Everybody, what is going on? You know what time it is. You're listening to join the Journey podcast

with your host, Emma Daughter. Thanks for joining. Today, we're answering a question many people ask when

they read Colossians 3. What does the Bible actually say about slavery? But before we dive into

that question specifically, I want to acknowledge

another big idea stemming from verse 23, which says, whatever you do, work heartily as for the

Lord and not for men. If you're anything like today's Devo writer, Jennifer, and honestly, like me as well,

it can be easy to place our identity in what

other people think about us. And I get that that sounds cliche and churchy, but it's reality.

Jennifer shared a little bit of her own story. She'd run herself into the ground to keep

plates spinning for her boss. That didn't impress God, and it definitely wasn't his definition

of faithfulness. For me personally,

I find myself devoting a lot of mental energy to how other people might be perceiving me, or how I think they could be perceiving me.

And here's what that regularly looks like. I'm an Enneagram 3, so I want to achieve and be the best.

When I started pursuing social media

ministry, I was terrified. I know there's an appropriate level of skepticism that comes when

young leaders start to enter what could become the platform ministry world. And I knew I needed

strong voices of truth in my life, as do all of us. But I also knew that there were going to be people who

disapproved no matter what. There was nothing I could do to get them excited about what was for me

my next step of faithfulness. And this paralyzed me as I thought things like, co-workers will no

longer respect me. Now they'll just think I'm some foolish kid. Well, they quit inviting me to things, but I'd be excluded from conversations or meetings

I used to be invited to.

Are girls in our city starting to think of me differently, or do they trust me less now that

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