Episode 40: Breaking Cycles in the Bible
TUNE IN AND FOLLOW: APPLE PODCASTS I SPOTIFY I STITCHER
October 2021 we celebrated the one-year anniversary of The All Gifts Podcast. Thank you so much for listening.
The All Gifts Podcast has truly been a gift. I started writing and planning episodes in July of 2020. Some people coped with the pandemic by learning to bake homemade bread, I made a podcast and blog. I processed everything from isolation and racism to spiritual identity and recovery.
This past season, Season 5, we talked about cycle breakers. We answered the question, what is a cycle breaker? We talked about the key to breaking cycles. We tackled breaking the cycle of silence, the cycle of worry, the cycle of poverty, and the cycle of sexual exploitation.
And before this season, we tackled breaking the cycle of trauma, addiction, and so much more. My objective has been to equip and empower people to break generational cycles and create new, healthier ones. My passion is to help people find the gifts in their challenges.
When I reflect on the term cycle breaker and what it means to me, the following bible verse comes to mind:
For you know that your lives were ransomed once and for all from the empty and futile way of life handed down from generation to generation. It was not a ransom payment of silver and gold, which eventually perishes, but the precious blood of Christ—who like a spotless, unblemished lamb was sacrificed for us. (1 Peter 1:18-19 TPT)
Maybe you’ve seen a movie or heard stories where someone had to pay a ransom to save someone’s life. When you must pay a ransom, that life is in incredible danger. Probably the worst danger you could ever imagine. Kidnapped, tortured, kind of danger.
This scripture says my life, your life, our lives were ransomed. This is serious language. Without Jesus our lives are in danger. But he paid for our lives. Not by money but by his own life.
This verse speaks directly to me as a cycle breaker. I inherited an empty way of life – addiction, violence, materialism. I tried it all and it left me empty.
So then, prepare your hearts and minds for action! Stay alert and fix your hope firmly on the marvelous grace that is coming to you. For when Jesus Christ is unveiled, a greater measure of grace will be released to you. As God’s obedient children, never again shape your lives by the desires that you followed when you didn’t know better. Instead, shape your lives to become like the Holy One who called you. (1 Peter 1: 13-15)
To some it may seem like I became a cycle breaker on my own. But it just isn’t true. Jesus is the cycle breaker. He gave his life for me. Not just by dying but by living in me. His spirit came to dwell in me and as I learned to listen to “live each day with holy awe and reverence throughout [my] time on earth,” (1 Peter 1:17), my life began to take a new shape.
And of course, this gift isn’t just for me. It’s available to anyone who wants it.
I couldn’t wrap up this season on breaking cycles without giving proper credit to the real power behind every cycle I’ve broken and everything I’ve accomplished.
As we wrap up season 5, I’m preparing for my first trip to Africa to visit When the Saints, the first and only trauma safe house for girls age six to sixteen in Malawi. You may remember their founder and director David from Episode 39. If you haven’t listened, be sure to check it out. Ever since I virtually met When the Saints in early 2021, I’ve felt God calling me to go visit. So, I’ve very excited for the trip.
I look forward to coming back and sharing my journey with all of you. More to come from The All Gifts Podcast in January 2022.
Until then, I pray for a spiritual, creative, and physical reset for us all.
In the meantime, please considering supporting the good work of When the Saints. For more, check out Breaking the Cycle of Sexual Exploitation.
Please follow, rate, and review The All Gifts Podcast so more people can be encouraged to find the gifts in their challenges.