Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - September 19, 2025


Ep 1243 ｜ Gen Z Wants Authentic Faith. Here’s What They Need to Know ｜ Madi Prewett Troutt


Episode Stats

Length

57 minutes

Words per Minute

197.06743

Word Count

11,294

Sentence Count

696

Misogynist Sentences

6

Hate Speech Sentences

9


Summary

In this episode, we are joined by Christian author and podcaster, Maddie Trout, as she shares her story of how she became a believer in God and how she ended up on The Bachelor. God bless!


Transcript

00:00:00.580 The Holy Spirit is up to something, y'all.
00:00:03.240 It feels like America is in the midst of or on the brink of revival.
00:00:09.100 And what we need right now is to know the Word of God, to be filled with His Spirit
00:00:14.300 from the wisdom in His Word.
00:00:16.480 And we need sincere, on-fire Christians to not only know the truth, but live the truth
00:00:23.120 and speak the truth fully.
00:00:24.720 And today we are having an emboldening conversation with Christian author and podcaster, Maddie
00:00:32.000 Trout.
00:00:32.800 I am so excited for you to listen to this.
00:00:35.380 We recorded this episode a couple weeks ago before everything has happened over the past
00:00:42.040 two weeks, and I still find everything that was shared here to be so perfect for this moment.
00:00:48.160 And that's because God always knows what He is doing.
00:00:51.720 He is always working all things together for the good of those who love Him, for the
00:00:56.000 good of His people, and for His glory.
00:00:58.400 So I just pray that this conversation glorifies Him and encourages all of you.
00:01:03.540 If you love this podcast, please subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, leave
00:01:08.380 us a five-star review.
00:01:09.760 We love that there are so many new people now in our community.
00:01:13.240 Welcome to the Relatable Family.
00:01:15.120 I hope this is an edifying next hour for you.
00:01:18.660 So it's brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers.
00:01:21.600 Go to GoodRanchers.com.
00:01:23.240 Use code Allie at checkout.
00:01:24.660 That's GoodRanchers.com.
00:01:26.020 Code Allie.
00:01:36.440 Maddie, thanks so much for taking the time to join us.
00:01:39.300 For those who may not know, I know a lot of people out there already follow you, but for
00:01:43.140 those who don't, who are you and what do you do?
00:01:44.840 I am a speaker, a writer, I guess I should have started with wife and mama, follower
00:01:51.540 of Jesus, and have a past of going on reality TV, which was a crazy time in my life, going
00:01:57.640 on The Bachelor.
00:01:58.420 Yes.
00:01:59.220 I was about to say specifically.
00:01:59.780 That was a wild time.
00:02:01.520 But yeah, now I get to just spend my time telling people about Jesus, which is fun.
00:02:05.400 Yes.
00:02:05.780 The Bachelor was a long time ago, yet a lot of people probably still attach that long time
00:02:11.540 ago thing that you did to you and probably kind of say, this is why people know her,
00:02:17.920 which might've been originally true.
00:02:19.800 So for those who are interested about that time, how old were you?
00:02:23.960 How did you get on The Bachelor?
00:02:25.160 How'd that go?
00:02:26.240 So I was 23 years old, living in Alabama, and I was going through Bible college at the
00:02:32.820 time, had just ended a relationship with a guy that I had been dating for four years,
00:02:36.860 thought I was going to marry.
00:02:38.100 God asked me to lay the relationship down, didn't understand why.
00:02:41.200 I'm a part of this small group called Single Dating, Engaged, Married, based off of a book
00:02:45.500 that Ben Stewart wrote.
00:02:47.480 And I'm helping lead this small group, and I'm hanging out with these girls.
00:02:50.400 I come over, and they're all watching The Bachelor.
00:02:52.920 Yeah.
00:02:53.560 I immediately start judging them, Allie.
00:02:56.220 I'm going to be really honest with you.
00:02:57.340 I started judging them, and I was like, you guys, we have to turn this off.
00:03:00.420 Why are we watching this show?
00:03:01.300 And I had never watched it before, so I truly didn't really understand what it was about.
00:03:05.120 I just knew it was reality TV.
00:03:06.300 So I was like, okay, this is probably trash.
00:03:08.580 And so immediately, I'm judging and telling them to turn it off.
00:03:12.740 They make a joke.
00:03:13.560 You should go on the show.
00:03:14.860 You would be great on the show.
00:03:16.760 I'm like, I don't know anything about this show, but you will never catch me going on
00:03:19.500 a show like this.
00:03:20.320 I literally say that.
00:03:21.560 Oh, my gosh.
00:03:22.200 They all start laughing in the corner.
00:03:23.880 I don't know what they're laughing about.
00:03:25.560 Months pass by.
00:03:26.680 I'm working out at the gym.
00:03:28.360 I get a call from a California number.
00:03:29.880 I answer, and they're like, is this Maddie Pruitt?
00:03:34.140 And I'm like, yes.
00:03:35.900 And they're like, hey, this is so-and-so from The Bachelor.
00:03:38.420 We would love for you to come on our show.
00:03:40.080 We got your application.
00:03:41.480 I'm like, well, you have the wrong Maddie because I'm in seminary, and I didn't apply
00:03:46.280 for your show.
00:03:47.820 And they were like, no, we got your application, and we really think you should consider it.
00:03:52.280 And I very much shrugged my shoulders, said, no, I would never do that, didn't think much
00:03:58.020 about it, called my mom, thinking she would laugh about it with me and think it was just
00:04:03.020 so ridiculous.
00:04:04.120 And she was like, well, I think we should pray about it.
00:04:07.020 I think you should take it to God and just ask him why this came about and what to do
00:04:10.900 with it, because the first thing we always do is pray.
00:04:14.280 And I was like, what?
00:04:15.180 I wasn't expecting that.
00:04:16.080 And so I was shook by her answer and challenged and just was like, okay, well, I'll take it
00:04:22.180 to God, but I know God's going to say no.
00:04:24.340 And over the course of a couple of months, ironically, I kept feeling a pull to say yes.
00:04:29.500 I kept feeling a pull and a piece to take that step of obedience and go on reality TV.
00:04:36.880 And I really had no idea what to expect.
00:04:38.740 Like I said, I hadn't really watched an episode before, maybe one or two after I said yes to
00:04:43.320 kind of prep for it, and went in with just an open mind, open hands, thinking I'm here
00:04:48.900 to share the gospel with the girls on the show.
00:04:51.160 Like, I don't know why I'm here.
00:04:52.700 I just am saying yes.
00:04:55.480 And ended up going all the way to the end.
00:04:59.340 Okay, wait, who applied for you?
00:05:00.880 Okay, so my friends.
00:05:01.760 Oh, yeah, let me backtrack there.
00:05:02.680 So my friends who were watching the show, who were a part of my small group, applied me.
00:05:07.780 That's why they were laughing in the corner.
00:05:09.080 They applied me for the show without me knowing.
00:05:11.660 And they submitted a picture and everything.
00:05:13.320 They submitted the pictures, the full application.
00:05:14.980 So you didn't even do an in-person audition or interview.
00:05:18.180 They just saw the picture, saw the application.
00:05:19.880 Saw the picture, saw the application.
00:05:21.000 It was actually a long interview process.
00:05:23.120 So in those months of praying, I was going through all the interviews.
00:05:25.900 And then the top 100, like they fly you to California.
00:05:28.580 It's a very intense interview once you make it to California.
00:05:32.360 And I just the whole time am praying like, Lord, I don't know how I'm going to do this.
00:05:37.820 Like, I think you need to choose someone else.
00:05:40.040 But I just kept feeling such a peace about it.
00:05:42.900 And of course, right when I feel peace to say yes, all the friends that applied me are like,
00:05:48.000 no, actually, I don't think you should go on the show.
00:05:49.460 And I'm like, you applied me to go on the show.
00:05:51.860 And I do feel a peace about it.
00:05:53.740 And I just feel like I need to say yes.
00:05:56.120 And I didn't know why I was saying yes.
00:05:57.700 But now in looking back, I so see how the Lord has used it and even grown me so much
00:06:03.000 in my faith and dependence in Him.
00:06:05.220 And it's truly crazy the opportunities and moments that I had even behind the scenes filming
00:06:10.760 the show with producers and with the girls to get to just talk about Jesus and sometimes
00:06:16.760 not even talk about Jesus.
00:06:17.700 They just would see me reading my Bible.
00:06:19.080 They just would see me, you know, praying and not gossiping and not dressing a certain
00:06:23.700 way and not drinking and these things and would be curious about it and just would ask
00:06:27.580 questions.
00:06:28.000 And it just was really cool in a culture of there being such compromise and competition
00:06:32.460 to just say, hey, I know who I am in Christ.
00:06:35.260 And I'm not here to, you know, steal a rose from you or anything like that.
00:06:39.940 Like I am here to just because I feel like the Lord called me to go on the show.
00:06:44.020 And, you know, I think it was it was really cool how the Lord used that.
00:06:48.560 And then when it aired, you know, getting to take a stand for Jesus and for my purity
00:06:54.500 was tell us more about that, because some people don't know what happened there with
00:06:59.680 the fantasy suite.
00:07:00.900 Totally.
00:07:01.420 So this was kind of the last few weeks.
00:07:04.060 And if you don't know much about The Bachelor, there's this week called fantasy suite weeks.
00:07:08.060 And I I just thought it was a crazy concept.
00:07:11.420 Yeah.
00:07:11.700 I'm like, this is wild.
00:07:13.720 Yeah, that in order to see if we want to be together forever, we have to explore things
00:07:19.640 physically and sexually.
00:07:20.680 But you're going to do this with multiple people.
00:07:22.860 Like that concept to me was really wild.
00:07:25.960 And I just remember being so prayerful about it because I was like, I know a lot of people
00:07:31.420 are going to be watching this who aren't believers.
00:07:34.080 And I I don't want to come across judgmental at all.
00:07:36.880 But I also know my values and my convictions that I'm unwilling to compromise in.
00:07:41.620 And, you know, there was just a lot going on, a lot of I've probably signed so many things
00:07:47.500 that I'm not allowed to say, but just a lot happening behind the scenes that there was
00:07:51.100 definitely a set up going on of trying to make this a really big thing.
00:07:56.940 When in my mind, it's just like, yeah, these are my convictions and I'm not going to I'm
00:08:00.360 not going to compromise and essentially have a moment with The Bachelor and, you know, just
00:08:06.920 shared, hey, these are my values.
00:08:08.400 I'm saving myself for marriage and I'm going to be with someone who values purity, who values
00:08:14.560 a relationship with Jesus, who sees the importance of this.
00:08:18.220 And I'm not saying that has to be your story in the past.
00:08:21.160 But in order to move forward, like I do need to be with someone who does understand this
00:08:26.700 and at least like understands my values behind this.
00:08:29.260 And I just remember like explaining how it would be so hard for me to say yes to someone
00:08:35.740 getting down on one knee after he had just said yes to all these other girls physically
00:08:40.060 and intimately three, four or five days before.
00:08:43.120 And so I just was explaining, you know, to him, hey, I just I can't.
00:08:47.540 I'm sorry.
00:08:48.420 And he's just explaining to me.
00:08:50.120 But, you know, I really I love you.
00:08:51.860 But there's also other people here.
00:08:53.760 And, you know, I got to explore this.
00:08:55.840 And I'm like, you don't have to do anything.
00:08:57.720 And I'm not going to stick around if you choose to do that.
00:09:00.920 And then he ended up telling me he did choose to do that because I was the last one on one
00:09:05.660 of that week.
00:09:08.120 And, you know, it was a very confusing, weird time.
00:09:11.300 I ended up breaking up with him like a couple of days before engagement.
00:09:15.220 Just out of praying through, Lord, you know, I don't see this being someone that I could
00:09:22.420 partner with in life forever.
00:09:24.180 I don't see this being someone that we share the same beliefs and convictions.
00:09:29.140 And so I ended up breaking up with him.
00:09:31.200 And then I ended up kind of getting brought back into it again.
00:09:34.080 And we go into the finale together.
00:09:36.600 And then I get chewed out by his mom.
00:09:38.560 And it's just a whole situation.
00:09:40.520 Situation, I mean, now looking back, I'm kind of like the girl wasn't that off because we
00:09:47.360 weren't on the same page spiritually.
00:09:49.460 And so the whole thing was essentially just like, you know, I don't approve of you or bless
00:09:54.280 this relationship because you're not on the same page.
00:09:57.640 And there were probably a few other things that were said that were not kind.
00:10:01.200 But I just remember the whole time praying, Holy Spirit, speak to me.
00:10:04.840 Give me wisdom on what to say and what not to say.
00:10:07.140 I truly believe that meekness is strength under control.
00:10:10.580 And I'm like, Lord, I just want to be meek.
00:10:12.400 I want to be humble and I want to be strong.
00:10:14.340 I want to know who I am in this moment and not say anything out of hungering for validation
00:10:19.380 and approval from other people.
00:10:21.040 I don't want to say anything that's, you know, me being governed by my flesh.
00:10:24.560 I want to have a mind governed by the spirit in this moment.
00:10:26.740 And I want to point others to you.
00:10:28.200 And I'm just sitting here having like this wrestle in my mind of like, what do I say?
00:10:31.680 How do I handle this moment?
00:10:33.480 And I honestly don't even remember what I said.
00:10:35.260 It was kind of the craziest 10 minutes of my life, very quick.
00:10:39.360 And, you know, of course, I left the set and immediately locked myself in the bathroom and
00:10:43.220 cried and just was like, Lord, that was so hard.
00:10:45.920 And I don't understand why I had to go through that.
00:10:47.940 But I just trust you with it.
00:10:49.300 And I trust you're going to use it, which he has.
00:10:52.480 And if not for any other reason than even to grow my own faith and dependence on him.
00:10:57.940 And so I'm so grateful for it.
00:10:59.680 But it definitely has led to my ability now to be able to talk about purity and talk about
00:11:06.300 Jesus.
00:11:07.200 I mean, as soon as I came off the stage, I remember a few days later, I got reached out
00:11:10.640 to by churches.
00:11:11.660 Hey, will you come to our church and talk about standing firm in faith and in your convictions
00:11:16.140 under pressure?
00:11:16.780 Can you come and talk about purity and the importance of purity?
00:11:20.300 And it just was really, really cool, because I never imagined in a million years that saying
00:11:26.500 yes to going on The Bachelor would ultimately lead to what I felt God had put on my heart
00:11:31.020 to do years and years before that, which is why I was going through Bible college and got
00:11:35.420 my certificate in ministry, which was to share the gospel and teach the truth.
00:11:40.720 And so that is a wild way to get there.
00:11:44.320 Yeah.
00:11:44.740 I am so thankful for this encouraging and edifying conversation.
00:11:53.520 It's exactly what we need right now.
00:11:55.900 And if you feel like you need encouragement and edification, please come to Share the Arrows.
00:12:01.900 Share the Arrows is our Christian Women's Conference.
00:12:04.180 It's happening on October 11th in Dallas, Texas.
00:12:07.160 And y'all, the response has just been incredible.
00:12:10.040 We are looking at having 5,000 Christian women come together in a cappella worship, learning
00:12:16.860 from the best and the boldest Christian women teachers of our day, whether you are a mom,
00:12:24.000 whether you are a single woman, if you're a grandmother, no matter what stage of life you
00:12:28.960 are in, if you are a Christian woman or if you are a questioning woman and you're looking
00:12:33.300 for something else, come to Share the Arrows.
00:12:35.940 It's going to be incredible and so refreshing.
00:12:38.160 Go to ShareTheArrows.com.
00:12:41.000 Go ahead and use code Allie20.
00:12:42.480 Press unlock on Ticketmaster.
00:12:44.020 Use code Allie20.
00:12:44.900 You'll get 20% off your ticket when you do that.
00:12:47.140 Share the Arrows this year is brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers.
00:12:50.340 Go to ShareTheArrows.com.
00:12:52.640 And before we get back into that conversation, let me tell you about another amazing sponsor,
00:12:57.100 and that is Every Life.
00:12:58.340 Every Life is America's pro-life diaper company.
00:13:00.740 It's also the diaper company that we use in our home.
00:13:03.700 We love Every Life, not only because they have amazing values, so they are supporting
00:13:10.140 pregnancy centers, pro-life organizations across the country, making sure that all pregnant
00:13:14.840 moms are taken care of, but also because their products really work.
00:13:18.620 Like, we would not be using Every Life diapers if they did not work, and they really work.
00:13:24.300 And also, I love the materials in them.
00:13:27.160 They're clean, dye-free, all the good stuff that you're looking for.
00:13:30.780 It's just a win all around.
00:13:32.060 You can subscribe, get that box of diapers and wipes to your front door every month.
00:13:36.120 Plus, when you use my code Allie10, you get 10% off your first order.
00:13:39.760 Go to EveryLife.com, code Allie10.
00:13:46.920 If I, I don't know all of the exact timeline details, but did you date him again at some
00:13:53.400 point?
00:13:53.840 After the show ended, we were done.
00:13:56.040 Okay.
00:13:56.480 Yeah.
00:13:56.920 After the show ended.
00:13:57.620 So we, we finished, we walked off the finale somewhat together, confused on what was going
00:14:03.500 on.
00:14:03.940 And then about two days later, I said, but this is not going to work out.
00:14:08.980 Yeah.
00:14:09.160 So that was final after that.
00:14:10.800 So after you left The Bachelor, and we'll get into kind of the trajectory of you speaking
00:14:15.160 and being an author and all of that.
00:14:17.360 How did you deal emotionally with that whirlwind?
00:14:21.260 Because I just can't imagine how difficult it must be.
00:14:24.940 Obviously different for you as a Christian, but I'm thinking about all of these other
00:14:28.380 girls who don't have that source of stability and identity in Christ.
00:14:32.380 Like you are putting so much hope in this one person competing against all these other
00:14:36.880 girls that maybe in any other context would be your best friends.
00:14:40.360 But now they're your, you know, like arch enemies in some ways, they're your competitors.
00:14:45.000 You might be falling head over heels for this person.
00:14:47.660 He might be communicating the same to you.
00:14:49.480 And then you, you know, he picks someone else and you find out he loves someone else.
00:14:54.920 I just can't imagine how difficult that is.
00:14:59.140 So how did you kind of come out of that?
00:15:01.280 Yeah.
00:15:01.900 It was a crazy culture and environment.
00:15:05.800 And I just remember, I mean, the only moments I would get alone on filming because you have
00:15:11.280 a camera from the moment you wake up at 6 a.m. till the moment you go to sleep at like 3 a.m.
00:15:17.000 Because there's, you're getting no sleep.
00:15:19.640 There's constant alcohol around you.
00:15:22.540 And so that's the reason, I mean, people are like, how could someone ever act like that?
00:15:26.320 It's like, well, you're getting no sleep and people are drinking.
00:15:28.460 So, you know, people start getting on henge real fast.
00:15:31.680 And, you know, thankfully, like I chose not to drink and I made a commitment to myself
00:15:37.260 to not gossip and not, you know, in interviews when certain agendas were trying to be pushed
00:15:43.260 and certain things were encouraged to say.
00:15:45.260 I just was like, Lord, help me stand firm in what I believe to be true and what I know
00:15:51.600 is true.
00:15:52.340 And so it really required lots of moments of me truly locking myself in the bathroom and
00:15:58.100 just crying and saying, Lord, help me.
00:16:00.080 Like, I need your Holy Spirit to guide me, to lead me, to comfort me, to speak through
00:16:04.440 me.
00:16:04.800 I don't feel like I have the strength to keep going.
00:16:07.720 I don't know how to be a light in this.
00:16:10.840 I mean, it was like a very dark environment and culture of, I mean, even producers who literally
00:16:16.620 would call themselves witches and just a very toxic, unhealthy, obviously ungodly atmosphere.
00:16:24.640 And you're cut off from everything that would give you life.
00:16:28.420 Um, you know, you, I mean, you do, you have your Bible, but it's not like you have a ton
00:16:32.720 of quiet time to really just like sit with the Lord.
00:16:35.020 You don't have music to listen to.
00:16:36.860 You don't have your phone.
00:16:37.900 You don't have your church.
00:16:38.900 You don't have your family and friends and community and mentors and all of these people
00:16:43.100 that help make you, you and help lead you along the path of righteousness.
00:16:47.780 And so it really does feel like you're kind of stranded out there with your Bible and
00:16:52.240 you're like, all right, Lord, help me.
00:16:54.600 And so it was a very, very, very hard, um, and trying and testing time during filming.
00:17:01.060 But then it's like, you undergo a whole nother set of trauma while it's being aired because
00:17:05.800 it's being aired two months later.
00:17:07.460 So you come home and you kind of get a sense of normalcy again, but then you relive everything,
00:17:11.800 things that you didn't even know went down, things that you don't even know were said
00:17:15.000 about you.
00:17:15.700 Um, and you sign so many things that basically give them permission to paint you however they
00:17:20.420 want to paint you.
00:17:21.680 Um, so I could be in an interview talking about my dad and how I miss my dad and love my dad
00:17:26.300 so much.
00:17:26.740 And that could be portrayed in a way like I'm talking about the bachelor.
00:17:30.560 Um, you know, I mean, they just, they, they have full right to do whatever they want to
00:17:34.020 do with your words and, um, with, with moments of, you know, you're, you're laughing or rolling
00:17:39.640 your eyes at something that's silly, but then they play it for a moment.
00:17:42.440 That's like you being mean or, you know, dramatic and it's just crazy.
00:17:46.500 And then you're also inviting in millions of opinions.
00:17:49.500 I mean, I just remember I, my job before going on the bachelor was in foster care and adoption.
00:17:56.080 And again, I was also going through Bible college.
00:17:58.760 And so that was my life before very, um, private, very local church, very, um, just service
00:18:06.860 oriented.
00:18:07.660 And then you get thrown into something like the bachelor and now you're inviting in millions
00:18:11.600 of opinions and thoughts.
00:18:13.700 So I went from having like 5,000 followers, 4,000 followers to, I think after the first
00:18:19.780 episode, it was like 200,000 followers overnight.
00:18:24.200 And all of these people making judgments and having things to say about you and even the
00:18:29.860 good things that were being said, it was just so overwhelming.
00:18:33.380 And I just remember I had all of my friends come over to watch the first episode with me.
00:18:38.560 And I literally had to step out and just like take deep breaths.
00:18:41.360 And it was actually a very kind episode.
00:18:44.320 Um, that first one that they painted of me, which I was thankful, but it was still overwhelming.
00:18:49.380 It was like, I'm seeing myself on TV.
00:18:51.380 All of these people are talking about me and tweeting about me and I don't know them and
00:18:55.740 they don't really know me.
00:18:56.940 And it's just a very, very bizarre feeling.
00:18:59.480 And moving forward from that moment, I mean, the next couple of months were just really
00:19:04.060 hard.
00:19:05.080 Um, I ended up losing like over 20 pounds and just had so many nights.
00:19:10.100 Yeah.
00:19:10.300 I mean, so much anxiety.
00:19:11.560 You don't know what's going to be aired and how they're going to paint you or anything that's
00:19:15.320 going to happen or how people are obviously going to respond to it.
00:19:17.900 And so every week you're just filled with so much angst of like, okay, what's going to
00:19:23.320 be this week?
00:19:24.080 Like what's going to be said and what's going to be posted.
00:19:27.740 And it just was the time when social media, I feel like was really starting to get, it
00:19:32.460 was right when COVID was about to hit.
00:19:34.800 And so social media was really starting to like take off, cancel culture, people having
00:19:38.620 lots of opinions.
00:19:39.800 And so it was just filled with anxiety.
00:19:42.000 But at the same time, I would say so much desperation and dependence on the Lord of
00:19:47.500 Lord, you are my defender.
00:19:48.800 You are my protector.
00:19:49.920 You are my hope.
00:19:50.900 You are where my security comes from.
00:19:53.220 You are where like my satisfaction and everything that I'm looking for, my peace.
00:19:58.060 Like I just know you give that to me and this world can't.
00:20:02.220 And so I'm just going to keep running to you and living for the approval of you and not
00:20:06.840 of people.
00:20:07.640 And I just had to learn that really quickly as Galatians 1 10 talks about, you can't do
00:20:11.860 both.
00:20:12.220 You can't live for the approval of people and the approval of God.
00:20:15.040 And if you live for the approval of people, you're not a servant of Christ.
00:20:18.060 And it was a very humbling and convicting reminder for me of I'm going to spend all of my time
00:20:24.300 and energy trying to get people to like me.
00:20:26.460 And even when I get them to like me the next day, I'm going to do something that makes them
00:20:29.660 mad and they're going to hate me.
00:20:30.820 And I'm going to live on this roller coaster of highs and lows.
00:20:33.400 And that's just an exhausting way to live and an empty way of living.
00:20:38.160 And so I just remember being like, Lord, I need you to continue to tell me who I am.
00:20:41.580 And then surrounding myself with people that would affirm that and encourage that and remind
00:20:46.120 me of the truth when other voices and things were just so loud was really huge for me.
00:20:52.040 Quick pause to tell you about our next sponsor.
00:20:59.520 We've got lots of awesome sponsors to tell you about today, and that is Good Ranchers.
00:21:04.720 All Good Ranchers meet is 100% American.
00:21:07.780 And in very perilous times like this, I think it is so important for Christians to band together,
00:21:13.200 for you to support people, families, businesses that also support your values.
00:21:18.680 Instead of giving your money to entities that are actively working against you and the safety
00:21:23.980 and freedom of your family, you need to be buying your meat, which you're buying anyway,
00:21:29.100 from a company that is fighting for you, that is fighting alongside you.
00:21:33.480 That's been in Corley at Good Ranchers.
00:21:35.080 We've been using Good Ranchers in our home for, gosh, over four years now.
00:21:39.160 It has made our life so much easier.
00:21:40.820 It's made it healthier.
00:21:42.060 I love their seed oil-free chicken nuggets.
00:21:43.800 I've also got my custom Good Ranchers box at goodranchers.com slash Allie.
00:21:48.200 You can use my code, get $40 off, make your life easier, make it more American, make it healthier,
00:21:53.780 subscribe, get that box of meat to your front door every month by going to goodranchers.com
00:21:57.700 slash Allie, code Allie, goodranchers.com slash Allie, code Allie.
00:22:06.900 So you started getting these calls from churches saying, okay, we want you to come speak.
00:22:11.060 And as you said, that's kind of what you were pursuing and wanting to do when you were in Bible
00:22:14.880 college.
00:22:15.580 So when you started getting these kinds of requests, were you excited?
00:22:19.360 Were you nervous?
00:22:20.480 Was there an aha moment where you're like, yes, this is why God had me do this.
00:22:24.140 And this is what I'm called to.
00:22:25.780 I think I was still healing from trauma.
00:22:28.480 So I think it took my mind a little bit of time to heal and process of just like God's
00:22:37.360 faithfulness and hand in all of it.
00:22:40.260 And in what I was stepping into and how he was allowing me to use my hurt, pain story to
00:22:47.840 point to his glory.
00:22:48.780 It just, it took my mind some time.
00:22:51.820 But at the same time, I was also so excited and honored.
00:22:55.500 I mean, these pastors that had made such a big difference in my life and people that
00:23:00.220 had been an inspiration to me and someone that I had been listening to for years, you
00:23:05.440 know, reaching out and asking me to come and speak to their young adults and their youth
00:23:11.220 was just such an honor and such a, yeah, it was just so exciting.
00:23:15.880 So I think it was both.
00:23:17.500 And it was like a whirlwind of like, I was a little bit just like what is going on and still
00:23:22.800 trying to heal and then also so excited and just continuing to say, all right, Lord, like
00:23:28.480 I do, I am starting to see maybe this is the reason that or one of the reasons why I went
00:23:36.680 through that.
00:23:37.480 Okay.
00:23:37.600 So you started speaking at churches and you wrote your first book.
00:23:40.480 When did that come out?
00:23:41.600 That came out.
00:23:42.900 Oh goodness.
00:23:43.560 So I came off the show in March of 2020.
00:23:46.780 And like, I stepped off the finale and I'm not kidding a week later, COVID.
00:23:52.260 Wow.
00:23:52.660 It was crazy time.
00:23:54.240 Not just in the world, but in your specific life.
00:23:56.500 It was wild.
00:23:57.520 Yes.
00:23:57.920 It was really wild, which honestly was God's blessing because then I got to just tuck away
00:24:01.880 and spend time with my family and heal.
00:24:03.880 And I think I would have been traveling and doing media and all of these things.
00:24:07.720 And I got to just like sit with Jesus and my family and it was really beautiful.
00:24:11.360 So, um, but I came off in March of 2020 and then 2021, October of 2021 was when made for
00:24:18.320 this moment came out.
00:24:19.340 Okay.
00:24:19.840 Um, and it was, it was really fun.
00:24:22.040 It's cool that I feel like I've, each book has really represented, I think, um, what God
00:24:28.860 was doing in my own personal life in that season.
00:24:31.680 And I look at all three of my books and now this new one coming out and I'm like, man,
00:24:36.520 I can even see my own maturing in my faith and growth in spirit, like my own, just how
00:24:43.440 the Lord has taught me and what he's done in my life through these writings.
00:24:47.680 And so it's been really cool to see, but yeah, that book was, um, all on purpose and
00:24:52.100 just really talking about why I went on the bachelor and how the Lord used it.
00:24:56.600 And this book dare to be true.
00:24:58.600 What does this focus on?
00:24:59.680 Yeah.
00:25:00.220 So it's all about defeating the lies that bind us and living out the truth that frees
00:25:05.760 us.
00:25:06.040 And it is a, it's really linking together truth and freedom.
00:25:10.760 Um, when I look at our, our culture today, I'm reminded of this conversation that a Roman
00:25:16.000 governor had 2000 years ago with Jesus, when he looks at Jesus and he says, what is truth?
00:25:22.060 And I see that being the cry of our generation today, our world today of just saying, what
00:25:26.820 is true?
00:25:27.520 I don't know what to believe.
00:25:28.680 I don't know what's real, especially with AI and so many, I mean, mixed messages, media
00:25:34.880 agendas.
00:25:35.320 There's so much out there that you're just like, I don't know what's true.
00:25:37.760 I don't know what, what to believe.
00:25:39.100 I don't know if I can trust the news.
00:25:40.220 I don't know if I can trust social media.
00:25:41.380 I don't know if I can trust, is this actually real?
00:25:43.680 And just truth becoming subjective and experience and opinion and feeling based.
00:25:49.000 And I just see a culture and a generation who have been sold a lie.
00:25:55.460 They've believed a lie.
00:25:56.720 And you see, that's the reason there's so much bondage.
00:25:59.420 There's so much confusion.
00:26:00.560 There's so much doubt.
00:26:01.760 There's so much depression and anxiety and suicide.
00:26:05.280 It's just all of these things.
00:26:06.940 But you go back to, it's because we believed a lie as a culture and as a generation, but
00:26:12.400 you don't only see that happening externally and around us, but you also see it happening
00:26:18.000 internally and just the lies that we believe on a very personal level about our worth, about
00:26:22.520 our purpose.
00:26:24.060 We may feel maybe free in our hearts, but we feel bound in our minds.
00:26:29.040 And I think if we're being really honest, there are a lot of forgiven Christians, but there's
00:26:34.680 not a lot of free Christians.
00:26:36.040 And so there's a lot of people who believe, okay, God has forgiven me of my sins, but they
00:26:42.700 still find themselves getting stuck in it again, or going back to the thing that Jesus
00:26:47.160 died to set them free from, or just being stuck in their minds and believing lies from the
00:26:52.580 enemy.
00:26:53.000 And so I wrote this book, honestly, because I found myself in a place of believing lies
00:26:59.040 about, you know, kind of getting caught up in this whirlwind of, I got to keep up.
00:27:03.340 I got to, I got to keep, I got to meet this standard.
00:27:06.460 I got to look this way.
00:27:07.980 And, um, you know, in order to walk out my true purpose, like I got to be constantly producing
00:27:13.280 and striving and performing and all of these different things.
00:27:16.560 And I just remember having a moment of looking at my husband and being like, I'm so tired.
00:27:20.400 I'm so exhausted.
00:27:21.620 I'm burnt out.
00:27:23.000 And I just want to be free.
00:27:24.260 Like, I just want to feel free.
00:27:26.660 And then I remember he looked at me and he was just like, you know, Matthew 11, 28 through
00:27:29.620 30 applies to you too.
00:27:30.600 Like you can come to him and he will give you rest for your soul.
00:27:34.740 You can come to him and he will give you a yoke that is light because what the world puts
00:27:39.800 on us is heavy.
00:27:40.980 And what the world tells us to strive for and go for is heavy.
00:27:44.760 And we're not meant to carry that.
00:27:46.360 We're not meant to live that out.
00:27:48.260 And I just remember him having that moment with me and then just praying.
00:27:52.240 And I had felt led to write this book and I actually had started writing it and I was
00:27:56.340 like seven or eight chapters in on a totally different concept.
00:27:58.860 And then the Lord laid this on my heart and I was like, oh my gosh, I have to start over.
00:28:03.900 I don't want to start over.
00:28:05.320 And I started over from scratch because I truly believe that the enemy has such a, he is so
00:28:14.800 deceived this generation and our world today.
00:28:19.160 And you go back to the garden and the same play that he ran then is the same play that
00:28:24.120 he runs today, the same three lies and temptations that were then are the same three lies and
00:28:29.300 temptations that we deal with today.
00:28:31.420 And, um, in Genesis three, this conversation between the enemy and Adam and Eve is just
00:28:36.640 this moment where Satan is, is in the form of a serpent.
00:28:40.120 And he's saying, you know, did God really say like, oh, did God really say that?
00:28:45.040 Are you sure about that?
00:28:46.420 And you see that today play out in a way of like, oh, the Bible doesn't, does the Bible
00:28:50.380 really say that?
00:28:51.020 That's probably not what the Bible means.
00:28:52.300 Like, this is what the Bible means.
00:28:53.880 And we start framing Jesus and scripture, the way we want Jesus to be and the way we
00:28:59.140 want to interpret scripture.
00:29:01.340 Um, and we begin to, the enemy starts planning those doubts in our mind.
00:29:05.840 Um, and then the next lie is like, um, you know, he didn't really say that you won't,
00:29:10.080 you won't actually, you won't actually die.
00:29:12.920 And then that's like this idea of sin, isn't that big of a deal.
00:29:16.640 And that's what you see even in Disney channel movies today of this trying to desensitize
00:29:22.120 even children to sin and sin being seen as it's not a big deal.
00:29:27.520 It's really, this is what everybody does.
00:29:29.480 This is just culture.
00:29:30.360 This is just the world.
00:29:31.460 This is just the world we live in.
00:29:32.720 We could go on a whole tangent about that, about how most Disney princess movies start
00:29:35.940 with disobedience to parents.
00:29:37.240 Oh gosh, I know.
00:29:37.940 And then it's glorified.
00:29:38.960 And I'm, you know, like, I like Disney and fine and all of that stuff.
00:29:43.260 Not like that much, but I'm not one of those people that's like anti Disney, but to your
00:29:47.420 point, yes, culture is constantly saying, this is not that big of a deal.
00:29:52.220 Just as Satan did to Eve, the consequence that God says that you're going to have, you're
00:29:56.860 not going to have it.
00:29:57.900 And doesn't Satan do that all the time to us, especially when it comes to those who are
00:30:02.660 dating, sexual sin, it's going to feel good.
00:30:05.540 You're not going to be fine.
00:30:06.660 I know you've heard that this will lead to heartache and a broken body and all that, but
00:30:10.560 it's not going to negatively affect you.
00:30:13.800 That's absolutely what he does.
00:30:15.360 He minimizes the consequences of sin.
00:30:17.560 He minimizes the consequences of sin.
00:30:19.120 And then he even speaks to the advantages of sin, which is the next lie of like, oh,
00:30:24.220 but if you eat this, you will be like God.
00:30:26.400 This will make you like God.
00:30:27.960 You'll have the wisdom and the power that God has.
00:30:30.000 And I think in the same way we see, oh, if we just, if we do this, maybe we can gain
00:30:35.940 something that God can't give us.
00:30:38.520 And we don't need God.
00:30:39.480 We can be our own God.
00:30:40.700 We'll make our own truth.
00:30:41.720 We'll live our own truth.
00:30:42.580 We don't need the truth.
00:30:43.680 We'll make our own truth.
00:30:45.240 And the enemy has just started planning all the, and I mean, just even the other day
00:30:48.700 I was watching Shrek with my husband and it's like, there's these little moments where you're
00:30:53.620 just like, man, as a kid, I didn't even pick up on these things, but there's these little,
00:30:57.380 little, little things that you're just like, wow.
00:31:00.360 I mean, from a young age, you see how the enemy is so crafty.
00:31:04.840 And I talk about in my book, how the enemy is crafty.
00:31:07.900 He's, he's cunning, but he's not creative.
00:31:09.920 He runs the same play again and again.
00:31:12.340 And so you look back at the garden, what he did with Adam and Eve, he still does today.
00:31:16.880 He still plays on those same three things.
00:31:19.200 And we have to be aware of it to be able to not give in and to not fall.
00:31:26.520 And so I talk about that in the book of just, there, there is an enemy.
00:31:30.060 We have an enemy.
00:31:31.240 He is after us, but there is a good God.
00:31:35.060 And he, he came to set us free.
00:31:37.860 And I also talk about the importance of not just experiencing one moment of breakthrough
00:31:42.440 and experiencing this one moment of, I give my life to you, Lord, I'm following you and
00:31:47.620 accepting, you know, him as our savior and Lord, but also continuing to walk out that
00:31:52.700 freedom, continuing to be obedient to his word.
00:31:55.520 So not just a moment of getting free, but how to stay free, how to continue to walk in
00:32:00.060 freedom every day.
00:32:00.820 Cause that's the hangup I see with so many people, even with what we've seen on college
00:32:05.200 campuses with this ministry that my mom started called Unite.
00:32:08.500 We've been going to all these different college campuses.
00:32:10.680 And I remember having this conversation with one girl and she looked at me and she was
00:32:14.580 like, Maddie, I'm so frustrated because I'm seeing this message of God's grace be spoken
00:32:21.720 in a way that endorses and overlooks sin where people are being told, Hey, God will forgive
00:32:27.380 you.
00:32:27.720 And God's grace covers that.
00:32:29.220 And so go live how you want to live.
00:32:31.440 And she's like, what people don't understand is that sin is killing people.
00:32:36.560 It's I'm literally watching it kill my friends.
00:32:39.080 I'm watching it kill the people around me that I love.
00:32:41.400 And I remember walking away from that conversation, being fired up, but also being so upset and
00:32:46.940 broken because what we don't realize, like Titus 2, 11 through 13 talks about the grace
00:32:53.120 of God and the grace of God.
00:32:55.300 Yes, is a pardon for our sin, but also gives us the ability to say no to sin, to resist sin.
00:33:01.960 And it talks about in that Titus 2 verse that it's the grace of God that gives us the ability
00:33:07.100 to say no to ungodliness, but also to say yes to living an upright, godly and holy life.
00:33:13.180 And so for us as believers, it's understanding that it is only by God's grace and God's spirit
00:33:18.720 that we can stay free.
00:33:20.280 But God's grace is not an excuse to sin and keep living in sin, but rather an ability to
00:33:26.300 resist sin and walk in holiness and righteousness because that's God's best for our life.
00:33:31.820 He's not trying to rip us off.
00:33:33.420 And I think that's what so many people believe.
00:33:35.860 They believe that lie of like, I actually can have more fun and gain more of what this
00:33:40.460 world can give me apart from the Lord.
00:33:43.040 And it's like, yeah, but you're going to be miserable because that's not what you're
00:33:46.520 made for.
00:33:46.960 God says in Ecclesiastes 3, 11, he's put eternity on all of our hearts.
00:33:51.280 He's written eternity for all of our hearts.
00:33:52.860 And so when we try to fill that with the temporary things, it's just never going to satisfy.
00:33:58.040 And that's why you see, you know, even the most famous people in the whole world
00:34:01.320 who have literally everything this world could offer.
00:34:04.240 And I've been in rooms and on couches with some of those people.
00:34:07.280 They have everything.
00:34:08.460 They literally have everything you could want.
00:34:10.320 And they're so broken.
00:34:11.380 Look at me, Maddie, saying, Maddie, is there more?
00:34:14.080 Yeah.
00:34:14.160 I'm like, yeah, there's so much more.
00:34:16.920 And when you find real truth, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
00:34:21.500 When you find real truth, that's when you can find real freedom.
00:34:24.720 That's when you find real life and what you were made for.
00:34:31.320 I can't wait to tell you about Preborn.
00:34:34.060 Preborn is this amazing organization that supplies pregnancy centers across the country
00:34:39.300 with the tools that they need to help moms in crisis and support the dads, too.
00:34:46.020 And most of all, save that little baby, that image bearer of God inside the womb.
00:34:50.780 So they supply sonogram equipment specifically to these pregnancy centers so these women can get a free ultrasound.
00:34:56.660 We know that a woman sees and hears her baby inside her womb.
00:35:00.840 She can see that Planned Parenthood was lying to her.
00:35:03.220 This is not just a clump of cells.
00:35:04.500 This is a human being with his or her own DNA, a beating heart that is a part of her.
00:35:09.720 And it is her responsibility and privilege to protect this child.
00:35:13.180 So if you want to be a part of that work, like if you want to be a part of advancing God's kingdom in this way
00:35:18.220 and standing up on behalf of the most vulnerable, then partner with Preborn.
00:35:21.900 Donate what you can.
00:35:22.700 Just $28 covers the cost of a life-saving ultrasound, but maybe you're in a position where you can donate $2,800 or $28,000.
00:35:30.480 Whatever your best gift is, whatever faithfulness looks like, go ahead and do that.
00:35:35.720 And you can sow that seed of faithfulness and impact with Preborn by going to preborn.com slash Allie.
00:35:42.520 Donating today.
00:35:43.300 That's preborn.com slash Allie.
00:35:45.200 And the truth is, you're not actually free apart from Christ.
00:35:54.780 It might feel like freedom, but we read in Romans 6, I believe it is, that you are either a slave to sin or you're a slave to righteousness.
00:36:03.460 And so I think when we are living in sin apart from Christ, it might feel like liberation.
00:36:07.880 It might feel like freedom because we say we are doing what we want to do.
00:36:12.460 No, if you're living in sin, you're doing what you have to do.
00:36:15.420 You are a slave to your flesh.
00:36:17.420 You are a slave to the devil.
00:36:19.480 You are a slave to sin.
00:36:21.180 And all of us walked in that.
00:36:22.660 That's what Ephesians 2 said.
00:36:24.140 We hear that Satan is the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once walked.
00:36:34.060 We were literally walking dead people, basically, in service to Satan.
00:36:40.060 And without even knowing it, apart from Christ, we are in bondage to that sin.
00:36:45.820 I just want people to hear.
00:36:47.200 I want to emphasize again what you said about Satan's pattern of temptation, that what we see in the garden still happens today.
00:36:54.420 It plays out in our everyday lives.
00:36:56.480 So when Satan is tempting us, he, one, makes us question God's goodness, his trustworthiness.
00:37:02.100 Two, he minimizes the consequences of sin.
00:37:05.000 And then three, really important point that I don't hear a lot of people say, he magnifies or distorts the advantages of sin.
00:37:12.980 And that is a very difficult thing to resist.
00:37:15.580 Obviously, Eve, who was walking in the cool of the day with God, even she didn't resist that, which is why I'm so thankful for the helper and the Holy Spirit that we have.
00:37:25.560 But in those day-to-day moments, when we are feeling that tug, that this sin is going to be good, it's not going to harm you, like God says, what is in our tool belt?
00:37:36.360 Like, what can we do to say, no, thanks, Satan?
00:37:38.700 Yeah, I really believe, and I unpack this more in the book, but I really believe the word of God, the spirit of God, and the people of God are how we stay free.
00:37:50.880 I mean, it's how we continue to walk in that freedom every day.
00:37:54.460 I don't go a single day without opening up my word and meditating on scripture and memorizing scripture.
00:38:01.640 And you even see the same three ways that Satan tempted Adam and Eve.
00:38:05.900 He comes against Jesus in the wilderness with three lies.
00:38:11.040 And every single time he comes at Jesus with a lie, Jesus responds not with his own.
00:38:16.360 He responds with the truth.
00:38:17.560 He doesn't try and engage in this whole little conversation.
00:38:20.140 How can I bounce around?
00:38:21.040 How can we?
00:38:21.860 He just responds with truth, with scripture.
00:38:24.800 And I just think that's so powerful and such a powerful picture that Jesus paints for us of the only way to defeat a lie is to replace it with the truth.
00:38:35.340 And that's why it talks about in scripture, we have to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.
00:38:40.720 So thoughts are going to come.
00:38:41.880 Lies are going to come.
00:38:42.920 It's not about, you know, being a perfect person that never gets, you know, never hears a lie or never feels the weight of temptation.
00:38:50.960 But it's what do you do in the face of that lie?
00:38:53.480 What do you do in the face of that temptation?
00:38:55.420 And the only way we can overcome is by the spirit of God, but also leaning on the word of God, memorizing it, meditating on it, looking that lie in the face and being like, I hear you, but this is the truth.
00:39:06.440 And God's word says in John 8, 32, when you know the truth, then the truth will set you free.
00:39:11.380 And so I'm going to choose to lean on the truth and to speak the truth.
00:39:16.560 And so I believe that the word of God is so powerful.
00:39:18.640 I believe the spirit of God, Galatians 5, talks about it so much.
00:39:21.420 It opens up with, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free, but do not return back.
00:39:27.560 Do not go back to that yoke of slavery.
00:39:29.820 Do not go back to that bondage that once kept you bound.
00:39:33.200 And I think that's such a beautiful picture because it's what we're talking about of so often we have this moment of we experience like this breakthrough, this revelation of Jesus came to set me free.
00:39:43.620 But then we get stuck again and we go right back to what had kept us bound for so long.
00:39:49.760 And I just love what Galatians 5 does is it just unpacks the beauty of the Holy Spirit and keeping in step with the spirit because apart from the spirit, we can't resist.
00:40:00.340 We can't do it on our own.
00:40:01.440 That's the reality.
00:40:02.180 Like we, it's what you just said of Ephesians 2 is so clear that every single once, every single one of us were once far away, but we've only been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ.
00:40:13.360 Every single one of us were deserving of wrath.
00:40:15.580 But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ.
00:40:21.240 And so it is only by God's grace through faith that we can be saved.
00:40:25.960 And that's such an important thing for us to understand.
00:40:28.440 And also such a beautiful revelation for everyone to know, because every other religion is like, work your way to salvation, work your way to God, be good enough.
00:40:38.680 And it's like, you will never be good enough.
00:40:41.100 Shout out to your book.
00:40:42.280 You will never be good enough.
00:40:43.860 It's like, only by God's grace, but also we have a role to play.
00:40:49.700 We have to not only accept him as Savior, we have to also submit to him as Lord.
00:40:55.540 It's if we don't submit to him as Lord, we will continue to be enslaved to the things that keep us bound.
00:41:02.820 And so it's not just enough, I think, for us to just have a moment of like, thank you, Jesus, for dying for my sins.
00:41:08.500 And scripture is so clear that to be a Jesus follower is to pick up your cross, to deny yourself and to follow him, to be, it talks about in 1 John, how do you know that you love, how do I know that you love me?
00:41:20.800 You follow my commands, you obey my commands.
00:41:23.120 So we can't live in sin and also have a relationship with God.
00:41:28.720 And in order to have a relationship with God, we have to be submitted to his Lordship.
00:41:31.880 And I've just seen that be so important in my life of having moments where I really loved the Lord, but I was stuck in sin and I didn't know how to break free from sin.
00:41:44.320 I didn't know how to walk in true freedom, even though I had been raised in a Christian family, even though I was a part of a church, even though I was a chaplain on my basketball team.
00:41:51.740 I loved God, but I was stuck in sexual hidden secret sin that I hadn't told anyone about.
00:41:58.940 And for the longest time, that was such a shameful thing.
00:42:03.260 And it kept me bound for so long and fully living free, like walking in my true identity, walking in my true purpose.
00:42:10.500 And I just remember having this moment of being like, okay, as long as I continue to have this moment, Lord, where I come before you and I'm so mad at myself and broken over my sin, but then I keep going back to it and I don't change anything about it.
00:42:25.300 Nothing's going to change.
00:42:26.440 And it wasn't until I brought other people into that and begin to confess to other people, which goes to my third point of like the importance of having people of God around you.
00:42:35.900 It wasn't until I brought other people into that and I said, hey, here are the things that I'm dealing with that I've not told anybody and that I've been keeping in the dark.
00:42:46.320 And when I brought that into the light and I began to confess those things that Satan had had such a hold on me because I was keeping it in the dark and he is just he operates in the dark.
00:42:57.400 He thrives in secrecy and sin spreads in secrecy.
00:43:01.320 And so it was like, as I was continuing to keep that in the dark, it was like more sin was happening and I was just in that cycle, that never ending cycle.
00:43:09.700 But as soon as I brought that into the light, I began to feel hope and free for the first time in that area of my life.
00:43:16.380 And I've seen that be the same pattern of it's important to confess and repent to the Lord because that is how we are forgiven.
00:43:22.940 But it's also important to bring that to other people and confess to others because James 5 is very clear that when we confess to our brothers and sisters in Christ and they pray for us, that is how we experience healing.
00:43:35.200 That's how we experience freedom.
00:43:37.320 And so I saw that in my own life.
00:43:39.800 And that is still the same three things that I try to live by in order to continue to walk in freedom every day.
00:43:46.060 Next sponsor is Fellowship Home Loans.
00:43:53.100 So, guys, this is another opportunity to make sure you are working with a company that does their business, not just by the book, but by the book, by the word of God.
00:44:01.200 Mike and Brian at Fellowship Home Loans, they are the real deal.
00:44:04.360 Not only do they want to make sure that you can buy the house that you need or refinance if you need to in a way that makes the best sense for you, that is financially wisest for you.
00:44:14.080 But they also want to glorify God in everything they do.
00:44:16.500 So you can trust that they are going to work with you with integrity, with effectiveness, with efficiency.
00:44:21.920 The people of God work hard, y'all, and we care about the quality of our work.
00:44:25.880 That's what you want when you're dealing with any institution, but especially an institution that is helping you manage your money or make a huge purchase like buying a home.
00:44:35.380 They understand what's going on right now with the federal government and interest rates, and they want to make sure that you are making the best decision.
00:44:43.220 So go to fellowshiphomeloans.com slash Allie.
00:44:47.420 You'll get a $500 credit at closing.
00:44:49.800 That's Fellowship Home Loans Mortgage Lending by The Book.
00:44:53.100 Nationwide Mortgage Bankers, DBA Fellowship Home Loans, Equal Housing Lender, NMLS number 819382.
00:45:03.980 Can you talk more about that season of struggle?
00:45:06.740 Because there's a lot of people out there, especially when it comes to sexual sin.
00:45:11.200 There is understandable embarrassment and shame around that.
00:45:14.520 And there is something different to sexual sin in that it is a sin against your own body.
00:45:20.300 That's what we read in scripture, and sex is supposed to be sacred in the bonds of marriage.
00:45:25.320 So there's a lot of people out there being like, oh, okay, yeah, she might have struggled with something, but there's no way that anyone is struggling how I'm struggling.
00:45:33.360 So can you talk a little bit more about what that was and how you brought it to the light?
00:45:38.320 Because I'm sure that was really difficult.
00:45:40.180 Yeah.
00:45:41.440 I think it's interesting how the enemy always dangles bait in front of us.
00:45:46.600 But as soon as we fall for it, what is promised is never what is given.
00:45:51.680 And so for me, even, you know, taking the bait of falling into porn and masturbation and that being a part of my story that I lived in secrecy for for a long time.
00:46:01.560 And it's satisfied for a moment.
00:46:03.700 But then what followed was so much shame and so much separation from God and from godly people.
00:46:09.940 And I see that same pattern of it starts with Satan's lies.
00:46:13.560 Then it leads to shame or it leads to sin.
00:46:16.600 And then it leads to shame.
00:46:17.480 And then it leads to separation from God and God's people, because that's what happens every time we fall for sin.
00:46:23.680 It's not going to give us what we actually want, which is freedom, which is actually relationship with God.
00:46:30.320 It's going to enslave us every time.
00:46:32.740 And so I remember being in that season and I had been exposed because a friend had shown it to me.
00:46:39.900 And I was very young.
00:46:40.900 I was 13, 14 years old.
00:46:42.860 And so you're already at a weird time in your life where you're just trying to figure out what is happening.
00:46:47.860 You're like, who am I?
00:46:49.240 My body's changing.
00:46:50.160 I'm now all of a sudden boy crazy.
00:46:51.560 What's going on?
00:46:52.580 And I just I felt, you know, I was already insecure about my body and curious about certain things.
00:46:58.300 And then you get exposed to something like that.
00:47:00.120 And then Satan just begins to work and gets that footholding and that stronghold in it.
00:47:04.760 And it keeps you stuck until you take action to get free.
00:47:08.740 And so for me, that was a really, really hard season.
00:47:12.740 And what I want to speak about purity, and I talk about it in my book, is I do think it's a much bigger concept than we give it credit.
00:47:21.220 I think so often we hear the word purity and immediately our mind goes to bodily inaction and restraining, you know, being abstinent.
00:47:28.860 And I just when you read scripture, it's like there is 100 percent so much being talked about fleeing from sexual sin.
00:47:37.360 And that is so important.
00:47:38.180 I talk about that a lot in my book.
00:47:39.780 But there's also such an important call to understanding that purity is a posture of our heart.
00:47:46.600 And God cares so much more about our heart.
00:47:48.820 And that's why it says in Matthew 5, blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.
00:47:53.500 Purity leads us to his presence.
00:47:55.860 And when we experience his presence, he begins to weed out all that other yucky stuff.
00:48:00.880 And he begins to speak to us and cut off things that that we've been allowing and living with for so long.
00:48:07.480 And so for me, I had to get to that place where I understood God is not trying to withhold from me.
00:48:13.060 He's also not up there as this like judge ready to just like, you know, hit me upside the head every time I do something wrong.
00:48:20.520 He's calling me to purity because he loves me, because it's his best.
00:48:24.880 And so for me, realizing that purity is actually a blessing and it's a gift.
00:48:30.220 And when I get my heart right and my heart pure and I give my heart fully to him, then he begins to give me wisdom on how to make decisions that are pure and decisions that honor him and how to honor him with my body and how to honor him with my relationships.
00:48:44.680 But I think we just in church so often focus on purity just in the form of of physical inaction.
00:48:51.040 And I think what happens when when we talk about it in that way is then you just have a lot of Christians who are really focused on having a clean resume, but their heart is really impure and ungodly.
00:49:02.460 And they are so focused on reputation that they have no intimacy and revelation.
00:49:08.000 And that's why for me, I'm so passionate about speaking to the fact that purity is so much more than that.
00:49:14.980 And God really, really cares about our heart.
00:49:17.260 And when we give our heart to him, then all those other things begin to fall into place.
00:49:21.780 And it makes me think about, you know, when you're when you're young and your parents are like, go clean your room and I'm going to come up in 10 minutes and, you know, and check your room.
00:49:30.040 And I remember having this moment and my dad's like, hey, go clean your room.
00:49:33.560 And I run up to my room and immediately like my room is so messy and filthy and disgusting.
00:49:37.380 And I just start shoving everything, of course, you know, in drawers and under my bed.
00:49:41.560 And my dad like peeks his head in the room 10 minutes later and he sees like nothing on the floor and he's like, good job.
00:49:47.720 But the reality is, is I had just hidden the mess.
00:49:50.560 I had just moved the mess.
00:49:52.080 It wasn't actually clean.
00:49:53.420 It was just hidden.
00:49:54.520 And the mess was just moved.
00:49:56.160 And I think so often Christians are just hiding their mess.
00:50:00.140 And the Lord is like, I am coming back for a pure bride.
00:50:03.440 I'm coming back for a ready bride.
00:50:06.280 And I think what is so important for us to understand is that he he wants our heart to be pure because he looks at these he looks at these Pharisees, these religious leaders.
00:50:13.680 And he's like, hey, you're whitewashed tombs like the outside of you looks really clean and pretty.
00:50:18.340 But the inside of you is full of hypocrisy and dead bones.
00:50:22.580 And I just remember having a moment and I've had to continue to have a moment with Jesus of being like, I just don't want that to be me.
00:50:30.120 And so, Lord, search my heart, remove anything impure, cleanse me and help me, help me make decisions that honor you.
00:50:39.040 And for me, when I had that revelation, I went to friends and I said, hey, I've been living in secret sin.
00:50:46.520 I have been committing this sin with no one has been made known about it.
00:50:50.840 And I've been stuck for a really long time and I just want to be free.
00:50:54.560 Will you pray for me and hold me accountable in this area?
00:50:57.020 And that was the start of freedom for me.
00:51:01.340 And that was the start of me understanding the importance of community and accountability, that we were never made to go through this life alone, that we serve a God who in and of himself is a communal God.
00:51:13.220 He God, the father, Jesus, the son and the Holy Spirit.
00:51:16.680 So we were not made to go through this life alone.
00:51:19.800 We need both communal with God and dependence on God and community with one another, godly community with one another.
00:51:26.340 And having people that will lead us along the path of righteousness and not push us to sin.
00:51:31.980 Of course, our community really, really matters.
00:51:34.540 How we choose those friends is really important because our friends are contagious.
00:51:39.400 I like to say our friends are like the flu that we're going to get whatever they got.
00:51:42.900 And so if we are hanging out with people that are pushing us to sin, then we're going to be falling into sin more and more.
00:51:50.140 But if we surround ourselves with people that push us closer to Jesus, then we're going to love Jesus more and more.
00:51:55.060 Yeah, the word of God, the spirit of God, and the people of God.
00:51:58.440 Those are gracious gifts that God has given us to combat sin.
00:52:01.340 So I want everyone to get this book, Dare to Be True.
00:52:03.940 It's out now when this interview is airing.
00:52:06.340 It'll look a little bit different than this.
00:52:08.200 This is the preview copy, but everyone needs to go out and get it.
00:52:11.420 It is going to be a bestseller, but it needs to be a bestseller because this generation needs to see this.
00:52:16.440 Last sponsor for the day is Jace Medical.
00:52:23.880 Y'all, we don't know what the future holds.
00:52:26.560 Supply chain issues, economic woes.
00:52:29.420 You just don't know what's going to happen to the medication that you rely on,
00:52:32.900 whether it's antibiotics that could save your life or save your children's life if you have a sudden infection,
00:52:38.100 or whether it's the daily medication that you rely on.
00:52:41.640 You want to make sure you have an emergency stash of these things.
00:52:44.660 So Jace Case takes you through a confidential telemedicine process so that you can either purchase the Jace Case,
00:52:51.300 which is an emergency stash of the most common antibiotics,
00:52:55.100 and or you can purchase the Jace Daily Case,
00:52:58.540 which is about a year-long supply of the daily prescriptions that you rely on.
00:53:03.020 It is so much better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your family's life, when it comes to their health.
00:53:08.700 So go to jace.com and promo code Allie, A-L-L-I-E.
00:53:13.520 You'll get a discount on your order when you use my code.
00:53:15.820 That is J-A-S-E dot com, code Allie.
00:53:23.520 All right, before we close out, one thing that I didn't get to ask you about.
00:53:27.040 I just want to hear how becoming a mom has been for people who don't know your journey,
00:53:33.600 and they're wondering, okay, wait, what happened after The Bachelor in addition to writing books and speaking and sharing the gospel?
00:53:39.540 You became a wife to Grant, and then you became a mom to a baby girl.
00:53:43.680 So just tell us a little bit about that.
00:53:46.080 It's literally the best thing in the whole world.
00:53:49.740 I am—so she'll be, let's see, almost eight months, I think, by the time the book is coming out.
00:53:55.280 She's six months right now, and it is truly the greatest gift.
00:54:00.720 It's taught me so much about God's love.
00:54:03.040 It's taught me so much about the gospel in a whole new way.
00:54:06.580 It's so beautiful how—I mean, God's design is just so intentional and perfect,
00:54:13.160 and it's like, of course, Satan wants to distort it in every single way,
00:54:17.120 but I've just fallen more and more in love with God's design, I think, truly.
00:54:22.040 And being married and having a child, I've just seen, okay, this is why God said,
00:54:28.200 I'm making you in my image and male and female,
00:54:31.160 and you're going to come together and be fruitful and multiply.
00:54:34.280 And just in all of it, and the fact that God is our Father and we are His children,
00:54:38.780 and He's adopted as His sons and daughters,
00:54:40.780 it's just giving me a whole new understanding of the gospel.
00:54:44.940 And I would say in a very, like, just real way,
00:54:47.680 it's also just made me so much more dependent on the Lord.
00:54:50.680 And I'm so—I mean, I'm brand new to it.
00:54:53.300 But early on, I mean, those first few weeks, those first few months of parenting
00:54:57.300 and just your whole world being flipped upside down in the best way,
00:55:00.800 but also in a hard way of it, just everything is so new,
00:55:04.380 has been—it's been humbling.
00:55:07.300 It's been truly, like, a purpose that I didn't even know I was made for,
00:55:13.860 like, that I just craved deep down.
00:55:16.920 And it's just been so beautiful to step into that.
00:55:19.440 She's such a gift.
00:55:21.100 And just to even see the way it strikes up cool conversations with people that,
00:55:26.280 you know, will just see your baby on the plane and just like,
00:55:28.980 oh my gosh, your baby's so cute.
00:55:30.560 And then you get to be like, hi, her name's Hosanna.
00:55:32.760 And Hosanna means God save us and praise be to God.
00:55:36.820 And it just, like, strikes up these cool conversations and moments.
00:55:39.860 But it really is—it's so much fun.
00:55:42.980 We love it so much and just truly consider it to be the greatest honor and joy.
00:55:49.280 And I think it's just even made us more passionate about God's design
00:55:54.020 and the fight for life and the fight for marriage and for families
00:55:58.400 because you see how the enemy is trying to stop that from happening
00:56:04.120 in every way that he can.
00:56:06.180 And so it's just, I think, struck up a passion even more so in me for the fight for it
00:56:13.520 because it's truly such a gift from God.
00:56:16.360 Yeah.
00:56:16.800 Well, Maddie, thank you so much.
00:56:18.300 And again, I just encourage everyone to go out and get her book
00:56:21.260 and they can follow you on Instagram and all that good stuff, right?
00:56:25.340 I appreciate you so much.
00:56:26.840 Thank you for taking the time to come on.
00:56:28.320 Thank you so much for having me.
00:56:36.180 Thank you.
00:56:48.420 Thank you.
00:56:48.640 Thank you.