Episode Summary: 

In this heartwarming episode of Your Hope-Filled Perspective, we explore how to love God, yourself, and others as I welcome author Rachael Adams. We discuss why she wrote her devotional, Everyday Prayers for Love, and what she learned while writing it. Inspired by a moment in a church pew, Rachael shares how God called her to be His “love offering” and to help others experience His transforming love.

In this episode, we explore biblical love, the importance of accepting God’s love, and practical ways to love ourselves and others. With insights on prayer and purpose, this conversation invites listeners to discover how to start living out God’s love in everyday life.

Quotables from the episode:

• The biggest battle has always been maybe striving for approval and striving for acceptance and for love. I grew up in a divorced home and my earthly father was not around much. And so I think I just always wanted just to be seen and known and loved. And So, I went in search of that.
• I'm so scared to disappoint anybody. I’m very much a people-pleaser, and so to really start to learn of God's love and experience that from my heavenly father has just really shaped the person I am and changed everything. It changed the trajectory of my life. And now I just want to share that with the world around me.
• Our early experiences, before we're even really cognitively aware of what's going on or what God has to say about it, really does shape our perspective and how we look at God, at the world, and ourselves.
• So how we’re living our faith maybe is different, but our goal is all the same. What does the Bible teach us about both the nature and the characteristic of love?
• After I had my son, I really believe that as God was teaching me how to become a mother, he was also teaching me how he was my father. And I believe that as I was holding my son, God was really holding me.
• He can use us flawed humans to be an expression of his love to others.
• The greatest act of love was that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! That’s why he came to save us. He knew we weren’t perfect and that we needed him.
• It’s so important for us to be filled with God’s love first, to have anything to give to others. Scripture talks about the fullness of God. So what are we watching? What are we reading? Who are we surrounding ourselves with? What are the words that are on repeat? Nothing else in the world will satisfy but Christ himself.
• When we receive God’s love, there’s a freedom in that, and a security in that. There’s the saying that there’s nothing that we can do to make God love us any more, and there’s nothing that we can do to make God love us any less, and we don’t have to work for it.

Scripture References:

• Matthew 22:36-40 “’Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and without all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
• Ephesians 3:17-19 “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,…grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and…know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
• 1 John 4:19 encourages, “I pray this not just for your sake, but also so that you may extend this newfound love to others. Afterall, ‘We love you because he first loved us.”
• Romans 8:39 “…No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

Recommended Resources: 

• Everyday Prayers for Love: Learning to Love God, Others, and Even Yourself by Rachael Adams 
• A Little Goes a Long Way: 52 Days to a Significant Life by Rachael Adams
• www.millionprayingmoms.com/the-think-pray-praise-method-of-daily-prayer
• Sacred Scars: Resting in God’s Promise That Your Past Is Not Wasted by Dr. Michelle Bengtson 
• The Hem of His Garment: Reaching Out to God When Pain Overwhelms by Dr. Michelle Bengtson
• YouVersion 5-Day Devotional Reaching Out To God When Pain Overwhelms  
• Today is Going to be a Good Day: 90 Promises to Start Your Day Off Right by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the AWSA 2023 Inspirational Gift Book of the Year Award, the Christian Literary Awards Reader’s Choice Award in four categories, and the Christian Literary Awards Henri Award for Devotionals
• YouVersion 7-Day Devotional, Today is Going to be a Good Day
• YouVersion 7-Day Devotional, Today is Going to be Another Good Day
• Breaking Anxiety’s Grip: How to Reclaim the Peace God Promises by Dr. Michelle Bengtson
• Breaking Anxiety’s Grip Free Study Guide
• Free 7-Day YouVersion Bible Reading Plan for Breaking Anxiety’s Grip
• Hope Prevails: Insights from a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the Christian Literary Award Reader’s Choice Award
• Hope Prevails Bible Study by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the Christian Literary Award Reader’s Choice Award
• Trusting God Through Cancer 1
• Trusting God Through Cancer 2
• Revive & Thrive Women's Conference
• Subdue Stress and Anxiety: Fifteen Experts Offer Comprehensive Tools in Ten Minutes a Day. Use my link plus discount code BENG99 to save $90 on course (course will be $99.)
• Free Download: How To Fight Fearful/Anxious Thoughts and Win

Social Media Links for Host and Guest:

Connect with Rachael Adams:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Podcast

For more hope, stay connected with Dr. Bengtson at:

Order Book Breaking Anxiety’s Grip / Order Book Hope Prevails  /  Website  /  Blog  /  Facebook / Twitter (@DrMBengtson)  /  LinkedIn  /  Instagram / Pinterest / YouTube

Guest:

Author of A Little Goes a Long Way and Everyday Prayers for Love, Rachael Adams, hopes to help women realize God’s love and purpose for their lives. She and her husband, Bryan, live in Kentucky with their two children, Will and Kate. Her work has been featured on Good Morning America, Crosswalk, Proverbs 31, Today Parenting, and YouVersion. Connect with her by visiting rachaelkadams.com, searching @rachaeladamsauthor on Instagram and Facebook, and tuning in to The Love Offering podcast every Tuesday on your favorite listening platform. 

Hosted By: Dr. Michelle Bengtson Audio Technical Support: Bryce Bengtson

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