Identity - Across My Heart

Stop Calling Me Beautiful… Really [Book Review]

Posted on March 10, 2021March 10, 2021 by Laura Coulier in Book Reviews, Identity

I’ve heard so many speakers designed to hype me up about who I am and how that should draw me close to God as a result. You’re a princess, they’ll say. You’re a queen; God made you perfect; He made you beautiful, and so on. That’s all well and good until suddenly…I’m faced with my own sin and struggles. Sure, God did make me beautiful. He did make me perfect…but then I was born into sin, and I let “ugly” things in (Psalm 51:5). So a clichéd phrase about my being flawless does not help me when I look in the mirror, or when I’ve disappointed a friend who comes to me with hurt feelings from an unhealthy moment I didn’t speak from a place of love.

Irreversible Damage Abigail Shrier Book Review

Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters [Book Review]

Posted on March 3, 2021March 10, 2021 by Amber Impellizzeri in Book Reviews, Identity, Sexuality

Lucy’s is just one of many stories author Abigail Shrier tells in her book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. Although not a Christian book, Shrier analyzes a problem facing a segment of our population Across My Heart Ministries cares deeply about: teenage girls. In her book, she unpacks the gender identity crisis seizing today’s adolescent girls like a viral contagion. For this reason, I read the book, and I am so glad I did!

Where’s Your ID? Finding Your Identity in His Word

Posted on March 3, 2020March 27, 2020 by Laura Coulier in Holy Living, Identity, Reclaiming Purity

I recently asked a couple of high school girls at my church what they'd most want women of all ages to understand about what their generation faces; they paused to think, and then they started talking. The list came...and it kept coming. The key takeaway was that no matter what others were encouraging them to do, it always came with some level of pressure.

Worthy

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Across My Heart in Body Image, Identity

I was a 4th grader when I went home from school that day. But those feelings are still current in my 23-year-old self. I still become excited and hopeful when I get new clothes. I still long for other people to notice me, accept me, admire me. I sometimes feel lonely when I don't have attention from a loved one or even on social media. When the pressures of life surrounds me, and my feelings overtake me, it’s easy to fade away into a negative attitude and want to “go home sick”. 4th grader or young adult, those feelings are real.

Always Chasing Happiness

Posted on June 12, 2019June 12, 2019 by Amber Impellizzeri in Identity

I lost track of the brothers after they split up 6 years ago. On their own, Nick and Joe’s independent pursuits weren’t as wholesome as what the brothers had produced together. It quickly became apparent that their previous convictions to sexual purity were not taking priority as their music became riskier and the purity rings disappeared.

Lessons I learned from playing the part of a pregnant, homeless teenager: We both need the same thing this Christmas

Posted on December 22, 2018December 22, 2018 by Alyssa Nicole in Holy Living, Identity

I was assigned the role of a pregnant, homeless teenager for the church Christmas musical. "How ironic is it that I speak and blog for a purity ministry and I’m playing the part of a pregnant teenager?” I should’ve known right then and there that it was time for a heart check.

Biblical womanhood: restrictive or freeing?

Posted on November 27, 2018November 26, 2018 by Across My Heart in Identity, Reclaiming Purity, Sexuality

God’s design for womanhood as laid out in scripture is beautiful. It’s not about being the “perfect housewife.” It’s about finding freedom in glorifying God when we live out His ways.

Emotions: Can I Control Them?

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Alyssa Nicole in Body Image, Holy Living, Identity, Relationships

We’ve all had days when life won’t let up. Days when when our circumstances just seem to drag us down. Days when we feel the brokenness of our world so keenly. On these days, the despair threatens to swallow us up. Our circumstances bring feelings of loneliness. Hopelessness. Negativity. Anger. Defeat. Stress. Rejection. Anxiety. Shame. Fear. Bitterness. Our emotions can blind us and tell us lies about our circumstances. It’s only when we encounter Jesus, the Truth, that we can be set free from these lies.

Faith Is Not a Feeling – 2 Corinthians 5:7-8a

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Emmarie Moon in His Word is Written Across My Heart, Identity

A friend of mine recently reminded me that we can’t base what we know on what we feel. Our feelings are inconsistent and dependent on our surroundings - and God knows that. God’s love and presence are independent of our feelings. Faith is what we have in spite of our feelings.

Seeing Past the Instagram Façade – James 3:13-19

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Kaela Kaiser in His Word is Written Across My Heart, Identity

We want to feel satisfied and loved. But so often we look to the world for it. What does it offer us? At the surface, the Instagram Façade seems harmless. hBut underneath it is a boatload of filth.