like, I have never met anyone who is more at the feet of the Lord. No, I. He said that. I. There is no more talking.

[Angie]

Talking negative.

[Ari]

Talking bad about men. Wow.

[Angie]

I like that. I'm gonna do. I really like that. Wait. So he says, no, I feel that there are good men. Men are amazing. There's so many good men.

[Ari]

I know. They're literally flooding.

[Angie]

No, there's so many. So many beautiful, handsome men of God. They're kind.

[Ari]

No. God, I don't need to be fake, but.

[Angie]

Oh, he didn't say you needed to be fake. Okay.

[Ari]

I found to lie. But for instance. For instance, you look so cool right now.

[Angie]

No, I don't.

[Ari]

I actually.

[Angie]

This is you literally.

[Ari]

Like, this has been your look since day one. Like, the. Just that edgy. It's so. It's such a cool vibe.

[Angie]

Yeah. Thank you.

[Ari]

Why can't I pull it off?

[Angie]

Well, you started wearing baggier jeans, so you're pulling it off like you started.

[Ari]

I think it's because I'm a little short. Shorter.

[Angie]

I look like everyone thinks you're tall, by the way.

[Ari]

I know. I give off. I give off tall energy. Yeah.

[Angie]

Yeah. You have, like. You have, like, five foot eight vibes. Like, you give off five foot eight.

[Ari]

So I was telling Ange I. I was, like, considering going to China to get my kneecaps broken in so I could be a little bit taller. It takes one year to heal. What do you guys think?

[Angie]

I saw videos.

[Ari]

Wonderfully made. My dream is to be tall. I want to be, like, 5, 10.

[Angie]

I don't have hantavirus. Huntavirus. Hunt that. It comes from rodents, actually.

[Ari]

Do you think maybe you had it? No.

[Angie]

No. I didn't kiss a rat. Whoa. Whoa. That was so good. That was so good. I'm scared.

[Ari]

I don't know what's in my coffee today.

[Angie]

Why did you get scared? I don't know.

[Ari]

I'm flying. Listen to this. So from being at your mom's. From being at your mom's. Like, her mom would, like, come in with a nice Keurig. Hot coffee.

[Angie]

Yeah, just a black coffee.

[Ari]

And it was so nice to just have that hot coffee because I started to make iced every day.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

Anyway, so I got a Keurig because now I need to start off with a hot one and then I have to top it off with the ice. So now I'm like, flying like a bat out of hell till about 2pm and then I.

[Angie]

You have what? I have a little bit manic episodes? First of all, yes. Second of all, mental illness.

[Ari]

Mental illness.

[Angie]

Multiple personality disorder. No, you have what I have, which is a lot of things, but hyper fixations. Like, when you like something, you. I like hummingbirds. I'm gonna buy a bird feeder. I like Keurig to buy a Keurig, even though I have, like, eight coffee machines.

[Ari]

Aren't you going to ask me how Shalom is?

[Angie]

I'm so sorry. How's Shalom?

[Ari]

She's doing so good. I was with her all weekend. Okay. Did you get out of the house?

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

Did you go on a date? Everybody. You guys are so cute. Everybody's like. Someone wrote under my picture. They were like, shalom's mommy.

[Angie]

Oh, Happy Mother's Day.

[Ari]

Thank you. Happy Mother's Day. So she's getting more comfortable with me. So she literally sits on one little branch like two feet away from me. And she just looks at me and wiggles her by way. She's literally my best friend. I've got to get out of the house.

[Angie]

That's actually insane, because that video you showed me, that's like. She's got, like a personality.

[Ari]

No, it's.

[Angie]

She's, like, talking to you.

[Ari]

No, it's literally.

[Angie]

God, you're Cinderella.

[Ari]

I know. I sing to help. My big white window.

[Angie]

My big white window.

[Ari]

Anyways,

[Angie]

well, so we're going to Atlanta tomorrow.

[Ari]

Do you want to update us on the car? So you got it fixed, the tire?

[Angie]

Yeah, I did.

[Ari]

I saw your whole tire off the car. And you know what? For a minute, I said to myself, if God can't give you any more signs to get your act together, I don't know what it is. And you know, what did you learn?

[Angie]

I have not hit a curb since. I'm being really careful.

[Ari]

Are you stopping at the yellow lights?

[Angie]

No. And I. That's not what yellow means. And so, Ari, I want you guys to know that. Ari. And this is actually the one thing about you that is hard for me.

[Ari]

I know she gets into.

[Angie]

I actually get mad. She stop. Like, okay. No, I'm not gonna say blow through yellow lights. Cause stop. Like, I don't know, for me, yellow means green. Go faster.

[Ari]

It means like, get it.

[Angie]

It means like speed racer, like go fast. You, Ari, will like prophetically sense that maybe in 30 seconds it's going to turn yellow and it's green and she stops. Like, it literally drives me up the wall anyways.

[Ari]

No, my biggest fear is getting tail ended by another don't. Ready to be safe then. Sorry.

[Angie]

And let me just say this. Yellow means slow. It doesn't mean drive faster. So stop.

[Ari]

Slow down. We're really leading these kids into the right path, Ange. Go to saved. Go to saved things.

[Angie]

Saved.

[Ari]

Go to saved things. I just, I need to find it. It's so funny.

[Angie]

I want to see it go.

[Ari]

We're going to put it on the screen. But this is, this is. It's literally me.

[Angie]

Wait, that's actually us. That's literally us. I'm, I'm going over curves. What I'm listening to I trust in God.

[Ari]

And then you're like, ah, shut up.

[Angie]

I'm like, we are so excited to talk about this week's episode. Let me get my notes, if you don't mind.

[Ari]

GGB.

[Angie]

Hallelujah. So we're gonna start, you guys, second kings, chapter 22. We're so excited to read story with you because. Okay, first, actually, before we do anything, I want you to explain to people. You guys know how I've been saying for years now, read the whole Bible, read the Old Testament, read about the Israelites, like once the entire Bible as a whole story clicks for you and it makes sense. The beginning of our faith, Creation, Genesis, into Exodus, we're leading the Israelites, they go to the promised land, then we have all these kings, and then finally we eventually get to Jesus and all of a sudden, tell me, write in the comments if this has happened to you that you read a little bit in the old test in the New Testament. You read some stories here and there, but then finally one day, the whole story of the Bible as a whole clicks for you and you understand, wow, this is what this means. This is how this person is connected to this and how it all points to Jesus. Ari, can you tell them how you finally had that moment and you were like, oh, my gosh, it all.

[Ari]

Yeah, like recently it finally clicked.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

And now, like, you should see, I, I, we were in the hotel room and I'm in the corner. I can't stop reading the Old Testament. I went back to the beginning of Genesis. I Have, like, tears. I'm having revelations. I'm like, wait, that's why this is.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

And so now I'm in Exodus right now, and I actually want to go back to Genesis again. I know, because there's so much in there. There's so much revelation. And I'm. I'm. I'm so excited about. I have this, and I'm like, I can't stop reading it. But it's. You have to. I want to go back and read it again slow. Yes, the Bible is.

[Angie]

No, it's alive, and it's your story. That's why it's so exciting, because it's like, oh, my gosh, this is real. And there's a theology here, and it's historically accurate, and it all connects to each other. And I think it just deepens your faith so much because you realize you. It just makes sense.

[Ari]

Yeah, it all clicks.

[Angie]

It all clicks. The fall to the coming of Jesus and then the apostles and the disciples afterwards. Like, all of it makes sense, and it's just so exciting. And Genesis is my favorite book of the Bible because the stories. Oh, the stories. They're the greatest stories.

[Ari]

I was never able to read the Old Testament earlier in my faith, and that's okay. Cause first I think you need to digest it, and it's in the New Testament. But now. Oh, my. I can't put the Bible am. It's insane.

[Angie]

It's my fav.

[Ari]

It's blowing my mind. It's so exciting.

[Angie]

It's the best. It's the best. So we're gonna start with talking about this guy, Josiah. This guy. He's a king. So. 2 Kings, chapter 22. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we love you so much. Holy spirit of the living God, would you come? Would you fill me in, Ari? Right now, Lord, fill us with your presence. Fill us with your anointing. I pray that you'd anoint us for service. I pray, Lord. Jes. Right now you would fill our lamps with oil, that the oil would just pour out over this episode today that people would be set free. God, I pray that your holiness and your purity would be on display today. And that we would all be so unbelievably convicted to live a life of holiness and purity. Jesus, I pray that people's eyes would open today, that our hearts would receive your word, that it would fall on fertile soil and produce a hundredfold harvest. Lord, make us holy as you are holy. Jesus, find us pure and spotless. Jesus, I pray that you come back to a pure bride. A spotless bride. I pray that you would keep us all the days of our lives, Lord. And I pray that today, this episode, this story, Second Kings, the story of Josiah, the reformation that took place. I pray that there'd be a reformation in our lives, in our hearts, in our minds. We love you so much, Jesus. We bless you God. We bless you Jesus. Thank you, thank you, thank you. In Jesus name. Amen. Ari and I are so excited to talk about this. It's a story about purity. Purity means everything to us. It means everything to us. Inner purity, external purity.

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[Ari]

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[Angie]

being Pursuing a life of holiness, pursuing a life of righteousness, pursuing the things that God really cares about. And that's not a set of rules. It's not. It's genuinely not a set of rules. It's not a religious thing. It's your heart. It's being like Jesus. It's having the character of God, the mind of Christ, the heart of Jesus. And in this story we have this man, Josiah. So Josiah is the man who gets appointed as king. Josiah at 8 years old becomes king. And in this chapter, 2 Kings 22. So as I read, I started reading the Old Testament, the whole Bible from start to finish, from Genesis to Revelation. And in the Old Testament we have, when you move through the Book of Judges. And you move through 1st Kings and 2 Kings and 1st Chronicles and 2 Chronicles, you see this really tragic story of king after king, judge after judge failing, failing, failing. It's just literally moral failure after moral failure. Almost every person who gets appointed to leadership chooses idolatry. There's so much idolatry in Israel at this point. They have shrines and. And all of these altars to all these pagan gods. It's a mess. Like, the sexual immorality is aw. And every king is failing. They all turn away from God. And at this point, when you read through Israel's Kings, one phrase repeats like a warning, he did evil in the sight of the Lord over and over and over again. And I remember when I was reading through Judges and I'm reading through 1st Kings and 2 Kings, I was genuinely distraught. I kept putting it down and going to the New Testament because I was having trouble reading through these stories, because I'm like, I don't. This is sad. Is hard. Like, the frailty and the fragility of humans and how, like, easily bent towards sin and idolatry and disobedience we are, is actually really hard to read. And so as I'm reading through first and second kings, I finally get to second kings 22, and we meet this man, Josiah, who is the first man, the only man, the first and the last king who does right by God. And I remember thinking, hallelujah, Josiah. Hallelujah. I was literally like, this is. Is so. This is just so exciting. And I remember it, like, just putting this burning desire for purity in my heart, a desire that's in both Ari and I's hearts already to begin with. But we pray that this story sets your hearts on fire to do things right by God. And, you know, we go through seasons. We go through seasons where we're not on fire. We go through seasons where we backslide. We go through seasons where there's more disobedience than in others.

[Ari]

And.

[Angie]

But wherever you've been, whatever your life has looked like up until this point, today is the day the Lord has made for you to repent and turn to him. And it's never too late, and you're never too far gone. Like, truly, today is the day. So Josiah was 8 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 31 years. His mother was Jedidiah. No, sorry. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adiah from Bozkath. He did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight, and he followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right. The first person in the 18th year of his reign, King Josiah sent Shaphan, son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, the court secretary, to the temple of the Lord. He told him, go to Hilkiah, the high priest, and have him count the money the gatekeepers have collected from the people at the Lord's temple. Entrust this money to the men assigned to supervise the restoration of the Lord's temple. So you can even see at this point, Josiah's heart is bent towards redemption, restoration, towards obedience to God. His heart. While other kings were looking for power and money and things that didn't actually matter, he is thinking about the restoration of the Lord's temple. Then they can use it to pay workers to repair the temple. They will need to hire carpenters, builders and masons. Also have them buy the timber and the finished stone needed to repair the temple, but don't require the construction supervisors to keep account of the money they receive, for they are honest and trustworthy men. So anyways, then we move on. And I just want to really quickly say that this one scripture that said, and interject whenever you want, yeah, he did what was right in the sight. He did was. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. And he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. I love it so much because this language echoes Deuteronomy 5. 32. And Deuteronomy is a huge deal in this book and you'll find out why. Deuteronomy 5.32 says, you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. And I love so much that this is covenantal language. Purity in scripture is not just moral cleanliness, it's covenantal loyalty. It means that mind, body and spirit, in thought and in action, in heart and in your hands, we are covenanted to God. We are loyal to him in all things. Things we do right by God. Not perfectly, but it's the heart that you know, every move you make, everything you say, everything you do, everything you think and feel. The goal, the aim, is to be in alignment with Jesus. To be pure means not just to abstain from sex. It doesn't just mean to not smoke and drink and do all these things. To be pure means to be undivided in allegiance, faithful to God alone, and set apart from complete competing loves. So when Josiah walks in purity, he's not just avoiding sin, he's living in alignment with God. He's living in covenantal loyalty. So then we move On. So Hilkiah, the high priest, said to Shafan, the court secretary, I have found the book of the law in the Lord's temple. Now this is really important. So up until this point, Second Kings, we at this point have entered the promised land. The Israelites were delivered from Egypt into Israel. They're in the promised land. And since then, they have not kept their promise to God. They have not been living in covenant with God. There is again, so much idolatry. They're worshiping all these other gods. They have fallen so far away from God's original design for their lives and the book of Deuteronomy. So basically, this guy Hilkiah goes to the Lord's temple and he finds the book of the law, which is for us the book of Deuteronomy. Me, imagine all this time, the book, the word of God got lost in the house of God. They completely neglected the word. They've not been following the law. They have not been doing so many of the rituals and the traditions that the Lord called them to adhere to forever. They dropped all of it. And they went. They just. They moved, they backslid so much. And so in this moment, we have this guy Hilkiah. He goes into the temple, he finds this book. I have found the book of the law in the Lord's temple. Then Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan, and he read it. Shaphan went to the king and reported you officials have turned over the money collected at the temple of the Lord to the workers and supervisors at the temple. Shaphan also told the king, hilkiah, the priest has given me a scroll. So Shaphan read it to the king. When the king heard what was written in the book of the law, he tore his clothes in despair. So this happens because he realized, oh, my gosh, we have fallen so far away from God. Then he gave these orders to Hilkiah, the priest Ahikim, son of Shafen, Akbor, son of Micaiah, Shafan, the court secretary, and Asia, the king's personal advisor. Go to the temple and speak to the Lord for me and for the people and for all of Judah. Inquire about the words written in the scroll that has been found. For the Lord's great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been doing everything it says we must do. Wow. So Hilkiah, the priest, Ahikim, Akbor, Shafen and Asiah went to the new quarter of Jerusalem to consult with the prophet Hulda. She was the wife of Shallum, son of Jerusalem, son of Tikvah, son of Harhis, the keeper of the temple wardrobe. So I love this moment so much because Scripture functions as a mirror to the soul. Scripture we know is alive and active. It's the only book that you read that reads you back. It's the only book that you read that speaks directly into your life. And what's really interesting about this is there was no reformation in Islam. They were so far away from God, so far away from God's original call on their lives. And the second that Josiah finds the scriptures he is made aware of, oh, my gosh, we've gotten it so wrong. You can't have transformation unless you've been exposed to truth. Unless you read the Bible, there will be no transformation in your life. Unless you read the Word and you study the Word and you understand the Word and you love the Word and you want the Word Word and you want to abide by the Word, there will be no transformation in your life. You will stay so far from God.

[Ari]

I know. I remember having that moment that's, like, when I felt like I related to him so much. I remember when I really just started to get hungry and read about sin and all these things, and he started convicting my heart. And it was that moment of, oh, my gosh, what have I been doing? It was like that moment where the scales fell off my ass.

[Angie]

And yours was. I remember when you first started feeling convicted reading scripture, and you would come to me and you'd be like, ang, this is not good. Ang, I don't feel good about this. You had such a similar reaction to Josiah, like, the tearing of the clothes, in despair and being like, no, this is not okay.

[Ari]

I know.

[Angie]

And yours was quick.

[Ari]

I know. That's what happens when you get really hungry and desperate. That's why one of the greatest things that can happen to you is that he literally strips you from everything where we're sitting there in despair. No, this is the time where he's like, come to me and you're hungry, and it activates faith.

[Angie]

Other kings had access to truth because the truth was always there. It was in the temple. They had chosen to ignore it. And then it got so far away from them that there were generations of leaders who had never even been introduced to the book of Deuteronomy. So there were so many leaders that ignored God's true truth. But Josiah encountered the truth, and he was completely undone. And he was like, I'm. I'm not doing this. We are Changing everything. So then we have basically this moment where this prophet says to them, the Lord, the God of Israel has spoken. Go back and tell the man who sent you. This is what the Lord says. I am going to bring disaster on the city. City. By the way, disobedience leads to disaster. Disobedience and sin leads to disaster. If anybody is listening and you're a new believer and you're a new Christian and you're like, what is sin? Why is sin so bad? What are all these rules? Please listen to two girls who have no reason to preach you this except for the fact that we lived it. This is. This has been our lives. Sin will destroy you.

[Ari]

I want. Can I mention something else while you're on that not only your life, but your mental health.

[Angie]

Yes.

[Ari]

And something that's been really on my heart is hearing a lot of the people at our shows talk about like, I'm. I'm just like completely bound of obsessive compulsive and depression and all of these things. And I have a hard time. I never want to undermine someone's depression and ocd. But for someone who was crippled by it my whole life, like, I don't know anyone who had it worse than me.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

For someone who comes was literally had it since I was a kid. And the way my mind is so free, not to say that I don't have it sometimes, or I don't deal with depression or ocd, obsessive thoughts. Sometimes I do. But I do not suffer the way I did. I truly, and I mean this with my heart, I live in peace.

[Angie]

Yes.

[Ari]

When you are so close to the Lord, that's why he says follow me. Because it is a life of peace. Yeah. When you are truly following him and you do not even entertain the sin of this world, depression falls off. Anxiety, obsessive, compulsive, all of these things. Like you don't suffer the way you did.

[Angie]

It's an open door, point blank period. There's things that we all suffer with. I have a predisposition to anxiety and to ocd. When I'm in a bad place, that's where I lean. That's what I go to. The thoughts will get difficult, I'll get anxious. All the things you know, you know when you're suffering because it's spiritual warfare or you should know. Sometimes we suffer because of spiritual warfare. Sometimes we suffer because we need help. Sometimes we suffer because we have open doors. So before you diagnose yourself with all these things, the first thing you need to do is get rid of the sin in your life because it's an open door. It's allowing the enemy to come in and lie, deceive, play tricks. Like, that's what an open door is. It's not that. Like, sure, yes, you might have a predisposition to depression and all of these things, and we don't take mental health lightly at all. But if you have sin in your life, that's the first line of defense. You have got to close those doors. You have got to repent. You have to turn away and go back to Jesus. And even in Ari and I's journey of being on a podcast, do you know how many times we have had to repent and close doors and be like, that was sin. We let. We let Satan in through that back door. This is sin. We have to get rid of this. It's very. It's a normal part of your Christian walk. But the second you become aware of it. I have had so many situations where I'm like, oh, my gosh, it's spiritual warfare. The spiritual warfare is only happening because I opened a door. Yeah, because there's an opening. I have let Satan in, and I have to repent and close that. That door. The prophet says, the Lord God says, I'm going to bring disaster on the city and its people. All the words written in the scroll that the King of Judah has read will come true. For my people have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done. My anger will burn against this place, and it will not be quenched, this line right here. For my people have abandoned me. When I first started walking with Jesus and I had a lot of sin in my life, I remember I would be in impure relationships, and when they would end, I would be happy because I'd be like, oh, I can live in purity now until my next impure relationship. I had an awareness that the sin was killing me, and I had an awareness that it was bad, but I didn't have the reverence for Jesus. And there was a lack of love. Like, we don't sin. We sin because we fear God, but we also. Or we don't sin because we fear God, but we also don't sin because we love Jesus like we love him.

[Ari]

And

[Angie]

my heart, like, genuinely, I feel convicted. And my heart breaks a little bit reading that because I have abandoned Jesus so many times. I abandoned Jesus even now at times. The second I let my heart love something else, the second I reach for a vice more than Jesus the second that I reach for numbing out or distractions, like, I am abandoning him in those moments. And so I remember there was such a major shift in my faith because, again, at first, I knew that the sin was bad for me. So I was like, okay, I need to stop having sex outside of marriage, because it's like, I don't feel good. It's an open door. And it was, like, very much about me. Like, I don't like how I feel good. And then finally, there was a maturing in my faith that took place where I was like, oh, it's not just that it's beneficial for me to not sin. Jesus deserves. Jesus is worthy of. Of a pure life. Jesus is worthy of me being holy. Jesus is worthy of me living up to my highest potential of the life that he set out for me. Like, he's worthy of it. And I think that's just such a. That's where the heart. That's where it goes from religion to relationship. That's where it goes from, like, following a set of rules to being like, oh, no, no, I'm. I'm like Jesus. This is why I behave like. This is why I live my life this way. Because I want to be like him, because I love him, you know?

[Ari]

And that's why I, I. That's the first thing I say. I'm like, you need to learn the love of him before anything else. Because when you love someone, think about the person that you love most. You will do anything for them. You never want to disappoint them. You want to, like, please them in every way. And so when you go, it was that moment for me, too, of, oh, my gosh, I want to live for you. I don't ever want to do anything outside of you.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

And so everything you do, you consider him in all your ways. That's relationship. It is. It's all about the heart. And I think what's been burning my heart a lot lately is people, they just don't quite. They don't get it. It's just this religion of pray and whatever, but they don't. It's. Their heart is not with him, so they can't understand it.

[Angie]

It's so hard. You have to pray for the Holy Spirit to open your eyes, to open your heart, to give you understanding. Because I feel the same as you. And I'm sure Josiah felt really similarly. I'm sure as he goes on this, he creates this entire reformation of Jerusalem. Imagine how many people's hearts were hardened, and they're Like, I don't want to not live my life like this anymore. Like, I don't want to do this. I don't get it. I don't understand. And there I think me and Ari's the most difficult thing is I have friends who I've walked. Sorry, it's my ring. I've had friends who I've walked with for such a long time. And I think it's so frustrating and so difficult sometimes when it's like I don't know what to do.

[Ari]

I know.

[Angie]

They just don't get it.

[Ari]

They don't get it.

[Angie]

They don't don't get it. Jesus, help them get it.

[Ari]

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[Angie]

Like. And there's nothing you can do to make them get it.

[Ari]

I know.

[Angie]

It's the most.

[Ari]

Most.

[Angie]

It's so hard to walk through sometimes, you know?

[Ari]

I know. And I can't say this enough. If you are in a season right now where you are at the end of yourself.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

You are truly just, like, in the worst place of your life, the worst heartbreak of your life, the worst financial issues of your life. This is the time to stay close, because I promise you, this is where he's like. Like, I want you. Yeah. I, I, I, I truly feel like if you're in a place where you don't know the love of Jesus, it's. It's only when he strips you of everything or puts you in a really difficult season.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

Where he's doing something. But we have a choice where we can either continue to latch onto idols and put the band aid on with people, with trying to make money with whatever it is, with whatever idol is. It is. Or we can do. Because he's sitting there at the door waiting for you. Yeah. So you can either go the other way. And I'm so grateful that I didn't keep going to idol after idol after idol, and I went to Jesus. Yeah. Look at what it did. Look at. Look at what he did.

[Angie]

And we're going to walk into what happens, because this is. So we're moving from. Okay, so then verse 18 says, but go to the king of Judah who sent you to seek the Lord and tell him, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the message you have just heard. You were sorry and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I said against this city and its people, that this land would be cursed and become desolate. You tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in repentance. And I have indeed heard you, says the Lord. Lord, so I will not send the promised disaster until after you have died and have been buried in peace. You will not see the disaster I'm going to bring on the city. So they took her message back to the king. There is immediate reconciliation to Jesus. When there's repentance, there is immediate redemption. There's immediate restoration. Right. When you repent, which I love so much, it's like, it's the greatest grace portion of the gospel. This is the grace of God, that no matter who you are, where you've been, what you've been doing, how much idolatry is in your life, even if You've been faithfully walking with Jesus for your entire life, and then you have really backslidden and you have really gotten it wrong, and you've really missed the mark. The second you repent, by the way, repenting is not just saying sorry. Repenting is turning away from, from. It's having a broken heart and turning away from the sin. Turning to Jesus and rededicating yourself to him completely and saying, I'm done. Like, I'm actually done. By the way, I've repented so many times in a way that wasn't actually repentance, where I said sorry, knowing I was about to go do it again, knowing that I was going to pick it up as soon as I got out of the secret place. That's not repentance. Repentance is truly with a full, devoted heart saying, I'm done. I'm done with that. That's not to say that you can't fall. That's not to say that you can't make mistakes. But your heart genuinely is saying, no, I'm not going back to that thing. And in this moment, we see Josiah. He repents, and he's immediately reconciled back to God, which I just. And God protects him. And there's also protection in repentance, too. Like, there we have consequences to our actions, we have consequences to our sins, sin. But once you repent, you immediately come under God's covering. You immediately come under his protection. And he just has so much grace, you know. So then we go to second kings 23. So this is Josiah's religious reform. And this is where Josiah initiates a radical, radical cleansing of all of Jerusalem. And I'm just going to read a little bit of the language. And I think, like, we should have a challenge where we all write down every potential idol in our lives and a way to tear down those idols. I actually would love to do that with you guys. Where we write down. I already have, like, five things in my head.

[Ari]

I do, too. My number one is the phone.

[Angie]

Yeah, no, actually, mine is social media, YouTube, some other things. Like, I, I. There are so many things that are idolatrous in our lives that aren't bad even, but they're not helpful. They're not, they're not just not helping us. And so I just want to read some of the language in 2nd Kings 23. And we're almost done with the reading. But the language in Second Kings 23 is so intense. The way that Josiah initiates this entire Reformation, he tears down every bit of idolatry he Removes BAAL worship, Asherah, poles, pagan priests, and he even defiles the high places. So let me just read a little bit of this. So the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. The king went up to the temple of the Lord with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the priests and the prophets. Oh, this is such an important part. Actually, first there, the king read to them the entire book of the covenant that had been found in the Lord's temple. The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the Lord's presence. He pledged to obey the Lord by keeping all his commands, laws, and decrees with all of his heart and soul. In this way, he confirmed all of the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll. And all the people pledged themselves to the covenant. And so what we see here is that, that, like, community matters so much. I said this at Jesus image, but purity is a communal effort, like iron sharpening iron, holding each other accountable, calling each other higher, showing each other your blind spots and being like, dude, you've gotten it wrong. Like, this is what God says and you've gotten it wrong. I can't tell you how sharpening Ari's friendship is in my life. She has no issue telling me when I'm wrong. She has no issue telling me, hey, this isn't what God wants for you. Hey, you're not seeing this correctly. It's. The most important thing in our lives is having people who tell us the truth.

[Ari]

We will fall if we don't have people 100%. And that's the reason why we were able to walk in purity, because we had community mentors, people that were more seasoned than us, that could walk with us and help us and, and. And teach us. That's one of the way God works, is through people. We need people fight for community.

[Angie]

And Josiah for. And Jos? Like is a testament that as Christians, our lives should be banners of purity. Should be like, Our lives should be banners of holiness. Like, you look at, you should look. People should look at us and say, that's a different way of living. Like, the way that they're living is different. It's set apart. It's. I want what they have. And then. So let me just quickly read through this link language. So this is when Josiah goes to extreme, extreme lengths to remove the idolatry in Jerusalem. The king instructed Hilkiah, the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the temple gatekeepers to remove from the Lord's temple all the articles that were used to worship BAAL Asherah and all the powers of the heavens. The king had all these things burned outside of Jerusalem on the terraces of the Kindred Valley. And he carried away the ashes to Bethel. He did away with the idolatrous priests who had been appointed by the previous kings of Judah. The king removed the Asherah poles from the Lord's temple and took it outside Jerusalem. Then he ground the ashes of the pole to dust and threw the dust over the graves of the people. He tore down the living quarters of the male and female shrine prostitutes that were inside the temple of the Lord. He defiled the pagan trends. Listen to the language he destroyed. He tore down. He defiled the pagan shrines where they had offered sacrifices. Josiah tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above the upper room of Ahaz. He smashed them to bits and scattered the pieces in the south of the Mount of Corruption. The king also tore down the altar at Bethel, the pagan shrine that Jeroboam son of Nebat had made when he caused Israel to sin. I love this verse so much because he said that he tore down the altar at Bethel, the very thing that caused Israel to sin. How much more should we be tearing down, burning down, destroying anything that is a bridge to sin? Yeah, any person, any relationship, any vice, anything that you know, any videos, any movies, anything that you know is bridge to sin, tear it down.

[Ari]

And it wasn't even just for himself. It was to lead the whole nation back to God. How much more do we need to be showing that in our families, with our friends, when we're on the streets, when we're in Ubers? How much more do we have to have our eyes open to preach the word of God to non believers, to spread love and light to them? I was in an Uber when we were going to Florida. And I am so grateful that I. That I didn't sit there with in my own world, I literally could hear God. I had my ears open. That lady needed prayer. I started praying for her. She came to Jesus in that moment. Let's go. Like you have no idea. This is our jobs. This is our jobs to be disciples for the Lord. Every one of us, every one of us that has given ourselves to Jesus has a purpose to be disciples of him. We are set apart to him, to lead other people to Christ. So I love just reading all this. He went into the temples, them down. I get a picture of everyone in the temple watching him tear down all of these idols. How much more do we need to do that. What does that look like for us? Yeah, seriously, what does that look like for us? Loving someone, helping someone, praying for someone, showing them who Jesus is, talking to them about the Gospel, praying for them, helping them lead them to repentance.

[Angie]

Yeah, 100%. And also getting rid of the things that you know aren't good for you, getting rid of the things that you know are idolatrous, Getting rid of. Of friendships that you know are leading you to sin that you know aren't good for you. Josiah's reforms show that true repentance involves destruction of idols, not just management. You don't manage sin, you don't manage the idols in your life. You destroy them. Separation from what defiles. So literally removing yourself, making it a point in your life to remove yourself from anything that leads you to sin, and restoration of proper worship. So it's not just not sinning, it's about loving Jesus more than anything. Darren said something the other day. He said, information doesn't change you. What you love changes you. You can read the Bible. How many people, how many religious Pharisees, Paul or Saul, before he became Paul, he was a Bible scholar, he was a theologian, he was a Jewish. He knew the Scriptures back and forth that he was killing Christians. Information, what you know doesn't change you. What you give your heart to, what you choose to love. If you love Jesus more than anything, everything in your life actually will change. It has to. It has to. And so it's not just about living this religious good life. It's about loving Jesus and worshiping Jesus more than all of those things.

[Ari]

Yeah.

[Angie]

Verse 24 says, Josiah got rid of the mediums and sons, psychics, the household gods, the idols, and every other kind of detestable practice in both Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judah. He did this in obedience to the laws written in the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the Lord's temple. Never before had there been a king like Josiah who turned to the Lord with all of his heart and soul and strength. Let's read that again. Never before had there been a king like Josiah who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength. Strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since. And that's beautiful and also really heartbreaking that there's never been a king with that sort of purity. Josiah was thirsting for purity, thirsting for purity. He was like, I will go to the greatest lengths to the ends of the earth to make sure, sure that Jerusalem is pure, that we go back to the things of God. And I just love this so much because even though Josiah was the first king like him, and the last, Josiah still can't save us. Josiah is still an imperfect person. And the story of Josiah simply points to Jesus. It points to the fact that we need a savior. It points to our pure, sinless savior, Jesus. So while Josiah is. Is he? When I first read the story, I was so deeply moved and inspired. And I want to be like Josiah. And I want to be somebody who brings Reformation, not just to my own.

[Ari]

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[Angie]

life but to the lives of those around me. But it just points to Jesus. It points to the fact that we need Jesus to be like Jesus. We need Jesus to be pure. We need Jesus to be holy.

[Ari]

I. I think that, yeah, I love that you say you need a thirst for him. You really do. And I just feel heavy on my heart that maybe some of you are in this place where you're like Saul, where the scales are just very much still.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

Covering your eyes and you wanna love Jesus, but there's this veil between you that you can't quite get there. Maybe you're still living in rebellion like I was, and you still have a wall of pride. And as you hear us say this message of, like, it's a heart thing, maybe your heart just isn't there yet.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

I'm just gonna simply just give you a simple way of getting there.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

Go deeper.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

Find a place. Whether it be sit in the sun or the beach or on your. Find a place where you can sit and simply say, I need you. I have pride and rebellion, and honestly, I'm seeking you. But I still feel this urge that I still want to do it, and I can't stop doing it. Help. Help me. Help me. It is so simple. We complicate things with Jesus so much, and we have to remember that when we just simply open the door, he comes in. But he's a gentleman. And until we reach out and say, I need help, there's not much he can do when you keep doing the same thing over and over again. Reach out, Lord, help me. I don't want to live this way, but I feel like I have scales on my eyes. Eyes. Rip down the scales from my eyes. Help me go deeper in the Scriptures. Talk to him about what you can't stop doing. Go deeper with him. He is such a good father and he is there, and he will help you and he will reveal to you things and he will feel the love of him. And that's what happened with me. I had so much pride, and I couldn't stop doing the things that I was accustomed to since I was a kid. I was living in sin and I was living a certain way. And my pride always said to me, I've been living this way. I'm not going to just stop. And I had to go deeper. I'll never forget the day I got on my hands and knees and said, I need help. I don't want to live this way anymore. Help me. And he began working in my heart and he began to change my mind and convicting me and leading me to people that then helped me and led me to stop sinning.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

Yeah. And so, so, so good. That's how your heart changes, is simply reaching out to, saying, help me going deeper in the Scriptures, finding mentors. And so, yeah, that. That's one thing.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

And.

[Ari]

And then another thing I wanted to just say is that what I love about Josiah is that through his lineage, how they all were just did evil in the Lord's sight. And I. And I think about how we grow up. We grow up in families that don't come from, you know, we didn't grow up in Christianity. We grew up in really hard circumstances. And I think that's really hard. And I think he's a perfect example. I think a lot of us can put excuses of how we grew up and be like, man, my circumstances are too unfortunate. Like, I am the way I am because of my father, on my mother, Like, I can't help it. Yeah. And I can tell you that I could have used that excuse of the way I grew up, but I'm so glad I broke that generational pattern. It is not an excuse for how you grew up. It's actually part of God's glory that he can shine through you to say, look at how they grew up and look at how she is.

[Angie]

So true.

[Ari]

So I just love that Josiah didn't use. Use the excuse of how his father was or his grandfather was, of how they did evil in the Lord's side, but he did different. He broke that pattern. It ended with him.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Ari]

And we see in Ezekiel, he talks about the justice, the justice of a righteous God. Suppose a certain man is righteous and does what is just and right. He does not commit adultery. He does not rob the poor, but instead gives food to the hungry and provides clothes for the needy. But suppose that man has a son who grows up to be a robber or a murderer, which his father would never do. Such a sinful person live? No. But suppose that sinful son in turn has a son who sees his father's wickedness and decides against that kind of life. This son refuses to worship idol idols or commit adultery. Yeah, but he does not exploit the poor, but instead is fear. He gives food to the hungry and provides clothes for the needy. Such a person will not die because of his father's sins. He will surely live. But the father will die for his many sins, for being cruel, robbing people, and doing what clearly was wrong among his people. What you ask? Doesn't the child pay for the parent's sins?

[Angie]

No.

[Ari]

For if the child does what is right and keeps my decrees, the child will surely live. Yeah. Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? Of course not. I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. Put all your rebellion behind you and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Be the person in your family that breaks those generational patterns. If you did grow up in unfortunate circumstances. I can't believe the way that God has shined his glory through me. I can't believe through my continual yes to God, I've not only seen the oil on my life, but on my family's life. My father has given his life to Jesus. My mother is coming back to health. It is your purity and your obedience. It is not just for you. It is for the life of so many others. Others. I can't believe the way from me, my yes to God and me, ending it with me. It has ended with me because my yes to Jesus and my consistent pursuit to Jesus, it has literally restored my family, restored my friends, restored the lives of so many others. While, yes, there are some thought patterns and things that I have truly felt like were embedded into me. I, I, I say no to that. I remember I used to be like, no, I, I grew up in this. Yeah. It is in my family lineage that they have depression and anxiety and they grow. No, do not settle for that, because when you walk with Jesus, he literally rewires your brain. He's rewired my life, my way of thinking, my thought process, my ocd, my habits. He's formed me into a new woman. And now that restoration now flows out on my family, my friends, you guys. And so it can end with you.

[Angie]

Yes.

[Ari]

Pay the price of being a disciple. It's not just for you. It's for the lives of so many others.

[Angie]

So many, so many others. And I just even love what you touched on about. I want to do a whole episode on healing from generational patterns and not, I think, too, what I love about Josiah's story. I just want to do a whole episode on that about how, like, you guys have no idea, the last few years of me and Ari's lives, what it's looked like to the public, even though we're so vulnerable on here, we're so off it. Like, we tell the truth about what's going on in our lives, but it's still such a small, small, small percentage of what we, what we go through, what we deal with, what life is really like. So when people see girls gone Bible, they see this like, it's amazing. God has blessed it, there's favor on it. And so many people have been saved, so many lives have been transformed. That's like the outward fruit of what we do. But, like, it has nothing to do with us. Like, Jesus does all of that. And what our personal lives look like, like, is really, it's just not glamorous. Like, a, a walk of purification is really hard, especially for everybody. For everybody. And it's a forever ongoing process. But for us, who we are not only Christians, we're teachers and we're in ministry. So we're already held to a higher standard, and we're trying to figure everything out, and we're trying to heal from trauma, and we're trying to heal from childhood stuff. I feel like what has been on my heart the most recently that I really want to have an episode on is, like, the spiritual and emotional bypassing that happens in Christianity. I was talking to Beth about it, actually, where, like, I'm just so tired of, like, Christian lingo. I'm so tired of performative Christianity. And I'll be the first one to say that I have contributed to performative Christianity. Every but 95% of people who become Christians. Christians, you adopt this language and there's this empower, there's real Holy Spirit empowerment, and then there's this kind of false empowerment where, like, you do think you're, like, a better person. You do think you're like, all that because you walk with Jesus and you know scripture and all this stuff. But I just feel like it's so easy to use Christianity as a mask to cover what's really going on. So we, like, say these really spiritual things while we're completely ignoring what's happening on the inside of. Of us. And, like, our lives with Jesus, for the most part, literally look like, woe is me, Lord. Oh, it's woe is me, God.

[Ari]

For the past four years have been I. When I get a picture of myself going through this pruning process, I'm, like, crawling on my hands and knees.

[Angie]

No, it's.

[Ari]

It is not for the week.

[Angie]

It's not for the week. And, like, big ministry moments are literally 1% of. Of what our lives with Jesus is like. And I think I'm just so. I'm just done with BS Performative Christianity, where we all think we're, like, high and mighty because we use this, like, spiritual lingo when really our lives with Jesus look like, help me, Jesus.

[Ari]

Oh, yeah.

[Angie]

I need help to be like you. I need help to respond like you. I miss the mark so much. So much. There's so much in me that's not like you yet. That's what true purification looks like.

[Ari]

But do you know what that is, too? That's what purity looks like. Because when you say that, that is a perfect example of what the heart looks like. I need help.

[Angie]

I need help.

[Ari]

It isn't, I'm perfect. I'm holy. I'm walking with you. I am a filthy rag.

[Angie]

No, literally, yeah, it's like, true purification for me looks like having an interaction and being like, I. My heart was not good there.

[Ari]

Yeah, that's what purity is.

[Angie]

And also purity is just being so brutally honest. Because there have been so many times where I've been, like, either in a conversation or situation and afterwards been like, my heart wasn't pure there, but nobody knows. So I can go on and ignore that. And I have so much there. The first couple of years of my Christian walk was this, like, this, like, performative. It was real. It's authentic, partly. But then there's. You can use anything as a mask. You can use anything as a mask. And I think true purity is being honest and being humble enough to be like, my heart wasn't pure in that my heart wasn't right. My reaction was bad. There's so much in me that I can easily dismiss as the other person. Person's fault that I can easily. I can just keep going and repeat these patterns and blame everybody else around me, or I can let Jesus do a work in me. But another thing of, like, the spiritual bypassing is saying Jesus is doing something in me or expecting Jesus to do something in you without partnering with him. Like, it's equal. Jesus does all the work, but we have to be aware. We have to recognize and we have to want him to change us. We have to want him to purify our hearts. It's not just like a passive prayer where you go, purify me, Lord? No, no. If he's going to purify you, that means that you're going to be in a relationship or a situation that's going to bring up really ugly stuff in you. And you're going to have to be humble enough and have the purity to address it, to want to change it, to want to be different. Or you can just blame the other person and keep the. Be prideful, cover it up, never address it. This is true Christianity. It's not just like, name it and claim it, rebuke and whatever. It's like, no, no, It's. You change.

[Ari]

It's hard stuff. It's. It's being brutally honest. Yeah, exactly. It's knocking down all those walls of pride. We are so messy and nasty. And that's exactly what purity is.

[Angie]

Exactly.

[Ari]

Being messy and honest. That's what we preach. And I just want to say. I. One thing. I just want to say one more thing. I just get. I. I'm like a, like, image person. I get. I like to get images when I read the Scriptures. And I just. I love in this when God. Because sometimes we can think, he's so angry. And I. I will turn my. I will turn my face. I will cause disaster. And we're like, I remember when I first read the Old Testament, I was like, he is so harsh. He must have, like, changed his heart when he came down as Jesus. But as I read the Old Testament again, Testament again. Even in Jeremiah, he does the same thing. I will. I am going to destroy this place. And I just get this picture now of Jesus being. His heart is broken, seeing us destroying our lives. And then as soon as we come. Come to this place of honesty, he's like, if you would just come to me, I will forgive you. But I'm like, your father, who loves you. I don't want you to destroy yourself, so I'm going to destroy it for you.

[Angie]

Yes.

[Ari]

And so I just want you to get that picture when you feel like God is, like, giving you these rules and he's this harsh God. No, he's like, I just. I will forgive you. Just come to me every time you're living in that condemnation or shame. He's like, if you would just. Just turn to me and say, hey, I have pride. I'm messy. I just fell back again. I want you to get that picture of him saying, but I will forgive you for it, because that's what he's doing with you. You don't have to live in shame.

[Angie]

No. So much grace. Look at Josiah. The moment he repents, he is under God's covering you, no matter how far you've turned. And remember, I think this is. And this is what we're walking through in our own lives. And I can't wait in a couple of years to have, like, more. L. Do you. You know, when you walk with Jesus and, like, you haven't fully, like, walked it out yet, so you don't fully have the language to put to it. But what I'm walking through the most recently, the past couple, just, like, this religiosity that's like this fake, like, purity or like, that's. No, it is about your heart. It is about your character, and it's not this performative thing where you're better anybody else, because you, like, whatever, follow the rules. Like, it's about your heart, and it's about being real, and it's about being authentic.

[Ari]

I was just talking to Courtney last night, and we were talking about all the stuff we've been through in our lives, and we're talking about, like, her kids are going through some stuff right now that is like really painful. And we both go, good. They're going through that. Good. Like we would not be the people we are. We, we can say so stuck in victim mode when we are going through so much stuff. The realness and your authenticity comes from the crap we've been through our whole lives. You come from unfortunate circumstances. Good. You went through something hard. Good. It is in these tough, unfortunate circumstances that it builds your character to be real, to be raw, to release. I don't want you to stay in this place where you're like, man, this happened to me. No, let it fuel you because it's been everything her and I have been through is why we can relate and have the heart and be able to. To. To help others.

[Angie]

Exactly. Exactly. I love, I love our journeys. I really do. And I'm tired of being like, I wish I lived in. No, Jesus is using it. I love our journeys. Anyways, thanks for coming to greet girls gone Bible. We love you guys so much. We have tour coming up in a couple of weeks. We'll be in Hartford, Connecticut and New York, Pennsylvania. We have tour dates all year, all summer. Go look. We're doing the east coast. Go to girlsgone bible.com tour and get your tickets. See if we're anywhere near you guys. Fly to come see us. Tour has been insane recently. Recently the presence of God has been so strong. People have been set free. Lives have been transformed. Come worship Jesus with us. And also we want to remind you that we have GGB plus, our subscription based platform where we just, we upload videos of us having conversations that we don't have anywhere else. Vlogs, conversations, videos. And so we want to see you [e-mail] plus. We love you, you guys so much. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn his face towards you and give you peace. Shalom. Shalom. Now I'll never not think of the bird to think of the bird. Love you guys.

[Ari]

Bye.