Zorina Shepard

“Leaders serve not only those they lead but also God: the One who gave them their leadership. They are accountable to Him. This is so important! A leader without accountability is not a true leader. God does not give parents, presidents, pastors, or CEOs the freedom to lead however they want. They are accountable to God, and if they are abusive leaders, they will face consequences. We see a good example of this in Ezekiel 34, where God chastised the leaders of Israel for not serving their people.”
― Jinger Duggar Vuolo, Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear

“love is giving all of yourself for the good of others, that doesn’t just mean your strengths. It also means your weaknesses. I used to think the best thing I could do was be happy and agreeable all the time. I don’t think like that anymore. Now I see that the best thing I can do for others is to be honest, vulnerable, and self-giving.”
― Jinger Duggar Vuolo, Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear

“Isaiah had written that this “child” would bring about a great deliverance “as on the day of Midian” (Isaiah 9:4). He was referring to the “Battle of Midian,” when, guided by God, Gideon had reduced his army in stages from 32,000 down to 300 men carrying 300 trumpets and 300 jars with torches inside them. They surrounded the Midianite camp by night, and then, on the signal, they smashed the jars—letting the light shine out—blew the trumpets, and shouted in triumph; the Midian army fled in disarray (Judges 7:1-25). Truly “the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25). Perhaps Paul was thinking about this incident when he wrote about the light of the gospel shining in the darkness in the face of Jesus Christ, and he added, “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). For this child—“little, weak and helpless,” as one carol puts it[7]—was nevertheless “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). Truly, “the foolishness of God is wiser than men” (v 25).”
― Sinclair B. Ferguson, The Dawn of Redeeming Grace: Daily Devotions for Advent

“Starting with those car rides and going through my relationship with Jeremy, I would learn that I needed to stop asking myself what the verses I was reading meant to me and instead try to figure out what God was saying about Himself. When I did that over the coming years, I would begin to see that the Bible is more interested in telling me who God is than giving me guidance for every small decision I make. God is the main character of the Bible; I am not. I had never thought about the Bible that way. I honestly hadn’t considered that it was God’s story. This was the beginning of a massive perspective change in my life.”
― Jinger Duggar Vuolo, Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear