She grew up on camera and online and has some things to say about the good, the bad, and having a healthy identity. Sadie Robertson Huff joins Julie Lyles Carr for a can’t miss episode about staying centered in an image world.
Listen to “How to Have a Healthy Social Media Life with Sadie Robertson Huff” on Spreaker.
Interview Links:
Find Sadie online: Live Original | Instagram| Facebook | Twitter
Book: Who Are You Following? Pursuing Jesus in a Social-Media Obsessed World
Transcription:
Julie Lyles Carr: You’re listening to the AllMomDoes podcast where you’ll find encouragement, information, and inspiration, for the life you’re living, the kids you’re raising, the romance you’re loving, and the faith you’re growing. I’m your host, Julie Lyles Carr. Let’s jump into this week’s episode.
She grew up right before us on television and now she’s got a baby of her own. I am thrilled to be able to welcome to the podcast today, Sadie Robertson Huff. Sadie, thank you so much for making the time.
Sadie Robertson Huff: Thanks for having me on. I’m excited to talk to all the new moms out there. Should be a fun conversation.
Julie Lyles Carr: And I know that so many of our moms are going to go, Sadie? I remember I watched the show. I watched dancing with the stars… like all the things. If there’s somebody out there who isn’t familiar, can you give them a little rundown on who you are, where you live? The hubby, the daughter, all the stuff.
Sadie Robertson Huff: Totally. Yeah. So currently I am, this is kind of where I’m at in life. I live in Louisiana, which is actually where I’m from. I’m married to an incredible man, Christian Huff. We have a daughter named Honey, and she is as sweet as her name, she’s amazing. And yeah, a little backstory on my life. So, when I was in eighth grade, my family got a hit TV show on television. A and E, and it was called Duck Dynasty. Dynasty was on from my eighth-grade year until my senior year of high school. So, that was my whole high school career. My family show, really filming a lot and doing all the things. And then when I was 17, I got on Dancing with the Stars, and I ended up coming in second. So, that was a crazy experience, which I can’t even believe I came in second because I did not have dance experience. And so, I was thinking this, my dad, I remember my dad telling me, just try to make it to week three. And so, it was quite a shock to make it to second, but it was a blast. And so, that’s a little bit about my journey, and then years later, I started a ministry called Live Original. That’s what I do now. I run a ministry based out of Westminster, Louisiana, and have a great team who’s just doing incredible things, and I’m thankful to even be a part of it. But yeah, that’s where I’m at.
Julie Lyles Carr: That’s so awesome. Tell me what it was like for you, because for a lot of people, I got to tell you Sadie, when I think about my early high school years through about the age of 17, it would be comedy gold, I think if any of that had been recorded and broadcast in any way, shape, or form. That’s a really, that’s a hard time ended up in the public life. So, what was that like to go from what it probably felt like just live in family life, doing your thing, being part of the family business, and then all of a sudden you are in people’s living rooms on the reg.
Sadie Robertson Huff: Yeah, I remember the first time I saw myself on TV, it was when my family had a show called Duck Commander, which was on the outdoor channel. And so embarrassed about how country my accent was. I literally hid under the table and was like, no, make it go away. Tell me that people did not just see that happen. I was so young, you know, it was in middle school. And like you said, comedy gold. Yes. Don’t get me wrong, I was right there with you. Yeah. And I mean, even one of my first dates was filmed on television for millions of people to see, and all the things are on TV to see. And it is an interesting thing, you know, to grow up and have all these eyes on you.
But I will say I was very thankful that my whole family did it together. So, it wasn’t like one of us just got famous. It was literally 40 of us as a family that did it together. And which was really nice because everything I was experiencing, my mom and dad were experiencing too for the first time. And so, they were able to kind of speak with them into my life and my siblings live at the time. Just navigating fame and what that looks like. And just was able to get some really good advice from them as they were also going through it, which I think that’s kind of the hard thing for a lot of people who get famous when they’re young is they get catapulted in the spotlight and it’s very lonely, and they don’t have like, their parents don’t understand because they’re not famous too and you know, how could they understand?
That’s a hard thing to navigate. Not that they can’t give wisdom and great advice, but it also, you know, might feel to the younger person that no one gets me. I’m thankful that I couldn’t say that, because even at times when I wanted to and say, no one gets me in my life, so weird, whatever. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s a little dramatic cause my mom and dad were going through the same things. Everyone else in my family. Yes. Which was a gift.
Julie Lyles Carr: Right. Absolutely. You know, when all of that started for you in those early ages, social media was not where it’s at now. These were kind of early days of when… Can you remember? I mean, do you really remember a world before Facebook was so huge and Instagram was so huge and all the things. I mean, obviously a reality show is sort of its own form of a social network in a sense, but you kind of, as you were growing up on the show, you here’s a social media also kind of growing alongside you, and changing the game and a lot of industry, Sadie, really because with publishing, with television, with film, with all these things. Whereas at one time all of those channels or publishers or whatever were really the ones who have the distribution command, if you will. All of a sudden there became this growing pressure on people who were doing things more public or creatively or artistic, to have social media and start really growing with that, to be able to promote whatever this thing was. You got to really kind of grow up alongside that as that phenomenon began to expand. How did your family handle and manage those days? When social media really became as a big a part of your career is actually being on the television screen. How, how did you guys manage that? Because so many parents say to, you’re trying to figure out how do I guide my kids and how do I guide myself through a healthy relationship with social media?
Sadie Robertson Huff: Yeah. I remember when the shifts started to happen, when people stopped saying like, are you saving from duck dynasty and said oh Sadie, I follow you on Instagram. You know, like I became known for my social media and not necessarily for the TV show that I was on, because the social media platform became where people knew me and got to know me and were fans and different things like that. But I remember my mom just always set good advice for us. For her and for our family, like faith is the most important thing in our life. And my mom would always say, you know we’re doing this for Jesus. We’re doing this about his kingdom. And if all of this gets taken away, we’re okay. We’re going to be okay.
But, you know because we’re doing this for him, it’s in his hands. He gives and takes away. And it just kind of took this pressure off of us to have to like maintain a following or maintain a certain amount of fame. And I think like, you know, there’s this expectation that famous, going to be 15 seconds of fame or 15 minutes of fame. And most of the time it is. And I think the hard thing is when people start striving, keep that, you know, keep that going. And I never felt this pressure to try to like, keep it going, or maintain it. But I really just kinda wanted to be an authentic version of myself. And if people followed along and that’s great, and if they didn’t, then that’s okay too. Because at a young age, I realized that living an unauthentic life is not living a life in freedom. Whenever I was 17, right after Dancing with the Stars, I had this big platform on Instagram. But honestly, this wasn’t living very authentically. And, you know, my life in person didn’t really reflect what I was posting online.
Online, it looks I’m like you know, killing it. It’s like goals doing all this stuff and it all looks good. But in reality, I was very insecure. I was really struggling at the time I was in a not-so-great relationship. Just not good, you know? During that time, I live with a lot of fear and my mom told me, you know, if you’re ever going through something Sadie, or you ever do something I, she said, I encourage you to tell people before people find out, cause if you’re ever living in a space where you’re scared, people are going to find something out about you, you’re going to be living in so much anxiety. You’re going to not be living fully who you are. So, she said, just get it out there. And the minute I started living more authentically and sharing the reality of where I was, actually, people love that more, you know, and it freed me to be me. So, I didn’t have to worry, like, man, if they really knew who I was, they wouldn’t follow me or they wouldn’t like me or what if I’m in person and I’m not who they think I am online. And I’m so grateful, now in my life to say I don’t see here that, you know, because my life is very authentic, who I am online is who I am in person. And I’m not afraid that someone’s going to catch me at a bad angle because I’m living an authentic life. You know, that doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes. That doesn’t mean it don’t mess up. My life is certainly not perfect, but it’s very honest.
Julie Lyles Carr: I think it’s hard for us sometimes, right, to really live in that place of authenticity. And you add this factor within our social culture now of having. These places where we go, and we show off our cute house or the new dress that we got or how cute the baby is. And so quickly we can get into a place that isn’t authentic and sometimes see that happens and we don’t even realize we’re doing it. Like we’re just, we’re performing in, is happening. And we just, we want the cutest picture. We want the whatever and, and we want things to be. Cute and sweet. How can we do a self-check to know when we might be sliding into an inauthentic voice, because obviously there’s that place where people really craft an image and the people that are around them and really know them know that this is something that you know, is not really them.
Sometimes we do it to ourselves. We think we’re trying to market something or get ahead on a job or present something to our community, and we know we’re doing it. Sometimes it’s a little more insidious. We don’t even realize it’s happening. So, what are some ideas for making sure that we’re communicating in an authentic way? And of course, that goes for BNI, not only social media, but just even within our faith communities. How we’re showing up to church, how we’re handling things on our small. How do we make sure it’s authentic?
Sadie Robertson Huff: Totally. I think not forgetting to tell people the story, or not forgetting to tell people that the feeling behind the attitude that you had, or the feeling behind the you know, posts that you made. Because I think it’s so easy to just post an image and there’s this temptation to just be seen and to not be known. Being seen as easy being known as hard. Right? And so, it’s easy to post a good picture because then we’re just seeing what we want. But to be known, is it requires a sense of bravery, right? Because you know, they know you now. They know what you’re going through. And I mean, last night to get example, I was about to post a picture of a lot of my friends over at my house, celebrating a book launch. And I was so grateful that all my friends were there and I wanted to post a picture. But immediately, I thought about a time in my life, when I was in high school, when I just got back from dancing with stars and literally, when I got back to school a girl told me, in my class, she said, no one wants to hear about it, so don’t talk about it. And not one person asked me about dancing with stars. Not one person encouraged me on it. And then even whenever I started the virgional, I got made fun of a lot at school for that. And I didn’t have a single friend at the time, in my grade, that was, maybe one, maybe one who was like for me.
And I started to think about how, you know, now I’m really thankful that I have 20 friends that just showed up. But I like still feel that compassion for the person who I know is like me and other seasons of my life, who didn’t have friends. Who doesn’t have friends who cheer them on, or who doesn’t have friends who can come to a party and hang out. And, and I, and I don’t want to just like, share it on social media and be like, look at all my great friends. When I know I’ve been in seasons of life where I didn’t have friends, and I would see other people on social media and be like, that’s sad. And that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t post a picture with my friends, but don’t forget to tell the story. So even when I posted last night. I just said, so grateful for friends who show up. And I just said, if you’re in a season of loneliness, just know you know, sometimes it is hard to build community, but it’s worth it. Lean in. Pray. You’ll be amazed at who God brings. And so, just remembering to encourage the people on the other side of the screen. I don’t think it’s wrong to post our highlight reel at times. I don’t think it’s wrong to post things that you love. Gosh, I post pictures of honey BQ all the time because I just love my girl. Just fine. But I think there are moments when you have a heart check to say, okay, maybe this looks a certain way. And this, this is true, and this is a good thing about my life, but there is a story behind it to tell. And that story might be a testimony, and that might help someone else. And so, always being intentional about how you can help someone else on social media. And I think that’s what makes it a more positive.
Julie Lyles Carr: I love that because it really does shift the focus from just being some kind of resume that’s going up totally to thinking through who can I help in this moment? Whatever I’m going to post, who can I help? Who can I celebrate? And that’s where I think a lot of times we can get confused on tools like social media or even things like our small group or women’s ministry, whatever it is, we can sometimes lose the thread that these things exist in the hands of believers to be able to be a blessing. To be able to help somebody. I know sometimes we use that word blessing in ways that it begins to sound a little hollow, but it is amazing as much as some of us feel like, oh, social media, it’s changing things. It’s making us compare ourselves too much. It’s doing this out of the other. There are those stories out there. And I know you’ve had them too, of people who take a look at something, or find a post or read something inspirational and it can really change the day they’re having. It can really be of help. Being willing to reclaim that in a way, that believers can really use this as a tool for, for help and mercy, and graciousness is such a powerful thing. As you think about social media, because you have such a bead on young women. Young women who are anywhere from finishing up high school, going into those college ages to having their first babies and, and building their families, what are some of the things that you’re seeing, first of all, that encourage you in the social media space? But on the other hand, you also go, wow, this is something that’s kind of a new thing we need to be cautious about. So tell me a great thing you’re seeing that is growing in the social media world, and then something that you’re noticing that we really want to make sure that we keep our eyes open for.
Sadie Robertson Huff: That’s great. Yeah. You know, I got to say, I love social media. I really do. I think that it can be used as such a tool. A social way for the church to reach people. A social way for you to change someone’s day. I believe that you can be so encouraged by it. It can change your day. Honestly, there’s a time in my life where I probably used to, would’ve said that social media is a discouraging place. And then one day I realized, oh, my gosh, I’m in control of my social media, which was literally a revelation, a light bulb moment. It’s so easy to blame the platform. It’s so easy to say this is Instagram’s fault, or this is Twitter fault, or whatever. And there are certainly some platforms that I do think are designed in a toxic way. I think Snapchat is a pretty negative place in general. But as far as Instagram goes, I was like, oh my gosh, who am I to say, this is discouraging. Like, I’m the one that chooses what I post. I’m the one that chooses who I follow. I’m the one who gets to choose what I search in the search bar. And so, social media is only going to be as healthy as I am.
And when I realized that, I was able to take control of my social media and really be encouraged by it. And honestly, unfollowed the people who I just felt I didn’t need to follow most of them I didn’t even know. So, it doesn’t even matter and follow the ones that were truly inspiring to me and truly an example to me. Even just following my friends who are just such incredible people, and now I get on social media and I’m like, so encouraged. I’m like, oh my gosh, like, God is so good. And you know, feel empowered. And I think that that’s when we had to realize. It is what we make it, you know. You’re in control of it. You decide how you use it. And so with social media, I think the problem is we aren’t going into it with any discipline. And we need a little discipline, a little wisdom because when we have that, incredible things happen. I’m a huge advocate for social media.
I think you can use it for extraordinary ways. Like the ones we mentioned. The negative side of social media, I think one of the things that I see with social media that I think is a negative trend that we’re going towards, is this feeling of we have to post. Like have to keep up with the algorithm of Instagram. I have to post every single day for me to maintain the likes, or I have to comment on everybody’s picture, or have to make a statement, or I have to post a postpartum picture, or else everyone else will feel like I’m not being real or vulnerable. And like, some of that have to is actually making a step outside of boundaries that we have for ourselves that would be really healthy. You know, when we feel like we have to do something, it’s really hard to do it authentically, you know? And so, just taking that pressure off yourself and not doing something on social media to get something from social media. Like I’m not posting this because I need likes, I’m not posting this because I need validation.
I’m not doing this because I need everyone to feel comfortable. I’m doing this out of the overflow what’s happening in my heart and in my life, I think that’s when it gets a little healthier. And I think we have gotten a little toxic in the way that postings out of the half to. And it shows, you know, it just, it just shows it’s not as authentic and it takes away that beauty of trying to build a community, because you can’t really build community off of things that aren’t authentic. They’re real people, you know.
Julie Lyles Carr: Right, right. And then we lose the power of what the thing really can do, which is to really help connect us to other humans across the world in ways that can really encourage us and create friendship. Absolutely. Tell me what to do when you post something and then you think, oh, that might not have been the most authentic, or the most loving thing to say, or maybe my opinions were leaking a little hot on that one. What do we do when something like that happen?
Sadie Robertson Huff: Yeah, I think that’s a great question. I think that, you know, as a people, we have to remember the beautiful art of humility, you know. Humility is such a strength to be able to humble ourselves and say, you know, I was wrong or I missed it on that one.
Or even to go back and say, okay, I meant to say this and I’m seeing that this was not heard the way that my heart was meaning to be reflected. I’m sorry for that. You know, that humble apology. Here’s what I wanted to say. Or maybe I said this and now I see it hurt people and that’s not what I intended. And then I think there’s also power and the fact that you can delete things. Like, I think so many times we are like, oh no, it’s out there. It’s like, delete it. You know, like delete, delete it. Or sometimes we say, oh, this app is so discouraging to me and I’m struggling. Delete that for a minute. You know, like you have the power to do that. You know, you are stuck, you are, it’s not too far. You know, you actually can delete things, start fresh, you know. Start over. But that humility to apologize is a huge thing that I think when anybody apologizes for anything. You know, I think they think that they’re going to be perceived as weak, but it’s actually always perceived as such.
Julie Lyles Carr: Yeah, absolutely. You have the heartbeat of so many women, both, you know, because you are in the social media space. So you’re hearing a lot of their responses to things that you’re posting and you’re seeing what’s going on. You’ve really, you’ve really built a beautiful community there in the online space. You’re also in a lot of stages, you’re traveling quite a bit in speaking. So, you’re also hearing the women in those situations, and the things that are very meaningful to them, the things they’re going through. Give us a window on what you’re seeing in young women today, because I know that there are things we assume about young women working toward careers, or having their first babies, or building their families are things that we can assume are the things that are going on, but it’s so important to stop and really listen to what people tell you, is their heartbeat. The challenges they’re having, the things they’re excited about. And when we throw in this mix, Sadie, this wild world that we’re in, in terms of this endemic, we’ve all been walking through together. And for all of us, whatever age you are with the exception of my grandmother who passed away last year, but you know, the pandemic was her second pandemic. Cause she was born during the Spanish flu, but not many people can say that. So. What are the things that you are seeing on the hearts of women today, that you are hoping that faith leaders and mentors and women who want to come as a aside, younger women, what do they need to know about serving well within that community?
Sadie Robertson Huff: Yeah, that’s really great. That’s a good question. I mean, I think the obvious thing is that people are just tired. You know, people are worn out. I mean, especially moms, you know. You’re trying to handle all the stuff that the world is throwing at you while also, you know, maintaining being a leader in your household, and the person your kids look to for the answers and your kids look to, for your stability and confidence with their fears and all the things, and I think people are just exhausted. And I actually asked a question to Instagram a few years ago, and I said, when you hear a message, do you want to be challenged in it? It was interesting because a lot of people said no, and it bothered me because I’m like, oh, we should want to be challenged. Like we need to be challenged.
And then I asked, why? Why not? Why would you not want to be challenged? And someone said, I’m just so exhausted. I just feel like there’s so much coming at me that when I hear a message, I need to be encouraged. And it kind of gave me empathy for that. And I realized like, okay, I do think that we should be challenged, and we should want to grow and we should want to learn, but I also think we have to remember that people need to be encouraged. People need to be affirmed. People need to be encouraged. People need a breath of fresh air sometimes. And so, when we speak as teachers or as preachers or as communicators, there’s something beautiful about challenging people and that needs to happen, because the gospel is a challenging message. But at the same time, we also need to encourage, and the gospel is also a very loving message and Jesus, what I love about him so much is that he sat with people at breakfast like a friend would do. And so, there’s something to speaking the truth, but there’s also something to speaking it in love. And so, if I were going to give advice to other people who are doing incredible things, it would just be, remember that people are tired and they, they probably need to be challenged to be better, but they also need to feel encouraged to be loved.
Julie Lyles Carr: That is so, so good. You’re so right. I think a lot of times when we are coming alongside some people and we have some life to share some wisdom or we see some things that concern us, we can so easily lapse into that lane. But that fatigue factor right now, that is a real thing. I mean, it’s so real, real. Yeah. Yeah.
Sadie Robertson Huff: I felt it. I remember during the pandemic, like, like things getting canceled and me not being sad about it, cause I was so tired. And then when things didn’t get canceled, Oh, no, I’m still so tired. And I’m like, now I have, now I really need to do it. And I was like, why am I like that? Why am I not excited? You know, am I not, do I not love what I’m doing? I love what I’m doing. But the reality was I was just exhausted, you know? And we need, you need to revive your soul. And I had to do that through coming to the Lord and friends and family. Yeah. You know, and that’s maybe what people have to do as well. And I do encourage you listening, if you’re wanting to revive your soul. Social media is probably not the place for that. Like social media can be a lot of amazing things, but it’s not the revival, you know? It’s not, it’s not the end all be all. And that’s what I talk about in my new book, Who Are You Following?, you know, following people on social media, can’t give you what, following Jesus. You know, and just can’t.
Julie Lyles Carr: And I want to pivot to that because I’m so excited about the new book and it’s just lodged so many exciting things about having a new book baby, come into the world. How did you decide this is the topic that you wanted to unpack? Because there’s a lot out there on social media that evils and what we should do and the goods and the, this, and the marketing and on and on and on. You take a really unique turn on it because you talk about pursuing Christ in a world where everybody seems to be pursuing somebody. Or is trying to get people to pursue them. So, how did you determine that this would be the topic that you really wanted to focus on for your next work?
Sadie Robertson Huff: Yeah, the story of my life, honestly. You know, I hit fame at an early age where I had a lot of people follow me, a lot of praise, a lot of claps. All the things, but I feel empty. I didn’t feel fulfilled. I didn’t feel like I’ve found my purpose. Found who I was found my identity. But when I found Christ, whenever I was truly serious about following Christ, that’s when I found my identity. That’s when I found my purpose. That’s whenever I came alive and I never wanted people to think that that was found and fame, but that was found in Jesus. And I think so many people in our day pursue fame, pursue social media for affirmation or validation. It’s almost become this idol, right? Of what we worship, what we praise unintentionally, what we look to, what we seek for the things that our soul desires, but you can’t find those things in something like social media fame. It can only be found in Jesus. And so, I went through, you know, like I said, I’m not anti-social media at all. I’m actually pro social media, but I do think we need wisdom when it comes to social media. And so, I tried to put some practical, biblical advice and some of the things that actually Jesus said that are so relatable when it comes to social media, into the book as a tool and as a guide for people to navigate through the internet, you know? As a Christ loving follower, or as someone who doesn’t know Christ and is like, I’m just struggling with social media, but I want to learn more about this faith thing and see if this means anything to me in my life.
Julie Lyles Carr: Are you seeing, I know within my kids, and I have some kids who are older, who were very much grew up with social media, kind of blowing up and were very much part of that, and a couple of my kids have just said, I’m off. I’m going off. Like, it’s fine. I’m glad that people love it, but I’m just going to kind of walk away from it. Are you seeing more of that? Are you hearing more of that as a generation who grew up with it more and in their own way had their adolescents broadcast to the world through a social media channel? What do you see when it comes to people staying in the lane of social media, or are people saying I think I need to get off for a while.
Sadie Robertson Huff: Totally. I think both. I mean, I think as a majority, probably the opposite. Probably pros social media, as far as like obsessed with social media, absolutely obsessed in a negative way of social media. And then there is a group of people who are like, I’m done with it.
I can’t do it. I’ve seen it been there, done that. And I think that what I’m trying to hopefully help people do is find the balance of both. We’re not absolutely obsessed, but we’re not absolutely done with it because I do believe it can be a tool for the gospel of Jesus to get out into the world. I believe it can be an encouraging, an amazing platform to connect with people all over the world. To inspire people, to make change in the world for your voice to be heard. I believe all of that too. So, I’m trying to create this balance. And I think that’s the thing with social media is that a lot of us just lack balance, and balance is good with anything in their life, especially when it comes to social media.
Julie Lyles Carr: Right. How can we make a check to make sure, it’s interesting to me say to, you know, there was a time in history where if you were famous, it most likely had to be with being a military leader, a governmental leader, maybe a writer, or a philosopher here or there? Very rarely was it an entertainer, until maybe the last hundred years. But the distance between, I’m using air quotes here, your average, Joe, versus somebody who was considered famous, was so quantum. I mean, there just was this huge leap between your average citizen and somebody who was considered famous. Now, our world is very different, right? I mean, you have almost had like these levels of fame that come after them, and in certain niches. There’s somebody I followed on social media for a while and he was the king of all jigsaw puzzlers. Like I’m telling you, this guy had a huge niche for his ability to do jigsaw puzzles. It was kind of mesmerizing in a really interesting way. And I had to laugh because I thought there is a, there’s a celebrity for every group, right? There’s a level of thing that can be achieved. Little sub-niche it’s really fascinating.
And so, I’m curious how we can get down to the core of what our motives can be around achieving a certain level of fame, because some of us can be famous within the PTA in which we’re serving. Some of us can be famous within the company in which we are employed. Some of us may be famous in ways that we consider more conventional in our culture today. How do we always double check that against making sure that we are remaining first and foremost, an ambassador for Christ? How do I make sure that’s happening?
Sadie Robertson Huff: That’s good. Fame is so interesting. You’re right. Famous, fame is so interesting in today’s world because anybody can get famous in any given second. You can post a Tik Tok, and it goes viral, and tomorrow you’re the it person. And you know, nobody knew you, but your mom and your brother, the day before, but everybody knows you today. That’s that fame. So interesting. But fam simply by definition is just being known, being known by a lot of people. So, technically we’re all famous in our own way if you’re known by anyone.
I love what Mr. Roger says. Mr. Rogers said fame is just a four-letter word, like tape or zoom or face or pain. Ultimately matters what you do. And I just love that quote so much because yes, famous interesting. Anyone can technically be famous, but fame is what you do with it. Influence is how you use it. It’s what you do with it. And, you know, we had this stereotypical influencer that we hear about today and the influencer is a person on Instagram who has a blue check mark, who their job is to do Instagram. There’s nothing wrong with being an influencer, but there is a problem when the majority of people don’t see themselves as an influencer, especially Christ followers, because for me, my belief is that if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the holy spirit of God living inside of you, you are the most influential person on the planet. You have the power of life and death living inside of you. Literally, it says that the same spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is living inside of you. That your words hold the power of life and death. When you speak, you can literally change someone’s whole entire life by giving them the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s the most influential thing you can do.
The best thing you could ever do with your fame is to make his name known. And so, I don’t want a generation growing up saying, well, if I get famous, then maybe one day I’ll use the platform. But no. So right now, today I will use the influence I have. I will use the fame that I have. I might be known by 200 people. I might be known, but 2 million people. The difference is the same. And the idea that it’s ultimately about what I’m doing with it, because some of the most famous people really lack much influence, you know? Some of those famous people who aren’t doing anything, that’s really changing someone’s life. I mean, they’re famous, but like, are they at the change in people’s life?
Are they changing the world? Do they make it a better place? But you can be in your community of people at home, genuinely living a life, a lot for the gospel, being a good citizen of the world and changing more people’s lives on a daily basis. And the most famous person in the world, it ultimately matters what you do with it. It ultimately matters if you, you wake up to the revelation and that meant even just being a mom and my home and discipling, my kids has a significant impact in the world that we live in today. I’m so passionate about people realizing that because I think so many of us aren’t doing it, thinking that we have to have a blue check mark to do so. And you just don’t, you just don’t.
Julie Lyles Carr: I recently heard somebody say that true influence is changing how people think. Helping people learn how to think. And I thought, wow, that is really where it’s at, right? I mean, that’s when we can help people think through their lives, their purpose, where they want to be for eternity, all of those things… that’s that is the biggest kind of influence we can have blue check or not. Well, Sadie Robertson Huff, what an absolute delight to have you on. And celebrating with you, the new book, Who Are You Following? Pursuing Jesus in a Social Media Obsessed World. Where is the best place for listeners to go and interact with you? Find you? All the things. Where do you want to, where do you want to drive into? Where do you like for them to land?
Sadie Robertson Huff: Yeah, guys, you don’t want to follow me along my journey. I’m legitsadierob on Instagram. And basically, from there, you can find me everywhere else. Or my website is liveoriginal.com, and I appreciate having this conversation. Thank you for what you do and that inspiration you are just so many moms.
Julie Lyles Carr: Well, thanks so much, Sadie. It’s just great having you here, so appreciate you.
Sadie Robertson Huff: Thank you.
Julie Lyles Carr: Check out the show notes for all the links, info, and other goodness from this week’s episode, with a big thank you to our content coordinator, Rebecca. I’ve got a request, please go like, and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. It really does make a difference in helping other people find the show. And I’ll see you next week here at the AllMomDoes podcast.
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