Meet our first spring guest writer, Sierra Knight! She is a 28-year-old wife and mom to two toddlers. You can only imagine the joy and chaos going on in the four walls of her home. Yet her desire is still to pursue a life that glorifies God in every way. Sierra writes that she “Grew up in darkness and fear, accepted Jesus as my savior at age 17 and is fully trusting in God to guide my family.” She is cultivating habits of being in the Bible daily, and trying her best to mirror Jesus in all actions. She is a sweet SET APART girl and I can’t wait for you to hear her testimony of friendship.
Here are a few fun facts about Sierra to get to know her better:
What’s your favorite part of Spring?
All the newness!
What’s your favorite Worship Song?
It’s always been you- Phil Wickham
Where can we find you on social media?
Facebook Instagram @_sweetlykindred_
What’s your favorite thing to do with your friend/friends?
Get coffee, bake muffins at my place and have spiritual conversations.
What are you currently reading in God’s word?
Exodus
Here is her testimony on how friendships have impacted her relationship with God:
“With the right friendships I’ve been uplifted and encouraged. Yet the ones I’ve held onto that seem to be more secular, have held me back from pursuing the Father and have filled me with confusion and insecurities. In the past this has hazed my judgement as well as my spiritual growth. My entire life it seems I’ve had one foot in Godly company and the other foot in a more worldly company.
I believe growing up in public school made it hard for me to really connect with people who shared my own beliefs. Often it was even more confusing that most of my neighbors and friends outside of school were God-fearing homeschoolers. This made it hard for me to fully commit to either side because I loved everyone. At times I felt I didn’t really belong with either group, causing me to feel unvalued and lonely.
As I grew older the friends I had on the secular side of things made me question my entire identity in the LORD. When I was in the 9th grade, I remember spending 8 hours one Saturday on the phone with a friend from school trying to convince them why and how God is real. In high school my conscience wouldn’t let me fully dive into the wildness going on around me but I did dip my toe in every now and then. Then that would make me feel guilty when I would be around my church friends. It caused me to feel like I was stained and they could see how different I was from them.
My secular circle would make comments to me or about me saying “I was too good to be invited to something they were doing”. Then my Godly circle would assume I wouldn’t enjoy the kind of activities they would be planning and not include me in those either. I felt stuck and unwanted from both sides.
When I gave my life to Christ and decided to make Him my ultimate best friend. I committed to go to Him with every feeling and question I had in my heart. It was a realization that I was wanted and seen by Him my entire life. The whole time I was pursuing earthly friendships and searching for my identity amongst all the chaos down here…but God. He was trying to get my attention and fighting for my heart nonstop, I’m overwhelmed with His goodness and love these days.
I didn’t let go of every friend from my worldly past, I held onto quite a few actually. Which made growing in my faith as an adult very difficult. Sometimes it would pause my growth allowing me to wander around trying new things that did not bring God glory with my secular friends
Even up until a year ago I was finding myself questioning whether drinking alcohol was a sin or not. I was seeing lots of my friends do it even some of my friends who were believers. I did experience it a little for myself to see what it was all about. God showed me in that time that drinking alcohol might not be a direct sin, but it isn’t something He is calling me to do as a follower and example of Christ. It definitely doesn’t bring God glory. I made the personal decision that I wasn’t going to participate anymore, as of last October.
Since then, I’ve met others who have gone through similar experiences with alcohol and other things. For example, letting go of secular shows and songs and only indulging in good and pure content. I think that because I was split between worlds growing up I didn’t even question what I was watching and listening to until I became a parent about 4 years ago. God used this next chapter in my life to show me just like I wouldn’t want my children to watch secular shows full of dirty scenes, violence, and sin; He doesn’t want me to watch those things also. I am His Child.
Being close with the LORD and seeking out His thoughts on each matter has grown me in ways I never thought were possible. I’ve lost some friendships that weren’t fruitful or seeking spiritual growth and guidance from the LORD. Though I’ll always be there for them and love them tremendously, I know I can’t let it hold me back from pursuing God’s character and goodness. I want so badly to have like-minded biblical friends in my life who want to grow in God’s word together. I know I do have a couple of Godly friends from my past who have been there for me and helped me remember to look to God when I felt discouraged, and that has been a huge blessing to me. However, they seem to be in different stages of life than I am right now making it hard to connect with them currently. I am grateful for them, but I am at a time in my life where I am fully trusting my future in God’s hands including all of my relationships.
I know He will place the right friends in my path at the right time. He grows the right relationships in my life that are meant to be as I live boldly set apart from the crowd. He fully remains as my ultimate best friend and encourager. He sustains me, and leads me away from the ways of the world. I pray every day that people can see His truth, love, and goodness through me, and know they can have Him as their ultimate best friend too.”
Comments