Becoming Free Indeed

My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear

De: Jinger Vuolo, Corey Williams

Narrado por: Jinger Vuolo

Read by the author.

New York Times Bestseller on disentangling faith but keep your belief in Jesus intact. Jinger Vuolo, the sixth child in the famous Duggar family of TLC's 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On, recounts how she began to question the unhealthy ideology of her youth and learned to embrace true freedom in Christ.

When Jinger Duggar Vuolo was growing up, she was convinced that obeying the rules was the key to success and God's favor. She zealously promoted the Basic Life Principles of Bill Gothard,

• fastidiously obeying the modesty guidelines (no shorts or jeans, only dresses),
• eagerly submitting to the umbrella of authority (any disobedience of parents would place her outside God's protection),
• promoting the relationship standard of courtship, and
• avoiding any music with a worldly beat, among others.

Jinger, along with three of her sisters, wrote a New York Times bestseller about their religious convictions. She believed this level of commitment would guarantee God's blessing, even though in private she felt constant fear that she wasn't measuring up to the high standards demanded of her.

In Becoming Free Indeed, Jinger shares how in her early twenties, a new family member—a brother-in-law who didn't grow up in the same tight-knit conservative circle as Jinger—caused her to examine her beliefs. He was committed to the Bible, but he didn't believe many of the things Jinger had always assumed were true. His influence, along with the help of a pastor named Jeremy Vuolo, caused Jinger to see that her life was built on rules, not God's Word.

Jinger committed to studying the Bible—truly understanding it—for the first time. What resulted was an earth-shaking realization: much of what she'd always believed about God, obedience to His Word, and personal holiness wasn't in-line with what the Bible teaches.

Now with a renewed faith of personal conviction, Becoming Free Indeed shares what it was like living under the tenants of Bill Gothard, the Biblical truth that changed her perspective, and how she disentangled her faith with her belief in Jesus intact.

Worth the listen!

I would highly recommend this audible book. I grew up in an IFB church. It’s been a decade of unlearning a lot of unscriptural thoughts and behaviors. I still attend a church and am still working on my relationship with Christ. I am so very thankful for the people that gave me black and white scripture on what I needed to unlearn. Was it painful? Absolutely! Was it terrifying? Yes, que the anxiety and panic attacks. I hope this audible helps people take the next step in becoming free.

Eye Opening

This book was honestly so eye-opening into a sector of “Christianity” I knew nothing about.

My mom and I loved watching all of the Duggar shows over the years, when all of the quirks and beliefs of the family were presented as nothing more than personal conviction. I had always admired their dedication to Christ and the convictions I had believed He had laid on their hearts.

In the last several years—I don’t think I have to mention the events that started it—we really began to question what we were being shown.

In this book, Jinger shares what was happening behind the scenes—The anxiety and crippling fear of doing wrong. The legalistic approach she was taught to earn Christ’s favor.

Jinger does all of this with grace and respect, never bad mouthing her parents or her childhood. The book isn’t a tell-all against her parents, but rather her story and testimony of leaving behind the legalist teachings of the IBLP movement for a true, love-filled relationship with Christ.

I would highly recommend this memoir for anyone who struggles with a legalistic approach to Christianity and a better understanding of who He is.

Very relatable!

For anyone who grew up with anything similar to an Independent Baptist background, Jinger writes with perception and clarity, highlighting many of the common pitfalls within the community while still maintaining the many benefits she received from them. A great testimony of someone who was able to see past the hurt that “the church” and mortal men often inflict in the name of the Lord and come to see Who God really is. A wonderful resource for my own disentanglement journey!

Hunger speaks the truth

Congratulations Jinger! You did a great job on this book. I am so happy you did not lose your faith in Jesus but instead grew closer to Him. You did not sensationalize your story but told the truth with great humility. God bless you ❤️

Beautiful story!

I loved hearing Jinger’s story. I watched both 19 kids and counting as well as counting on and immediately fell in love with the Duggar’s! Their show came at a time for me when although in my mid to late 20s, i was a new Christian. So you can imagine how nice it was to find a show that was not only interesting and captivating but also Christ centered. I like to think it helped me learn more about God and how to live a Godly life. I was very sad to hear of the show being canceled as i looked forward each week to the new episode.

Luckily, I had the privilege of growing up with the understanding and image of God that Jinger describes in this book through her journey of disentangling what she was previously taught. Surprisingly, until this book I’ve never heard of Bill Gothard (did I even spell that right? Haha) so i was fortunate enough to start off with a more healthy and accurate depiction of who God is and what it means to follow him.

One thing this book did help me with though, is how to better go about spending time in the word of God and reading my Bible. I’ve struggled for years with reading my Bible because it never felt right or i always felt like I was doing it wrong and not reading the right parts. I didn’t know how to read it. I really like how Jinger explained how she used to always look for how the words and scriptures applied to “HER” and now she looks to see what it says about God. As I was listening, it was as if a light bulb went off in my head. I’m excited to dig into the word of God and instead of only seeking to see what it says about me or how I can apply it to my life, I’m going to first and primary look to see what it says about God!