Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear
Ebook
New York Times Bestseller
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.
Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear is Jinger Dugger's heartfelt, honest journey of discovering true freedom as a follower of Jesus.
Jinger is the sixth child in the famous Dugger family, best known for their two television shows 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On. In Becoming Free Indeed, Jinger shares with her readers what life was like growing up in the Duggar home guided by legalistic principles and quite public, a life she likens to living in a fishbowl.
Jinger shares that because of the religious principles she was raised under, she assumed life was like a recipe book: if she used "all the right ingredients in the right way," the outcome would be "virtually guaranteed." So Jinger says she "believed as she was taught." However, through her poignant story, she reveals how she realized the teaching her parents followed and parented by was unbiblical and that the religious ideology she and her siblings were raised under had negatively impacted their young lives. For Jinger, it caused her to constantly fear she "wasn't measuring up to the high standards demanded of her."
Readers will learn what Jinger's very public life was like as a child—how it felt to be constantly recognized in public or chased by photographers—and how she still struggles to navigate that life. And they'll empathize with her as they see how fear ruled her childhood.
They'll discover who Bill Gothard is, why his teachings are dangerous for children raised under those principles, how those teachings negatively impacted Jinger and her siblings, and how Jinger "disentangled" herself from those principles. Then they'll read about Jinger's life today outside that umbrella of authority. They'll also read about:
- How Jinger met her husband, Jeremy
- How she and Jeremy have navigated their marriage in the public eye
- What she experienced after 19 Kids and Counting was canceled
- What her relationship with Jesus is like today
- And more
Jinger's story invites readers to understand what a truly "free" life in Christ looks like and be encouraged to chase after that life for all its worth.
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Growing Up in a Fishbowl
- 2. A Zeal for God
- 3. The Principles
- 4. Life under the Umbrella
- 5. An Outside Voice
- 6. Life-Changing Conversations
- 7. A Season of Learning
- 8. Freedom from Fear
- 9. Finding True Love
- 10. Laying Down My Burdens
- 11. Did the Lifetime Guarantee Work?
- 12. My Post-Reality Show Life
- 13. Disentangling Your Faith
- Notes
- Acknowledgments
- About the Authors
In Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear by Jinger Dugger, the sixth child of the well-known television Dugger family, readers will not only learn about Jinger's journey to true freedom but be encouraged in their journey toward spiritual freedom too.
Through her story that involved rediscovering what the Bible says about faith, acceptance, identity, and freedom in Christ, readers will be encouraged to honestly examine their religious beliefs to affirm if they are the same as what God's Word says—regardless of the kind of spiritual community they grew up in or what they were taught.
They'll learn about the religious system Jinger's family followed, led by Bill Gothard, who promoted what he called "Basic Life Principles." For Jinger, this meant:
- Fastidiously obeying modesty guidelines (no shorts or jeans, only dresses)
- Eagerly submitting to the umbrella of authority (disobeying her parents in any capacity placed her outside God's protection)
- Promoting the relationship standard of courtship
- Avoiding any music with a worldly "beat," among others
Most importantly, readers who may need to "disentangle" their faith, like Jinger, and move from error to truth, will find practical tips and encouragement for starting so that they, too, can experience true freedom in Christ.
- Title: Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear
- Author: Jinger Vuolo
- Publisher: Thomas Nelson
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781400335831, 9781400335817, 1400335817, 9781400338115, 1400338115, 9781400335848, 1400335841, 9781400335824, 1400335825, 1400335833
- Resource ID: LLS:9781400335831
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-30T07:20:32Z