I have fun news:) Last week I finished securing endorsements for my new book. I will be sharing all of those in the near future, but there is one I want to tell you about today. First as a quick side note, I’m thankful this part of the publishing process is complete. It is not easy asking well-known authors, pastors and other celebrities – who are mostly strangers – to take time out of their busy schedules to read a manuscript and offer an endorsement! So someone saying “yes” brings much relief and excitement.
If you listen to Christain radio you have likely heard “Live Like Your Loved” – the Hawk Nelson song holding steady on the Top 40 Christian music charts right now. Well, I’m happy to report lead singer Jonathan Steingard is one of those who said “yes!”
One day a month or so ago I was in my car, not paying any attention to the radio, as I was consumed thinking about the whole endorsement thing hanging over my head. Then all of the sudden the “Live Like Your Loved” chorus broke through my thoughts and I began listening closer to the lyrics…
You’re not the only one who feels like this .Feelin’ like you lose more than you win.Like life is just an endless hill you climb.You try and try, but never arrive.I’m tellin’ you somethin’- This racing, this running Oh, you’re working way too hard!And this perfection you’re chasingIs just energy wastedCause He love’s you like you are!So go ahead and live like you’re loved. It’s okay to act like you’ve been set free. His love has made you more than enoughSo go ahead and be who He made you to be And live like you’re loved…” Hawk Nelson
This is it! This is my book in a nutshell! This guy gets it and this is the message I want girls to get. So I added Hawk Nelson to my mental list of prospects and later emailed. To my pleasant surprise, Jonathan was willing to take a look and after reading through, here is his quote to be included in the front of the book:
Our sense of identity guides the many conscious and unconscious decisions we make. It’s the lens through which we see the world. So it shouldn’t be a shock that when our sense of identity becomes unhealthy, our life has a tendency to follow. Each chapter of Face Time gives us an insight into a specific lie that can infiltrate our identity and damage our sense of self. When we are able to root out these lies and get to the truth that lies beneath, we are on the path to a happier, healthier life.”
Root out the lies and replace them with truth is just what Face Time: Your Identity in a Selfie World will walk girls through! I’m so excited and can’t wait to get it in their hands. This whole living loved concept is what I’ve also been reading about in Lysa TerKeurst Uninvited book. If only we could all get it!
My hope with Face Time is teen and college girls struggling with comparison, believing they fail to measure up and fall short of perfection, or feeling less than and worthless will learn to rest in who they are in Christ because of who Christ is for them. I say it often, but theology matters and how we interpret the one story of the Bible does too. We must see it’s all about Christ’s worth and work for us – what he did, not what we must do.
His love for us is seen at the cross – we talk about that – but as equally important is the fact Jesus came to our world to accomplish for us what we could never do. He came to live – to live the perfect, sinless life for us. And because he did upon our salvation his perfect record becomes ours. This is justification; being declared right! Being made right. Being viewed as righteous!
Jesus went to the cross and declared “It is finished” before acsending into heaven and sitting down at the right-hand of God because he knew he had completed everything necessary to secure for all time God’s unwavering love for his children.
For our girls and for all of us, this means instead of the hurts, the comparisons, the rejections, and the feeling like we aren’t enough ruling our self-talk and dictating our actions we can stand secure in who we are because of who Jesus is for us. The identity we long for—to be accepted, included, loved, and significant— is already ours in Christ. This now becomes the gospel lenses for seeing ourselves rightly.
Seeing ourselves through the lenses of Christ, frees us from the bondage of what other people think about us, what dress size we wear or the label we wear, how many “friends” we have on Instagram or whether we had plans on Friday night. All these things we think define us leaves us grasping for more, but in Christ – when we live in his love – we live free!
And live like you know you’re valuable
Like you know the one that holds your soul
Cause mercy has called you by your name
Don’t be afraid to live in that graceI’m tellin’ you somethin’
This God we believe in
Yeah, He changed everything
No more guilt! No more shame!
He took all that away
Gave us a reason to singSo go ahead and live like you’re loved
It’s okay to act like you’ve been set free
His love has made you more than enough
So go ahead and be who He made you to be”
Live like you’re loved, walk like your free!
Face Time is now available for PRE-ORDER here. I hope you’ll reserve your copy, spread the word and join the launch team soon!
