Hello everyone and welcome to the Graceology with Gwen Smith podcast. I'm Gwen Smith and I am so glad

you've joined me today. Around here we have fun, faith-focused, grace-filled conversations,

all to help you know and trust God more. Our discussions are honest, often humorous, and always practical,

and they're going to encourage you in meaningful ways to live out and lean on the grace of Jesus

in the midst of cluttered messy days. You got any of those? I know I do, and I can't wait to

get to today's conversation, which is all about your God-given identity.

My guest is the eloquent Esther Fleece Allen.

Esther's a graduate of Oxford's Center for Christian Apologetics, and she was called one of the 50 women shaping the church and culture by Christianity Today. She loves to connect

people around the world to practical, faith-centered tools for living through every season,

good and bad. And she joins me today to discuss her latest book, Your New Name. We all know that

life is full of labels that lie to us and try to limit us.

Unfortunately, it's common for us to believe the names that others give us. You know, names like

ugly, no good, stupid, unlovable, or even accident. For much of Esther's life, she believed

both the lies and the labels. Thankfully, that's not the end of her story.

In our conversation, she shared some of the lessons that she's learned from the Bible,

primarily that God is always wanting to do a new and fresh thing inside us,

and it's never too late for a new identity or a new name in God.

Don't you think it's time to stop being identified

by the circumstances you've come from or the names that others have called you? If you're ready

to find freedom from the past and hope for your future, you're going to love today's

episode with Esther Fleece Allen.

Before we head into the show, I want to do a quick listener shoutout, and this one goes to JBMC Fish, who left a five-star rating and wrote a review called Great Listening.

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