Since 2020, I’ve been on a journey of discovering who God really is, leaving behind past beliefs and detoxing myself from anything that doesn’t draw me closer to Him.

Somewhere along this pursuit of knowing God, I have once again fallen prey to the trap of legalism, almost without realizing it.

I am concerned I have also taken you along for the ride through the podcast.

If you have followed the Honest Christian Conversations podcast from the beginning, or even for a year, you have probably heard me discuss legalism several times. It is a huge part of my prodigal child story, and it’s something I have struggled to be set free from all my life.

Legalism is when you place rules and expectations on yourself and others that God never commanded. If you have a history of people-pleasing, as I do, then this can become toxic, as well as an attempt to earn God’s love and approval through your actions. But that’s not how God’s grace works. We can’t earn what He gives us freely.

With this in mind, 2026 has been a year of radical transformation for me.

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I am no longer the woman who felt everyone needed my two cents on every spiritual topic because I knew the right answer and needed to set you straight.

Now I am working on being more humble and more obedient to God. I realize I know nothing without Him, and I’m willing to admit when I have fallen short, like right now.

God has stripped away the overly zealous beliefs I was trying to impose on others, especially my family. He also helped me let go of teachers and podcasters I followed who were giving me anxiety with their ideas.

He reminded me to focus on His voice and Word instead.

He has also been teaching me how to let go of the plans I had for my life and to trust Him through life’s ups and downs.

Simplify.

Focus.

Trust.

These are the words I have felt God speaking to me over and over again in this season.

Throughout this journey, I realized my passion to help fellow believers turned from a sincere desire into an obsessive need to make you align with what I was learning as ‘the right way to follow Christ’.

My love/hate relationship with Christian music has been the biggest area where I’ve recognized this tendency thus far.

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My husband, and sometimes my children, would push back on what I was saying, which only made me defensive.

It wasn’t until we started attending a new church that things began to change. Our pastor graciously challenged some of my beliefs. Around this time, I also decided to let go of many of the podcasts I was listening to and kept only a few, which God then used to continue revealing lingering legalistic tendencies.

That’s when I finally started paying attention and realized God was speaking to me through all these avenues.

God willing, I will revisit past podcast seasons and pick some older episodes where my position may need updating, maybe even an apology.

My goal is to encourage you to stay focused on God and what His Word says. I also want to humbly admit where I may have been wrong.

My hope is that it will also inspire you to examine your own beliefs and rethink what you may need to.

I pray this journey through the past will help you grow in Christ, as it has helped me.

God bless,

Ana

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Oops! My Legalism Is Still Showing