S7 Episode #15- Carla Romero Part 2
THE ONE WHEN CARLA ROMERO RETURNS
This week we are excited to welcome Carla Romero back to the podcast! Carla is a storyteller, deep thinker, and natural conversationalist who brings her Southern charm, unfiltered honesty, and curiosity-driven spirit into every discussion on faith. She was first on The Collected Podcast in Season 1, Episode 19 which aired on Feb 21, 2019. Since then, God has taken her on a powerful journey to deepen her faith and root her in her true identity in Christ. Tune in for a candid conversation about deconstruction, asking tough questions and dealing with shame. Carla also shares about her debut book, From Dirt to Divine, which invites readers to wrestle with faith in fresh and unexpected ways.
A Little more about CARLA
With a background in Communication and Education, she has a gift for breaking down complex ideas into meaningful, relatable conversations that spark deeper reflection. Whether exploring tough theological questions, the nuances of doubt and belief, or the surprising ways God shows up in everyday life, Carla approaches faith with humor, honesty, and heart. Her debut book, From Dirt to Divine, invites readers to wrestle with faith in fresh and unexpected ways, a theme that carries into her broader work and conversations. She lives in Charlotte, NC, with her husband, Johnatan, and their two children, Nadia and Josiah, where she balances writing, homeschooling, and dreaming big.
L I S T E N
W A T C H
S H O W N O T E S
BACKGROUND
Carla grew up in the faith. She believed that she had a lot of knowledge about God, but her view of God was rooted in the belief that if you did something wrong, then you were on God’s “bad list”. So while Carla still had belief in God, she felt very separated from Him in her heart. This led to her experiencing a lot of shame throughout high school and early college. In college, Carla met a group of girls who showed her what true freedom in Christ looks like. This led her on a path of discovering true intimacy with God and realizing some misconceptions that she had about the character of The Lord.
In January 2016, Carla tried out a new church with one of her friends. There was nothing flashy or trendy about this particular church, but it was in this humble place where Carla first encountered The Holy Spirit in a powerful way.
Carla has always processed out her thoughts through writing and journaling. The journals that she wrote in this season of discovering The Holy Spirit and deeping her faith would eventually become her new book, From Dirt to Divine.
A NEW TAKE ON DECONSTRUCTION
Any time that you take a deeper look at your faith, some sort of deconstruction will most likely take place. Old beliefs, rituals and habits might need to be reshaped. However, it is important that you are doing this process with Jesus– The Carpenter– who is able to reconstruct what you are truly trying to build.
Carla sought to dig deeper into the finished work on the cross. What does it mean to truly live in the New Covenant? What areas of our lives are incongruent with the New Covenant? How is Christ seeking to mold those areas into His image? How can we walk fully in our identity in Christ?
Carla’s book encourages the reader to be bold enough to ask the questions that are stirring in their heart. Ask the questions that might be taboo. Christ can handle all of our questions.
WORD OF THE YEAR
About 5 years ago, Carla started having a word of the year and God took her on a journey of healing and discovery through each word/theme.
“As One” – learning about identity– as Jesus is, so am I.
“Unlimited” – the unlimited nature of God. His love is unlimited. There is nothing about God that is off limits to us. We can ask him anything, nothing is taboo.
This led to a shift in the way that Carla viewed humanity– as image bearers of Christ.
DEALING WITH SHAME
Carla used humor to deal with her shame and avoid having the tough conversations. This was a defense mechanism.
Carla was holding on to shame about her past and about how she presented herself in the religious space. She had to get to the root of why.
As Carla worked through the root of her shame, she realized that she had a sort of survivor's guilt from her own past. Based on the poor choices in her past, she recognized that her life should not have turned out as beautiful as it did. God protected her and provided for her every step of the way, but she was hanging onto the shame and felt unworthy of the blessing that she had been given by God.
A mistake in Carla’s past made her believe that she had ruined the future she dreamed of having. But God’s hand was still on her life. There is no condemnation, shame, or guilt when we are in Christ.
RECONCILIATION
All things have been reconciled by Chist’s work on the cross. So we have the opportunity right now to step into this reconciliation. Your past has been reconciled. Your mistakes have been reconciled. You can make the choice to step into a place of freedom and redemption. You can live it out now.
You don’t have to wait. Your sin is already reconciled. Walk in the freedom of Christ.
We can walk into any conflict with this same mindset. Even though you may face a conflict or disagreement with another person, your spirits are already reconciled. You can address the conflict from a place of peace and reconciliation, rather than a place of offense.
Any time you are tempted to revert back into a place of shame, you can remind yourself that it has already been dealt with. What Christ did on the cross was enough to cover everything you have done and could ever possibly do. There is nothing you could do that would be outside of Christ's power to redeem.
DEALING WITH THE ENEMY
You can step into personal responsibility and not give an outside entity power in your life. So many people in the church will bring up “the enemy” before they bring up God.
Carla does a challenge in her mind: Anytime she wanted to blame The Enemy, she would pause and say, “Ok, what else could this possibly be?”
This allowed her to identify real areas of sin in her life that needed to be transformed, but she had been dismissing them because she had an enemy to blame.
This practice has radically transformed her life.
You have the power of Christ within you to overcome all. Instead of shifting blame to an external force, you can recognize that you have the power within to conquer it.
Press into the divine presence of Christ within you. It is unshakable, unmoveable, and cannot be thwarted. To what will you hold on tighter– the enemy trying to wreck your day, or can you go deeper into your identity that you are one with Christ and His peace is planted within you?
CHARACTER OF GOD
God is faithful. He will carry you through when things don’t seem to make sense from our limited perspective.
“Belief is a poor man’s version of experience.” -Tony Robbins
God wants you to experience Him in a new way with your questions.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Leaning into your full identity with Christ is vital. It’s important to understand how your mind, body and spirit are connected in order to live a full life rooted in Christ.
Your body may tell you to be nervous about something, but your Spirit can speak the truth of Christ to your heart and keep you rooted in the truth of The Gospel.
N E X T S T E P S
Here are a few action steps to help you dip deeper this week!
This week, take 10 minutes each day to sit in listening prayer with The Lord. Ask Him to reveal areas of your life where you have been operating out of shame and fear rather than walking in the confidence of your identity in Him.
Ask God to reveal His truth to you about the questions that Carla posed in the interview:
What does it mean to truly live in the New Covenant?
What areas of your life are incongruent with the New Covenant?
How is Christ seeking to mold those areas into His image?
How can you walk fully in your identity in Christ?
CONNECT WITH CARLA:
| Instagram | Get Carla’s Book! | Website | Facebook |
Thank you, as always, for listening! Please remember that everything we do is funded by those who benefit from our ministry. Our ministry a 501(c)3, so your contribution is tax-deductible.
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The Collected Podcast is a production of Collected Ministries, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping disciples of Jesus discover and live from their true identity in Christ, recognize and walk in their divine purpose within the Kingdom of God, and experience growth in their capacity for mature, healthy relationships.
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The Collected Podcast is produced by Jes French and edited by Jacob Early. Cover art designed by Ben Biondo.