The boldest act of faith isn’t just believing in God’s power—it’s testifying about it without shame. In this deeply personal episode, Nina Pajonas reminds us that courage in Christ doesn’t just push you out of your comfort zone—it propels you.

With Scriptures from Romans 14:13 and Revelation 12:11, this episode exposes the enemy’s lies and calls you to rise in your divine purpose. Because when we share how God rescued us, we give Him glory and remind the world that transformation in Christ is real—and possible for anyone.

The boldest act of faith is when you can tell the darkest parts of your story and not care what other people think about you because you're more concerned about what they think of your Savior.

Hear me when I say this.

True courage comes from Christ,

and it doesn't just push you out of your comfort zone,

it propels you.

Welcome to Born to Be a Butterfly, where we embrace healing and growth in Christ so that we can experience true transformation.

My name is Nina Pajones, and I pray that today's message ministers to you.

This world is the training ground for for heaven.

It is a slow,

deliberate walk that we take with the Lord where we learn about him and about ourselves.

It is from that place that we can better love,

help and heal others.

Our hands and feet grow stronger as we share our testimonies While under the Blood of the Lamb earlier this year,

a woman told me that I was prophesying pain over my life because I was talking about the pain of my past.

When she sent that to me, I responded to her saying,

I am not prophesying,

I am testifying.

That's the short version of what I said,

because I don't think it's necessary to get into the details.

But immediately afterward, I established boundaries to prevent her from contacting me again because I saw her behavior for what it was.

She was trying to be a stumbling block to me.

Therefore,

let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

That woman's advice wasn't sound.

It was meant to stop me.

A stumbling block is just what it sounds like.

It is something that's put in a person's life to make them stumble or fall.

Paul is referring to actions that slow down our brothers and sisters on their walk with the Lord.

A deeper dive into this reveals that Paul is saying we are not to pass judgment on one another,

but rather look at ourselves to see where we might be falling short.

I tell my testimony of who I used to be until God saved me.

I testify about my trials and tribulations to let others know about the Lord.

I speak of my Savior because His love saved me and it sustains me every day of my life.

That situation with that woman taught me that discernment is crucial,

and it also taught me the importance of telling your whole story.

She was trying to discourage me from telling my story in its entirety.

However, if I tell you about the blessings but never mention the burdens,

I'll be promoting a Fairy tale version of faith.

And that wouldn't do anyone any good.

I can look back on that woman.

I can tell you about her because I'm not her anymore.

However,

I'm not going to pretend that I never was.

Because then you'll never understand how good my God is.

The enemy and his minions will try to tell you that the very thing you suffer from will is the thing that is supposed to keep you from spreading the good news of the gospel or that it's the reason you're not entitled to salvation.

They'll say your suffering is a sign of disfavor from the Lord or disability in general,

instead of recognizing it as your divine ability to persevere through the pain with the help of Jesus who Christ.

It is Jesus who will carry the weight of your burdens and your broken heart to bring you to a beautiful place on the other side of pain called purpose.

My point is this.

Nobody's opinion is more important than your Lord and Savior's.

Do not disqualify yourself and don't let other people disqualify you.

God doesn't call the equipped.

He equips the called.

Your spiritual gifts will grow as your relationship with him does.

I remember when I was asked to do my very first sermon.

It was at the healing ministry that I helped to build during the pandemic.

Both men and women would come there because they needed a place where they could safely put words to their wounds while being surrounded by their family in Christ.

I was given the honor and responsibility of delivering the message one Friday night.

I was only about three years sober at the time,

and the healing minister asked me to do the message.

But that was before I had really gotten into my writing again.

And I certainly wasn't doing any public speaking at the time.

When he asked me to speak,

I was very excited.

But as the time drew near,

I was filled with anxiety.

As I was writing the message, I kept thinking, is this good enough?

But I kept inviting God into the process.

In my opinion,

that sermon wound up being one of my best messages to date.

It wasn't that it was the most polished message,

because it wasn't.

It was that God's purpose for it prevailed.

And that is the only thing that matters.

It didn't matter that I was anxious.

It didn't matter that I was inexperienced.

God had his hand on me and he had it all over that message.

So what he wanted to say,

what he wanted to convey to his children came through.

It came through just as he wanted it to.

God will put people in your life,

to encourage you in your gifts, and even to help you develop them.

But don't be surprised when the enemy sends people to do the exact opposite to discourage you in your gifts.

Both things can happen.

Both things will happen.

And the only way to truly discern what the Lord wants you to do is is to ask Him.

We can't just take things at face value when we're walking in faith.

We need to look to the Father and His Son and lean into the understanding and guidance of the Holy Spirit so that we are walking the narrow path.

In my case,

when the healing minister asked me to do the sermon,

he also said,

take your time and pray on it. And I did.

That was the first time I spoke about my recovery from alcoholism publicly on stage. That is.

God orchestrated everything in such a way that I would wind up telling my testimony with the microphone in my hand.

Evidently that was his plan all along.

You must tell your testimony.

The only way we defeat the enemy is by the blood of the Lamb,

which the Lord already provided on the cross,

and by the word of our testimony,

which we are called to give.

Our story can also help fuel the faith in someone else's so we must not stay silent.

They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

I know I just recently referred to that piece of scripture in another episode,

but the Lord put this on my heart again that his children need to speak their stories boldly and loudly for the world to hear. They need to know about our God.

They need to know about his goodness and his greatness. And the only way they are going to know it is by us telling our personal experiences with the Lord.

I had been waiting on the Lord to reveal what he wanted me to discuss this week,

as I always do,

when I saw that a woman was trying to shame another woman online about something that she had posted.

When I read it, I felt the Holy Spirit move mightily because both of these women were Christian and the message that I'm giving you now practically poured out of me afterward.

The whole situation online reminded me of what that woman did to me.

That's when I thought to myself,

if that woman had managed to to stop me,

if she had convinced me to keep quiet about the pain that I went through,

she would have taken away the most powerful part of what God has done in me and in my story.

My point is this.

Her quote unquote concern for me was Actually an attempt to control me and the way God is using me and my story for his glory.

The Lord had me on a stage with a mic in my hand, sharing my testimony after only three years.

I was only sober for three years at that point.

I had only been walking with him for three years.

But the Lord put that microphone in my hand.

He led me to it. He led me to the stage and he told me he wanted me to tell my testimony.

He was also the one who told me to write my memoir.

I had no desire to write a book.

I had never aspired for be an author in my life.

It was the Lord's idea. It was at his prompting he told me he wanted me to tell my story on paper.

Everything I have done has been at his direction.

If the Lord didn't want me to discuss my testimony in its entirety so that others could learn from it and know that they could find healing in him,

he wouldn't have had me do any of those things.

He wouldn't have asked me to do all of those things.

But he did.

God asked me to do all of those things.

And he also led me to women's ministry.

And the last time that I checked,

he is the Lord of my life,

not her.

It's a good thing.

I don't like it when other people try to control me because that is exactly what she was trying to do.

As soon as I read her message, I immediately felt the Holy Spirit push back.

The Lord always convicts us when our behavior is wrong,

but he also does the same thing when someone else's behavior is wrong.

As long as we are receptive to his correction,

we will feel that conviction, and it's up to us not to ignore it.

Now, I want to refer to Ecclesiastes 3,

verses 11, 13 and Ivy.

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

He has also set eternity in the human heart.

Yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

And now I'm going to read the afterword from my memoir, From Broken to Butterfly,

because I truly cannot think of a better way to wrap up this episode.

Jesus saved me from a life of alcoholism and trauma,

but you might be struggling with something completely different.

There's no need to worry if you are,

because God's love heals all wounds.

The Lord knew every battle you would ever face in your lifetime before the very beginning of time.

So you can rest assured that our Savior already has his rescue plan for you in place.

May you always remember that God can take broken things and make them beautiful.

He did it for me.

And believe me when I say that he can do it for. For you,

too.

You.

You,

my sister in Christ,

were born to be a butterfly.

And that's how I ended my afterword.

I wrote that last line way before I ever knew that I would do this podcast.

I had submitted my final draft of my manuscript to my publisher,

and they had approved it.

But weeks later,

the Lord put that on my heart.

He woke me up from a sound sleep one night and he had me write it in one sitting.

It was not planned by me,

but God made it clear that he wanted it in the book.

Don't get me wrong, I loved what the Lord had me write because it was a very important message for my sisters in Christ.

But I had no clue that God also wanted me to tie it to something else that he was going to call me to do in the future.

The best part of our story almost always begins as the worst part.

Those broken pieces are where the light of the Lord's love filters through you.

Those broken pieces are what brings you to Him.

It's how you start letting him heal you.

That's where God begins His restorative work in you.

Those places wind up becoming the most beautiful because that's where his divine love first started to transform you.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father,

please give us the courage to tell our stories boldly so others may see your goodness and greatness through our scars.

In the magnificent and mighty name of Jesus,

we pray.

Amen.

And now I'd like to ask you a question.

What part of your story have you been hesitant to share because of fear,

shame,

or judgment?

And what might God do through that very testimony?

If today's message blessed you,

please share it with a friend and follow Born to be a Butterfly so you never miss an episode.

If you're ready to dive deeper into my story of healing and transformation,

you can get my book From Broken to Butterfly on Amazon.

If you have any questions and would like to connect,

send me a DM on Instagram @ Born to be a Butterfly.

Or you can email me@ninapejonesmail.com until next time,

remember.

Until next time,

remember.

The Lord can turn your wounds into wings.

You were born to be a butterfly.