Podcast Summary: “What’s Love Got to Do With It” with Jada Edwards
With The Perrys | Hosts: Preston Perry & Jackie Hill Perry
Guest: Jada Edwards
Date: December 8, 2025
Episode Overview
This episode of With The Perrys dives deep into the meaning and practice of love from a Christian perspective, featuring author and speaker Jada Edwards. With humor and candor, the conversation wrestles with what it truly means to love others—not just in theory or sentiment, but through hard-won decisions, obedience to God, and spiritual transformation. Drawing from Jada’s new book, “A New Way to Love Your Neighbor: Be Curious, Free, and Brave,” the trio explores their own struggles, practical wisdom, and the tension between divine love and human imperfection.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The “Rapture Hype” and the Hunger for Secrets
[00:15 - 02:22]
- Opening banter about recent social media rapture panic.
- Preston and Jackie note how conspiracy and seeking secret spiritual knowledge often trump simple trust in Scripture.
- Jackie Perry [01:12]: “You’re not reading your Bible or you’re reading it and not believing it.”
- They connect this to gnosticism—wanting knowledge God hasn’t given.
- Quote: “Eve wanted to have knowledge that God didn’t give her. To this day, we want knowledge that God did not give us.” — Preston Perry, [02:16]
2. Introducing Jada Edwards and Her New Book
[03:35 - 04:47]
- A lighthearted segue into Jada’s presence and her new book: A New Way to Love Your Neighbor, challenging surface-level or personality-driven love.
3. Love as Identity, Not Just Action
[04:48 - 08:46]
- Jackie admits love is a challenge for her personally, sparking candid reflections from Jada.
- Jada’s Testimony: God revealed to her that she loved her desired outcomes (in marriage, ministry, etc.) more than she loved Him Himself.
- Love is not just acts of kindness or personality traits—it’s an identity and a calling.
- “The person who is loving determines the value of the one they love, not the other way around.” — Jada Edwards, [33:17]
- Referencing 1 Corinthians 13: even the best ministry efforts are empty without love as the driver.
4. How God’s Specific Love Changes How We Love Others
[09:58 - 11:56; 14:49 - 17:38]
- Jada emphasizes the importance of internalizing specific ways God has loved us—not just generic “God loves the world” faith.
- She reflects on how recalling God’s grace in our own story is the only way to authentically pass it to others.
- “You have to be more of a pass-through than the source.” — Jada Edwards, [11:38]
- Jackie: Many acknowledge God’s love intellectually, but struggle to experience its depth and let it shape their response to others.
5. Shame, Forgiveness, and “Scorekeeping”
[18:00 - 23:00]
- The group discusses how holding onto personal shame translates to being unable to forgive or give grace to others.
- Jackie Perry, [19:45]: “You carry your own shame, which then translates to you expecting other people to carry theirs.”
- Jada: “If I am dealing with my own shame and guilt…I cannot just keep mine to myself. And you got a clean slate.”
- True forgiveness for others requires that we first accept God’s forgiveness for ourselves.
6. Family of Origin, Achievement, and Parental Wounds
[27:02 - 31:59]
- Preston and Jada discuss how their views of love are shaped by their parents, especially fathers.
- Jada notes achievement-based family dynamics translate into conditional feelings of being loved by God or others.
- Healing and mature love require seeing how the gospel intersects with our story—not just knowing abstract Bible truths.
7. Defining Biblical Love (Agape)
[32:42 - 36:29]
- Jada gives a powerful biblical definition of love:
- Divine benevolence/charity; the lover assigns the value; it’s not earned.
- It’s initiating—makes the first move, regardless of reciprocation.
- “Initiating love is hard. It is initiating love and saying…I’m called to assign a value to you that you cannot change.” — Jada Edwards, [35:23]
8. Love Is a Decision, Not Just a Feeling
[36:39 - 42:19]
- The vast majority of biblical love is active, not reactive or driven by sentiment.
- Jada: Love often entails hard boundaries and wise decisions—loving well does not mean lacking wisdom.
- “Love without condition is not love without wisdom.” — Jada Edwards, [42:17]
9. Grace for the Slow Process of Growth
[13:31–13:57; 52:12–52:23]
- Growth in love is gradual. Recognize and accept the slow, sometimes uncomfortable process of sanctification.
- Jackie: Don’t expect to become “Apostle John” overnight.
10. The Role of the Holy Spirit & Slowing Down
[61:51 - 68:42]
- Spiritual fruit, including love, is produced by the Spirit—not solely by human effort.
- Jada: The key is to slow your pace, ask God for direction, discern what love looks like in each circumstance.
- Example: Listening to the Spirit to comfort/encourage a struggling friend instead of simply checking off a task list.
- “There is something to be said about pace. And everything around us works against that—to slow down and let the Spirit say what He’s trying to say.” — Jada Edwards, [63:50]
11. Practical Sacrifice and Unseen Acts
[57:41 - 60:29]
- Jada recounts a profound moment when, instead of demanding compliance from her daughter, she simply cleaned her room as an act of undeserved grace—models how God meets us in our weakness.
- “Sometimes the bigger impact is the unexplained grace. Yeah, that’s the bigger impact. Just do it.” — Jada Edwards, [58:43]
12. Forgiveness, Boundaries, and Divine Love
[69:52 - 79:31]
- Multifaceted approach to forgiveness:
- Everyday offenses (let go, grow in minimizing what offends you)
- Significant wounds (processing may take years; release debt even if reconciliation doesn’t occur)
- Healthy forgiveness may include recognizing boundaries as wise, not unloving.
- “Do I still want God’s best for you? When I see you get promoted… How does that make me feel? That’s how I know I forgave.” — Jada Edwards, [79:01]
- It’s not always possible or healthy to resume close relationships with those who’ve harmed us, even after forgiveness.
13. The Ultimate Test: Love of Neighbor Reflects Love of God
[80:13 - End]
- The episode closes with emphasis: Genuine love for others is the marker of a disciple. You can’t claim love for God and not love people.
- Jackie Perry [80:15]: “If you don’t love people, you ain’t loving God. So this is a major discipleship issue…”
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “[God told me] you love what you want me to do in your marriage more than you’re loving Me…you’ve got some things out of order.” — Jada Edwards [06:18]
- “Love is not personality-driven. It’s not even acts of kindness. It’s…deeper. It’s identity. It’s calling.” — Jada Edwards [07:15]
- “You have to be more of a pass-through than the source.” — Jada Edwards [11:38]
- “Because I remind myself, I guilt myself…that’s what you do to yourself.” — Jada Edwards [19:56]
- “A lot of times, we come into Christianity projecting the wounds we got from our parents onto God.” — Preston Perry [27:02]
- “If I’m full…I don’t have room for offense.” — Jada Edwards [51:14]
- “Love without condition is not love without wisdom.” — Jada Edwards [42:17]
- “Sometimes the act itself is not changed, but God’s changing your heart about the thing.” — Jada Edwards [66:38]
- “Do I still want God’s best for you?...That’s how I know I forgave.” — Jada Edwards [79:04]
- “If you don’t love people, you ain’t loving God.” — Jackie Hill Perry [80:15]
Important Segment Timestamps
| Time | Topic | |---|---| | 00:15–02:22 | “Rapture Hype” & hunger for secret knowledge | | 04:48–08:46 | Love as identity; not performance | | 14:49–17:38 | Experiencing God’s specific love | | 18:00–23:00 | Shame, forgiveness, and “scorekeeping” | | 27:02–31:59 | Parental influences and love | | 33:17–36:29 | Defining Biblical (Agape) love | | 36:39–42:19 | Love as a decision, not feeling; boundaries | | 52:12–52:23 | The desire for the fullness of God’s love | | 57:41–60:29 | Parenting, sacrifice, undeserved grace | | 61:51–68:42 | Role of the Holy Spirit, pace, and wisdom | | 69:52–79:31 | Forgiveness and boundaries; practical wisdom | | 80:15–End | Love as the core of discipleship |
Tone and Takeaways
The conversation is authentic, vulnerable, and imbued with practical theological wisdom. The hosts and guest never shy from the wrestle, using humor and relatable stories to drive home hard lessons about the messiness—and necessity—of biblical love.
Listeners will walk away challenged to reckon honestly with how they give and receive love, equipped to examine their motives, and freed to pursue real transformation—not just behavior modification—by abiding in God’s love. This episode is a must-listen for anyone grappling with grace, forgiveness, boundaries, and what it means to truly follow Jesus.
Final Word:
Love is messy, sacrificial work rooted in a supernatural, initiating charity—not achievement, sentiment, or reciprocation. To love like Christ is to slow down, lean on the Spirit, and courageously let God rewrite the story of how and why we love others.