Natalie Grant: I Stopped Pretending to Be a 'Good Christian' and Found Freedom in Honesty (Interview)
Award-winning singer Natalie Grant reveals in her new book, Finding Your Voice, that accepting who God made her to be and walking in that freedom instead of trying to be relevant is something she's now addicted to.
While she never thought about writing a book until evangelical publishing company Zondervan approached her with the idea, which she initially declined, after a few days God began to give her a vision of what He wanted her to write about, which led to Finding Your Voice. Grant said she wrote the book to help others "find their God-given voice" in a world that's filled with noise and compromise.
The Seattle, Washington, native said many people have mistaken the book for being about singing or the music industry, but it's actually about finding one's own voice and purpose.
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In the book, Grant talks about a time at the height of her career when she lost her singing voice and was forced to find her true calling in life. She admits that up until that point she was striving to be relevant and chasing success. It wasn't until her left vocal cord ruptured and she was told she might never sing again that her eyes were opened.
"I hate the word relevant because it makes us constantly feel like we have to do something in order to be worthy in this culture or in this moment," Grant said in an interview with The Christian Post. "If you can just accept who you are and be authentically who you are, be the best version of you instead of trying to be the best version of someone else and make that you, that's when you go from surviving to thriving.
"I'm not talking about a comfort zone," she added, "I'm talking about a thrive zone. It's such a different thing and it will make you come to life."
Grant told CP that she surrounds herself with the Word of God by writing down scripture everywhere she can.
"I find in the Word what He says about me, what He thinks about me — cherished, valued, worthy, worth it, qualified. I write those things down and I stick them all over. I stick them on my mirror; I stick them on my car, and I read them over my life."
Grant said she's not a big believer in the power of positive thinking or any of that "hokus pokus," but she believes there is something to be said about speaking the truth.
The mother of three referenced the scripture [Mark 12:31] that teaches believers to love themselves as they love others, and then explained that many people think that loving oneself is selfish and unbiblical. But she emphasized that Jesus said those words for a reason.
"I think that we have the idea — that to take care of ourselves and focus on our self care is ungodly and selfish, it's not! It's not selfish, it's smart. It makes us the best versions of ourselves. So actually, I think self care is smart care," Grant said.
Grant also talked openly about some of the challenges she faced early on in her career when she was focused on following the voice of culture and her status on the charts. But after breaking through those self-imposed barriers, Grant said the rapport she now has with her fans has been rewarding.
"If someone can just get the courage to just be honest — it's really hard because it's so risky, but if you can just do it — you will find the freedom and the healing that comes. The byproduct of all of that is the freedom and healing it can bring to others. But honestly, the freedom and healing it brings to yourself is at the top of the list," Grant said.
"I finally figured out that I've been pretending for so long to be what I thought I needed to be, and what I thought I should be to be a successful or good Christian, and all this other stuff. It was leading nowhere. And once I got the courage to just open the door of honesty, the healing for myself was so massive that the freedom became addictive. So I was like, 'This, this is what I want. I'm never going back.' That's what it's about."
Social Media has also played a major role in enabling Grant to connect with her supporters and share her strengths and failures.
"Then the byproduct of that is just connecting with people. I'm not in this business to be another singer and sing another song — what a waste! Once you find a real connection with people you're never going back. If more people could just understand the freedom that awaits them and the community that awaits them in honesty, then they'll never go back. Because once you get over that hurdle of fear, you just live in that wide open space."
Finding Your Voice is now available everywhere books are sold. For more information visit nataliegrant.com
