“I couldn’t truly walk into whatever it was God had called me to without believing that He loved me before He called me, and that He wasn’t just going to love me because I was impressive.”
As a teenager, Bethany Winz was exposed to the reality of human trafficking for the very first time. Determined to do something creative to raise awareness, she committed to wearing the same selfmade black dress for one year. She blogged about journey and raised thousands of dollars to end the slave trade. It was an impressive feat – but Bethany admits to having mixed motives at the time.
“There was part of me that really was doing it because I wanted to do a good thing, and I wanted to make a difference… but there was part of me that wanted to get attention, and I wanted to do something that was going to be seen as a big deal.”
Bethany’s Dress Project was intended to raise awareness about trafficking – but it led to her own introspection as well. She shares her journey with transparency in her book .
“I spent a lot of that year and a lot of the writing process struggling with where my identity comes from.”
What else surprised Bethany in her quest to battle against trafficking? When we get fired up for a cause, our insecurities can rise to the surface. Bethany wrestled with feeling that she wasn’t doing enough. She had to ignore the lie that if her blogs were better written or if her outfits were more creative, she would be raising more money. She urges us to ignore the temptation to be perfect in our calling, because God does not expect that of us! He doesn’t call us to be saviors; He calls us to be faithful.
“I ran into the fact that I wanted to change the world, I wanted to save the world and in reality that’s not my job. God is in the business of making sad things un-true, and in the process of making all things new. He invites us in the church to partner with Him in that work, but that’s not something that rests on our shoulders.”
Key Scriptures: Revelation 21:3-5a; Isaiah 1:17
Featured Songs: Add to the Beauty by Sara Groves; Jesus, We Love You by Bethel Music; Thank You by Bethel Music; When the Saints by Sara Groves
