Sifting

Welcome back, family. In Season 1 of the SHIFT Podcast, we’ve been laying a foundation with the acronym SHIFT:

• S is Seeing – learning to view life through spiritual lenses

• H is Hearing – tuning to God’s frequency

• I is Influencing – leading yourself in a way that your life leads others

• F is Fighting – choosing faith over fear

• T is Timing – learning to pause in neutral before moving to the next

Today, we close out this foundation with one more essential practice: Sifting.

Growing up, one of my favorite memories was in the kitchen with my grandmother. She made the best biscuits (and yes, even chocolate gravy). She would wrap me in one of her aprons, way too big for my little shoulders, and hand me a silver sifter and a bowl that felt bigger than my arms could hold. I would turn the handle and watch the soft flour drift down like snow while the hard clumps stayed on top.

The first time I tried to toss those clumps back in. She stopped me and said, “No, doll baby, throw those away. If you put them back in, the biscuits won’t be their best.”

That stuck with me. Because shifting in life also requires sifting. You cannot rise into purpose while holding onto the clumps of fear, shame, grief, or pain.

Catch Phrase: Let it go so you can grow.

Teaching & Insight

• Sifting isn’t rejection—it’s direction. It isn’t God trying to embarrass you; it’s Him preparing you. Think of running a race with your pockets full of rocks. You’ll burn out before the first lap. God says, “Drop it, so you can finish strong.”
  Bar: What feels like loss is really set up for lift.

• What survives the sift is what God can multiply. He breathes on what’s been purified, not poisoned. Release the bitterness, release the baggage—make room for new strength and fresh vision.
  Bar: What you release makes space for what God wants to reveal.

• People can be part of the sift. Some relationships were only for a season, not a lifetime. When God closes a door, don’t go kicking it back open. That friendship that fizzled, the relationship that drained you—when it ended, peace entered. That wasn’t a failure. That was freedom.
  Catch Phrase: Don’t chase what God already sifted loose.

• Identity is greater than residue. Trauma, regret, shame, comparison—those are clumps, not your name. Your true name is chosen, beloved, called. Sifting doesn’t erase your story; it refines it so your true identity can shine.

• Legacy is more than wealth. Scripture says to leave an inheritance for our children’s children. Money is part of it, but the deeper inheritance is what you model: prayer, forgiveness, resilience, boundaries. If you’ve carried parent guilt, sift it. Your kids don’t need perfection—they need presence.
  Bar: What you leave in them will outlast what you leave for them.

Real-Life Connections

• Heart: Stop replaying your lowest moment. That is not your headline anymore. When the old scene starts rolling, interrupt it: “New mercy, new story.”
  Catch Phrase: Old scene, new script.

• Habits: Sift the static. Doomscrolling, late-night spirals, and mindless escapes mute your spirit. Replace them with practices that fuel your soul—Scripture, gratitude, or a breath prayer.
  Catch Phrase: Less scroll, more soul.

• Circle: Audit your access. Not everyone deserves front-row seats in your life. Some people clap for you staying the same, not for you growing. Protect your peace and make space for those who push you higher.
  Catch Phrase: Right voices, right choices.

• Calling: Don’t settle for knock-offs. Almost all opportunities look shiny but will drain you. If it doesn’t align with your values or your season, it’s a no.
  Catch Phrase: Purpose over popularity.

Practical Steps for This Week

1. Dump the Bowl: Write down your clumps—fear, shame, regret, toxic cycles. Say them out loud in prayer.

2. Keep & Toss Line: Draw two columns. “Stays” = fruitful, aligned. “Goes” = heavy, hindering. Be honest and decisive.

3. Ritual of Release: Write a short note on what you’re releasing. Rip it up, throw it away, or burn it safely. Pray, “Lord, I release this to You.”

4. Ritual of Rise: Add one daily lift—Scripture at breakfast, a worship walk, or breath prayer.

5. Boundary Reset: Choose one boundary to enforce this week—a time limit, a financial guardrail, or a healthy “no.”

Scripture Anchor

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV):
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

• The “cloud of witnesses” are testifiers, reminding you that this journey can be done.

• Not every hindrance is sin, but residue can still weigh you down.

• Sin doesn’t just stain—it snares. Cut the vines and move freely.

• God has marked out your course. Yesterday is not the architect—Heaven is.

Catch Phrase: God doesn’t bless the clumps. He blesses what remains after the sift.

Life Application

• You can’t heal what you hide, and you can’t run while you’re holding.

• God is calling you to be a runner, not a prisoner of reruns.

• The race forward gets clearer when the weight backward gets lighter.

Reflection Question

What single clump are you discarding this week, and what daily practice will help you rise?

Close

I loved those kitchen moments with my grandmother, but not everything from childhood was gentle. My mother was only 14 when she had me. My grandmother, carrying her own clumps, tried to force her into adoption. But God shifted her heart. When I was born, she looked at me and said I look like a little doll baby.

Our story carried trauma, but it also carried grace. My mother had to heal from her wounds while raising me, and we walked that road together. I sift now. I keep what’s holy and healing. I release what’s heavy and harmful.

Sifting may feel like loss, but it is really lifting. The sifted flour rises. The sifted believer shifts higher.