Made to Magnify: Choosing Jesus Over Self in a Self-Focused World featuring Morgan Krueger

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hey, friend, Heather Creek work here. Thanks for listening to the Compared to You podcast today. Today my guest is Morgan Krueger, and she said Jesus follower away a mom and she's an author who's found her voice connecting with women who seek freedom from the brokenness of past shame. And today Morgan and I have just a fantastic conversation about the reality of living for Jesus versus living for self. I mean everything in our culture, self improvement, self awareness, self self self like. We are so programmed to think of self and magnify self. But what does it mean as a Christ follower to magnify Jesus? And as I found it, as I've taught y'all before, it's the freedom of self forgetfulness that actually helps us be free from so many of these issues that bog us down. So that's where Morgan and I go today. I think you're gonna love this conversation. And hey, I hope you're on my friends list. Go to improve bodymage dot com. You can take a Bodymache quiz and then we'll be connected so you don't miss a thing coming out on this show. I'm glad you're here, let's go. Morgan Krueger, Welcome to the Compared To podcast.

00:01:37
Speaker 2: Heather, thanks for having me. This is so fun.

00:01:39
Speaker 1: Yes, well, it's fun to connect with you, and I think it would be super helpful for people listening today. We're gonna kind of talk about what does it really mean to live for something more? Like were we made for something more? We were? We know that, Oh that's so cliche, Morgan, But today I hope that we can together encourage the listeners that it's true. But often God has to take us on our own journeys to really show us how that's true. And I'm wondering if to start today, you could just share what's your journey been, like, why is this important to you? Why is this something you like to talk about?

00:02:23
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:02:24
Speaker 3: Absolutely, Well, honestly, I kind of trace it back to when I was a little girl. And obviously there's so many things I could share about our upbringing.

00:02:32
Speaker 2: But you know, our time is so valuable.

00:02:34
Speaker 3: But as I think about some of my earliest memories, Heather, I really struggled to live for the approval of man. We call it a scripture calls it fear of man, and just to simplify that for all my friends out there, it's just being really concerned with what others think of you, and even the concern of what I think of myself, which I think is a really interesting thing in our culture right now. A lot of peopleeople would say, well, that is one of the most important things, how you see yourself. And that was a lot of my story for so many years, and I kind of wrestled with that apart from Jesus. I've wrestled with that with Jesus, and I will say kind of a a stake in the ground moment for me was a couple of years ago. I had been walking with Jesus for years, but I found myself over time starting to identify my life and my identity with things that are good things. And I know a lot of people listening can relate with this. A good thing can become a bad thing if it's even if it's a God thing, if it takes the place above our identity and Christ And so what I will say to get into that is a couple of years ago, I went through a lot of changes at once, which I know the women out there listening can relate with that.

00:03:52
Speaker 2: Just seasons of change.

00:03:53
Speaker 3: They come and they go, and a lot of times they hit us really fast without us even being able to brace for them. And so all in the span of a couple months, Heather, I had a job change, we moved from one state to another, and I also was expecting my first baby. So body changes, job changes, location changes. It was like one change after another. And I wouldn't say that any of that was bad. They were beautiful things of God moved me from one season to another. But all of a sudden, everything that I subconsciously identified with was stripped away. Who am I apart from work? Who am I apart from what I see when I look in the mirror? Who am I apart from this community that I'm no longer in? And so it made me kind of seek, obviously the word of God, Lord speak into this. Where did I kind of drift here and start to identify myself with things other than you? And He brought me to Ephesians four, and Paul basically talks about he calls the Ephesians children, He says in fence, children who are tossed to and fro by the waves of cunning doctrine and ideas of the time. And I just thought Lord, that's me. Even though I'm in Christ, I'm really struggling with that right now. So Lord, help me find a way to magnify you above my circumstances, above my body, above my work. Help me lift my eyes off myself and help me find freedom in that. And you know, I think Heather a lot of times. Is the last thing I'll say about it. We could be so afraid to take our eyes off ourself.

00:05:31
Speaker 2: Because we as women.

00:05:33
Speaker 3: I know, Heather, we're new friends, but I have a feeling we have a lot in common. We probably both love a to do list, right, We love to check things off our list. We love to kind of manage everything, and because of that, our mental load is just constantly going crazy. But I think we have this fear of if we take our eyes off ourself for a second, who's going to take care of us? And my encouragement to the women out there today as we kind of close this thought is like we are invited to take our eyes off of ourselves, not from a place of neglecting ourselves, but actually out of a place of deep trust that as we look to him, He's going to take care of us. He's gonna he sees our desires. He has good plans for our life. And so it's it's, it's, it's. It can be scary sometimes to take our eyes off ourselves. But what I have found is when we deeply know that our father has got us, we have this new ability and new courage and freedom to take our eyes off ourself.

00:06:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it. I love it so much, Morgan. And yes, we don't know each other very well, so you don't know that. Like my whole ministry started after reading Tim Keller's The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness, Like that changed everything for me. And right now I'm writing a book for Moody on the concept of like fear and growing faith. And so that's part of what I'm like sitting in now is what you just mentioned. Like it. It is a little scary to think, uh oh, but if I don't control this, if I'm not like tightly clenched and really worrying, right, if I'm not worrying about this, like will I be safe? Will I be okay? Right? And that's not trust, is it?

00:07:18
Speaker 2: That's right?

00:07:19
Speaker 3: And those are the questions I think deep down, if we're honest with ourselves, we're all asking and Heather, I love that you just brought that book up, because that was such an inspiration for me just in that season of life. And for all our friends who maybe haven't read that book, I would encourage you to do so, Heather is nodding. That is obviously a book that has changed her life. And it's so small. It's an easy read friends, so you can even get it and download it like on your phone or kindle or anything. But basically the premise and something that really stuck with me, which I'm sure it has you as well, Heather Is. He basically says, and I don't want to miss tell me if I miss quote him a little bit, but to paraphrase, he says, you know, the freedom of self forgetfulness is not thinking less of ourselves, neglecting ourselves. He says, it's not thinking less of ourselves, it's thinking of our self less. And freedom comes when we are less concerned with our day to day worries and more concerned with a God who is worthy of the glory. And as he is the God of the universe, he's got us and there's.

00:08:19
Speaker 2: A deep freedom in that.

00:08:20
Speaker 3: And so oh, I love that. Well, sign me up. I will be the first to be reading that book from you.

00:08:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's funny. I even I saw a Jordan Peterson reel and I don't think, you know, Jordan knows the Bible, but I don't think he's come around to acknowledging any type of actual like personal faith. But he did it real recently and it was the same thing, and I was like, you just need to read Collor's Freedom of Self forgetful of this. But he was talking about how most of us try to cure our He didn't use the term low self esteem, but you know we try to cure our self obsession by I just need to like fix all the things and then if I could, then I would just think better of myself. And what ends up happening is just think about yourself more and more and more. And so even Jordan Peterson came around to like, no, actually, you need to start thinking about things better than yourself, like be in community, like have a job to do in that community, caring for other people and thinking about other people's needs. And I was like, yeah, that's I mean, it's it's that's what works.

00:09:27
Speaker 2: What works.

00:09:28
Speaker 3: And I love that people of every walk of life right now are almost sensing that there was a recent Barnas survey that talked about people's deepest worries right now in life, and I think it was like forty two percent said that their biggest worry is is fear of the future, fear of what will come. And I think that's led to so many of our control issues. But you know, I love that again, especially for women. We resonate with certain scriptures maybe over others, and we love to talk about them. They could be like buzz scriptures, but there's a reason for them. And I think in Luke ten, this is the story of Martha Mary and is so fundamental for this understanding that like God knows, you know, like Jesus entered into her home and she has this call of stewardship. I know, when I have friends coming over, I want to fluff those pillows, I want to do X y Z.

00:10:18
Speaker 2: But when we.

00:10:19
Speaker 3: Sacrifice what Jesus calls in that passage as the one thing, he said, Mary has chosen the one thing that's necessary.

00:10:25
Speaker 2: It is not going to be taken away from her.

00:10:27
Speaker 3: When we decide to put even good things like stewardship or our bodies or all these things that are good, and that God calls us to a life of stewardship. When we put them above him, that that order gets so disordered. And that's where we can have all these think good things going on, but if they're not in the right order, then they're going to cause control, maybe idle of comfort, anxiety, different things like that. And you know, I love to say this, like, way before God Jesus gave us the great commission, he gave us the great invitation, way before he ever said go and make disciples, he said, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And I think I'm really good for me at the going. I'm not really good at the coming.

00:11:15
Speaker 2: All the time. You tell me to go, and I will go.

00:11:18
Speaker 3: You tell me to come, and I'm going to push back on that naturally in my spirit.

00:11:23
Speaker 2: And so you know, the going is great and.

00:11:25
Speaker 3: The coming is great, but I think we've got to get the order right first, come and then go, and I think from there it's I'm not trying to dwindle our worries down to a formula, because Jesus is so much better than a formula. But I will say there is a beauty in getting that order, right, Yeah.

00:11:43
Speaker 1: And Morgan, what you just said, right, I know a lot of exhausted Christian women exhausted, Right, We're not exempt from the cultures. You know, imperative to be busy all the time, and that takes a toll, you know, and the come to me invitation, Right, that's the place to start. But then I don't know, I think we have to think more carefully about the go, like what is the go? Like if my go is directed by the hundred reels that I watched yesterday, Like, what's that's exhausting? Right, But that's not what Jesus is saying when he says go, right, it's it's a with him on mission, kingdom purpose, kingdom minded go And yeah, it's it's easy to get caught up in what culture demands of us.

00:12:46
Speaker 2: Is absolutely yeah.

00:12:47
Speaker 3: And I love that you mentioned that because I think that, apart from the Holy Spirit, we don't have the ability within ourselves to identify what our best yeses are because we might be met with some great I know, for me, in the past year, Heather, I've been invited into things, or given opportunities or you know, something laid before me that face value.

00:13:12
Speaker 2: I'm like this is good, this is great.

00:13:15
Speaker 3: But sometimes our best yes is to say no and to trust God even when it's a good thing. And you know, for me, I think, I think, just speak to this. When we get that order wrong, we're going, going, going, and we're not coming or and so we don't know our best yeses.

00:13:32
Speaker 2: We can start to move really fast.

00:13:34
Speaker 3: We can outrun and I know it's so cliche, but we can outrun kind of that pace of grace of meet me in the moment, discern invite me into every single thing that you're doing, which also feels extreme in our culture, but it's true. Jesus wants to be invited into every decision that we're making. And so for me, I could even think about the past two weeks, things have gotten a little crazy. I have, you know, two little boys at home, I have a baby on the way. We have so many moving parts in our season, and I can look back and I've had to confess to the Lord and to some friends even in the past couple weeks, like hey, I think I think I said yes or gave myself over to some things that God was kind of prompting my heart to bring to him, and instead I just was like, yes, great, yes, yes, move past it, and something's kind of came back around, and I was like, man, I wish I would have paused there. I wish I would have come to him, and I wish I would have slowed down enough. Jesus, you know, I love to think about this. He could have been born in any era that he wanted to.

00:14:37
Speaker 2: He's God.

00:14:38
Speaker 3: He was born in a time that maybe was one of the slowest in history, right, And we never see in any recorded passage in the Gospels Jesus running.

00:14:49
Speaker 2: He didn't run. Now, the Father ran in that prodigal son, you know. Parable.

00:14:55
Speaker 3: But at the same time, Jesus's life here on earth was never one of hurry or hustle or haste. And I think it's a reminder that he's also inviting us into that slowness, Like slow downb enough to hear my voice, so that you can be a woman who discerns, like you're saying, Heather, what our best Yes, really is.

00:15:15
Speaker 1: This concept of following Jesus. Oh, Like, I don't want a stereotype, so I'm just revealing myself in this, okay, But I have a feeling that everyone can relate to this following Jesus in the West means, oh, good morning God, here's the twenty seven things I have to do today. It looks like I'm going to need your help with three, six, nine, oh fifteen could be tricky too. I got the rest, Thanks so much, See you soon. When when I'm feeling a little uncertain this afternoon, right, and it's that's not following, right, and so really like reorienting our hearts to like the disciple didn't wake up each morning and do that. It was like, what do you have planned for us?

00:16:04
Speaker 2: Lord?

00:16:05
Speaker 1: Oh? I don't know about going there? Like why are we walking this direction? But it wasn't here's my agenda. Let's let's compare and see how the two line up? Or can I just work you in like I was planning on doing this today, Maybe you could just come along with me instead?

00:16:21
Speaker 3: Right?

00:16:22
Speaker 1: And have we just distorted what it means to follow Jesus because we're so competent, because we have, you know, so much perceived control over things. I mean, I think I think this is a call for us to reorder things, right.

00:16:45
Speaker 2: Yep, yeap.

00:16:46
Speaker 3: And what a beautiful invitation I know for me, I went a lot of years Heather with a shame mentality of like what you're saying, when I was that girl, when I am that girl, the old me, and again I still struggle in so many ways, but that shame that God has actually done so much in my life would tell me.

00:17:07
Speaker 2: Like, oh, you've blown it again. And shame always.

00:17:11
Speaker 3: We see this in the garden in Genesis three, and it attaches itself to our identity and tells us what you've done is disqualifying you to return back to God. And I love to point this out. In Genesis three, we know that shame attaches itself to our identity because when Adam and Eve ate of that fruit, they didn't cover the fruit. They never covered the object of their failure. They covered themselves. And so I think that shows that shame for us can run really deep. But what I love about what you're saying is when we fall short, when we're so trusting in the invitation. Jesus didn't just say come to me one time in Matthew eleven and you get this one shot and if you don't stay here, then you're out, you.

00:17:58
Speaker 2: Know, like you didn't say that.

00:18:00
Speaker 3: He was making a declaration and a statement that we have this moment by moment, day by day invitation to come back to the table of surrender. And so I know for me like what you're describing, and again don't want to speak for any listeners, but I think we're all the same in this way that we forget what you're saying, that he should be at the forefront of every decision, not the afterthought or not the add on.

00:18:24
Speaker 2: You know, he's not guacamole at Chipotle. It his obol. He's everything.

00:18:30
Speaker 3: And so with that, if anyone out there is like ough like, I relate with that, but I feel so ashamed because I can't quite get this right and I keep making plans without him, or I keep neglecting my time with him. I would just say, friend, receive grace in this moment. Jesus knew you would stray again and again and again. But to circle back to what we talked about, there's something that happens when we decide to take our eyes off of ourself and not make it about willing ourselves into change, not willing ourself into putting Jesus first. We just looked to him and we become in love with him, and we aw Towzer has this amazing quote and I'll you know, I can't get it perfect. But to paraphrase, he just says, when the eyes looking in meet the eyes of the God looking in, heaven has begun here, right here on earth. And with that life change actually just happens. When we look to him. We're conformed by him, We're changed by him and transformed. And so if anyone out there is like, yeah, I just I am the woman that Heather just described, I just want to encourage you. You are not too far gone. You were invited back to the table of surrendered today and take him at his word that he will give you rest.

00:19:39
Speaker 1: Yes, I love that. And also, I don't know, I feel like I need to say this, but it's it's dangerous territory to tread in. We can stay stuck in shame because of our pride right where it's it's we're believing the lives of shame, but we're also believing this prideful lie that says I'm worse than everyone else. So I don't deserve to ever, you know, I don't deserve grace really, right, And it's it's the flip. It's the opposite side of the pride coin because most of the time we think about pride as being like, well, I'm too good, like I don't need it, like I'm the best, right, But pride can also be just being stuck in I'm the worst, I'll never get better. It's you know, it's just grace isn't enough for me, And that's just a lie too, And so seeing that shame like you said, absolutely, and if you feel stuck there, oh goodness, maybe it's time to just say, okay, Lord, is this a pride problem? Like pride is the sneakiest, right, It's so insidious, it works its way in and just hides in the corner. They're oh, oh that's my pride. Oh I see it now, and so looking for that pride because you're not the worstest, you are not too bad for grace, that is, there's no such thing.

00:20:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a beautiful I'm so glad you said that.

00:21:00
Speaker 3: Because we can think of pride just be just being owning our successes, but it's also.

00:21:07
Speaker 2: Like dwelling on our failures. It's if I win, that's on me. If I lose, that's on me.

00:21:13
Speaker 3: And ultimately, Jesus invites us to lay down that pride of like nothing and see us Lewis and Tim Keller talk about this beautifully. Tim Keller says, basically, like, we have this mentality to be like, yes, Jesus, it's all God, But but I did the work too, And He's like, who gave you the ability to do the work, who gave you the brain, who gave you the plans and put you in touch with the right. It was all him. And with that we have nothing to boast it. We truly, truly, truly don't. That doesn't mean self deprecation, but again it means thinking less of myself and more about the plans and the purposes of God. The same goes for our failure when we blow it. Yes, we had a part to play, but who are we to say that the cross is not.

00:22:04
Speaker 2: Greater than the sin?

00:22:06
Speaker 3: And you know, this morning in the Bible, app I read Isaiah fifty three six. I have it right here, and I just think it was like so providential for our conversation, Heather. It says, all we like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And then it says, he says, and the Lord has laid on him on Jesus.

00:22:27
Speaker 2: The iniquity of us.

00:22:28
Speaker 3: All so all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But truly, the beautiful part is that even years before Jesus set foot on earth, Isaiah prophesied that God would lay on Jesus all the sin of the world. And so we can look to the cross and we don't have to dwell in that shame.

00:22:46
Speaker 2: We can kind of take.

00:22:47
Speaker 3: Those medical four fig leaves off that were in Genesis three and be clothed with this better.

00:22:52
Speaker 2: Covering that we read in Isaiah fifty three.

00:22:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, love it. Good preaching there, Morgan.

00:22:58
Speaker 2: Hey, good timing. Thank you, Bible app.

00:23:02
Speaker 1: So you have a new book out, and I kind of about some of these things. Would you just tell us about the book and you know, maybe what we could expect from it.

00:23:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're so sweet.

00:23:13
Speaker 3: So yes, my new book made to magnify Choosing to live for Jesus when everything tells you to live for yourself was kind of a book birthed out of the season that I shared a lot of changes at one time, a lot of false identity stripped from me. And I remember actually in that season as well, reading in Luke Won, and I was becoming a mom for the first time. So I was like, oh, I want to read about Jesus's mother and just in a new way and kind of just it gave it a new perspective for me. And I'll never forget that prayer that she cried out to God after Elizabeth had prophesied over her about the coming of her child and who he would be. And you know, if we do a little bit of digging, like culturally in that day, this was not good news by the world standard, this was not good news that Mary, an unwed young girl, was having a baby. This technically, I mean, you know, it's hard for us to understand this, but that could have been a death sentence for her. And instead of dwelling on self, she had very reason, very real reasons if she had chosen to dwell on herself. But she her eyes were so fixated on her Savior that in the midst of everything going on, she just looks up. I love to think, you know, our holy imagination kicks in. She just looked up to Heaven in that moment, and she said, my soul magnifies the Lord, and the Spirit of God rejoices in my Savior. And I just think about that, and I remember in that season, That word magnify just really stuck out to me, and so started to do some research what did she mean when she said the word magnify. And the most simple kind of way I could sum it up is to magnify just means to make great. And what hit me, Heather, is that by nature, we are creatures that are made to me. But we are going to wake up every morning and we are either going to magnify ourselves and our pursuits and our desires and our bodies and our appearance and our approval and everything. We're going to magnify that. We're going to magnify Jesus. We're going to magnify his plants, his purposes. Again, not out of a place of neglecting self, but out of a place of deep trust that as we make our life centered around him, He's got us. He's going to provide for us. He's going to make our life flourish in his name. And so anyways, that's really where the book came out of. And I take a look at our cultural moment we're living in. God taught me so much about that. But what I found heatherto is like, it's so easy for us to blame culture, you.

00:25:41
Speaker 2: Know, like, oh, we're in a culture war. Oh the culture is affecting me.

00:25:43
Speaker 3: Of course those things are true, that culture has a deep, profound impact on us. But I'm gonna say the hard truth. It's out there, yeah, but it's really in here. Like it's easy for me to blame culture, but I woke up this morning with this natural bend toward myself.

00:26:01
Speaker 2: And my kids don't make that much easier. But at the same.

00:26:04
Speaker 3: Time, I have this invitation to return and to once again say, God, I place you in the center of my life.

00:26:11
Speaker 2: I'm gonna make great something. Let it be your name.

00:26:14
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:26:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you don't know this either, but my first book did not get published with this title, but it was pitched with the title stop blaming Barbie for the same reason, because I was like, man, we gotta like our issues. Our body issues are not just because we played with plastic Barbie dolls that had unrealistic proportions. Like this is a heart issue, this is an idolatry issue. This is me waking up every day thinking about to use the magnification language, right, like how do I make myself great? Like what can Heather do to make Heather great today? What does it take for Heather to be great? And like in that, I mean it cou's even grosser. And I don't know if you get to this in the book or not, but like my own desire for glory, right, Like I really somehow think it would be cool for God and I to share, you know, I don't want all the glory like he can have like ninety seven percent, maybe just like three percent right here, And that's gross right like that, No, no, I can't do that. And so yeah, I mean the waking up each morning, like how do I make your name great? Like what does that look like? Like that's a different thing. And that is a heart thing or not just a cultural thing.

00:27:32
Speaker 2: Yes, And I'm glad you said that.

00:27:34
Speaker 3: I know, I feel like our hearts are so aligned on this, Like ultimately it's it's it's not as much of an out there issue. We need to be people, especially Kingdom people who are aware of the cultural moment we're living in and the impact it has on us. But you're so right, it's an issue of the heart. It is, like Isaiah says, it is that we are the sheep and we have gone astray. Nothing made us go astray, but it's our nature to go astray, and so what invitation does he have for us to return?

00:28:05
Speaker 2: And yes, I talk a lot about just the John Tyson. I love him.

00:28:10
Speaker 3: He calls it a glory deficit and then he says, we try to fill it with these micro glory voids, and he's like yeah. He kind of speaks into this and he's like, yeah, the new outfit will feel good, Yeah, the applause will feel good. Yeah, that botox is going to feel good. But none of that is going to last. It's all going to fade away, and as we see in Revelation, there will be a day where we are met face to face before the throne and everything will be made so clear. And on that day, I want to say that I gave my life to that king, to that lamb who was slain, and so you know, again, we're not gonna And I actually end the book with like, hey, here's how to stay the course and here's the grace for when you fall, you know, because we again we are going to wrestle with us for the rest of our lives. But I love that Jesus offers us something so much better than a ten step program or something so much better than a strategy or formula. He offers us his presence, and from that place we are changed, and we are invited back day after day after day.

00:29:09
Speaker 2: And in this season heather of chaos. I'll tell you what.

00:29:11
Speaker 3: I am really grateful for that invitation and really grateful that I was able to write out of a place of the weakness. Not not hey, I nailed it here. It is everyone of like, wow, I need this, and I think I need it again and again again. So maybe you do too.

00:29:25
Speaker 1: Oh yes, yes. The number of times I've said something to my husband has been like, didn't you write a book on that? Oh? Yeah, I guess I read.

00:29:36
Speaker 3: Things that people, The things the author's face are very unique. You write it, and then we're like, what did I write? And I need it right now again and again again.

00:29:46
Speaker 2: Yes, so true.

00:29:48
Speaker 1: We're going to tell everyone I know the book is available everywhere books are sold, tell everyone how they can connect with you.

00:29:53
Speaker 2: You're so sweet.

00:29:54
Speaker 3: Yes, I'm pretty much on all your major places online besides TikTok. I'm not a I talk girly okay, but you can find me on Instagram and then mainly if you want to learn more about just my ministry and my heart behind some of the things that we've chatted about today.

00:30:08
Speaker 2: You can on my website Morgan Kruger dot.

00:30:10
Speaker 1: Com awesome, and I'll make sure the link to that is in the show notes. Morgan, thanks so much for being on the show today. I appreciate you being here and having this conversation. Thanks Heather, I appreciate you and thank you for watching or listening today. I hope something today has helped you stop comparing and start living bye way. But compared to you podcast, it's probably part of the Life Audio podcast Network. For more great Christian podcasts, I hope you'll go to lifeaudio dot com. Hey have you left us a review yet? Oh goodness. The nicest thing you could do for us is to leave a review wherever you get your podcast. Consider stopping and leaving one today. It'd be a huge blessing. Thank you.