PEER: Please share with our readers how you came into a relationship with Jesus Christ?

LAUREN DAIGLE: Absolutely! When I was 15 years–old I was diagnosed with a debilitating virus.  It’s kind of funny how God sets things up, as I was super busy. I was in high school running all over the place and God stopped me – He stopped me in my tracks. I was placed on homebound rest for two years with this illness. It was during that season when I truly began to know God and His character. He gave me hope the entire time; I wasn’t going through this for any reason. This wasn’t just the lot I was handed in life. No, I knew, I could tell, God was setting me up for something and I needed to stay focused.

So, every morning I would get up and read my devotionals and every night before bed. Soon I started making my own devotionals. The Word was filling me up so much and during a season when I was completely alone. It was the one time in my life that my mom worked- she was a teacher at the school that I went to and my dad also worked, so I was really home alone.

During that time, God would give me visions and dreams of the season that I’m walking through now! He affirmed me and who I was in Him. He showed me that my placement had to be with Him and He began to teach me that He was my comforter, He was my portion and He was my foundation. I was baptized when I was a little girl, raised in the church, and a part of a Christian family; but it changed from that to God being my source, my Savior.

P: What practical advice and encouragement can you give on how to read the Bible?

LD: I set goals for myself. You know, if we don’t make a goal the Lord’s not upset with us. Some might feel, “Oh I can’t! I don’t know if I will be able to make it. What if I fail?” The point is that it’s not a pass or fail thing! I would set goals for myself and I would say, “Okay, I want to read the New Testament,” but I don’t know how. I know that I can’t just sit down and start from the beginning because I need things in short doses. So, I would start with Matthew, read through it and write about it, journal and I would digest that. Then when I was ready I would move on to the next book. I would read one chapter a day – that was all I needed. If I was tired, I would just read one paragraph.

Matthew has 28 chapters. That meant it was going to be a 28-day journey, or I would read one chapter in the morning and one at night and that meant it was going to be a 14-day journey. I was digesting what was given in front of me.

Also, to be honest, I would get on my knees every single morning and every single night because sometimes you have to position your heart that way. I didn’t realize that at the time. Instead, I felt like I was viewing it legalistically because I wanted to get on my knees before the Lord feeling that would bring me closer to Him, and in all honesty it did. I was able to open my heart to Him and have every moment of that day surrendered to Him because I postured myself humbly before Him, in the very beginning of the day and then evening. Sometimes I would get on my knees and pray for two seconds because I was so exhausted, and other times I would pray for a while. We humble ourselves when we open our hands. When you are humble, you are open to receive what the Lord has to give to you.

That would be my encouragement. If you are desiring the presence of God in your life, if you want to know His voice, know His ways, know His will, then just start with the simple things. Try a chapter a day, try a verse a day, try getting on your knees for a minute in the morning and just saying, “God I want to know who You are.” Just start with the small things and God will begin to grow seeds of faith. He’ll take those seeds of faith and make them tall trees.

P: Please share with us your conviction as it pertains to Godly romantic relationships.

LD: There is so much value in that. I’ll share what someone told me, which really changed everything for me. I was talking with one of my pastors and she said, “So often we tell children they shouldn’t have sex before marriage or they need to remain pure before marriage; we always tell them to do this, and do that. We tell them it’s a sin if they’re not pure before marriage, but we never really tell them why.” She said, “So, I don’t really teach them ‘the you need to’ or ‘this is best’, I teach them the why.”

This was profound to me as she continued to explain; “There is a covenant in marriage, just like God gave Abraham a covenant that he was going to be the father of nations and that from his lineage the Savior of the world was going to come. When Christ came to save the world, He shed His blood through that covenant and salvation was able to come to the entire world through the blood of Christ. Whenever you make a covenant with your husband or with your wife and you decide to have sex for the first time, there’s a shedding of blood that comes. That’s the sign of the covenant; that’s the sign that you have had intimacy with each other. Whenever that blood is shed outside of the covenant it doesn’t produce the same fruit, it doesn’t produce the same power. If the covenant with Abraham was broken, then who knows how salvation for humanity would have come?”

My pastor continued to say, “Think about the rich love that God has for the world and for every single person that walks on this earth. Through the shedding of His Son’s blood He was able to pour out the most infinite love of all time.  And, just like husband and wife, when the wife sheds that blood, it’s the covenant –  it’s the proof of their love, and it’s the proof of the value that they have on each other.”

When my pastor said that, I was amazed to think that God would use marriage as a reflection of a covenant. It means so much more now than before. Christ came for the church, that’s His bride. Just like the husband comes for his wife, that’s his bride and he is able to stand before her pure, holy. It was an amazing thing when she showed me that.

P: How has that impacted you personally in your commitment to purity?

LD: I am so full in who I am in Christ, in the relationship I have with Him and the unity I have with Him, that He is completing me. It’s not like God is my husband, but He has made me complete before I meet my husband. Being full in Christ means something completely different now. When I stand with my husband one day, it’s going to be awesome because I know I’m going to be full in Christ and he’s going to have that same fullness. When we bond together it’s really like a trinity that we make.

I used to hear people say, “You need to be complete, and know the heart of the Father before you can get married.” I used to wonder how that really works? I wondered if I would know the Father more when I’m married. But it really is being complete in Christ first, because when you’re complete in Him you know exactly how things are designed, and how He wants us to be patient and kind and loving. Purity works the same way. When you’re pure before God, when you’re able to have Him as your source and guide, truly knowing Him, you want to do everything that you possibly can to remain pure because of that love you have.