Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1324 | Christian's Viral Post About His Wife’s Past Sparks HUGE Backlash. She Responds | Ashley Sheatz

Starting point is 00:00:00 Trevor and Ashley Sheets went viral this week because of a post that Trevor put on X about part of his wife's testimony saying that she was formerly promiscuous before she became a Christian. He was a virgin. They got married both as new creations in Christ. And this post went viral, got lots of backlash not only from nonbelievers, but also from professing Christians and conservatives saying that this was disrespectful, rude, people calling his wife. all sorts of names just because of common Christian vulnerability and sharing a person's testimony and the power of the gospel. While I was completely taken aback by this backlash and I wanted to give Ashley the opportunity unrelatable to share her testimony for herself. So Ashley is here today to talk about how she came out of the new age and darkness in all kinds of demonic oppression into the light of Christ. It is a powerful story. here on Relatable today. It's brought to by our friends at Good Ranchers. Go to Good Ranchers.com.

Starting point is 00:01:04 Use Code Alley at checkout. That's good ranchers.com code Alley. Hey, y'all. Welcome to Relatable. We've got a special guest episode today. I wanted to make sure that you heard this testimony as soon as possible. We have Ashley Sheets. And she has gone viral because her husband has gone viral because of an ex post about his relationship with his wife, regaining sexual purity after having a past of promiscuity and marrying a virgin. Ashley has a storied past before she knew Christ that included demonic activity and the new age, even maybe forms of witchcraft and lots of sexual immorality that she has been very open about. And her husband, Trevor, was a virgin when they got married. And he posted this on X and got so much backlash.

Starting point is 00:02:04 and 34 million views. He said, my wife was formerly promiscuous. I was a virgin. She was then radically born again, committed to church, evangelized constantly, Puritan books in her bedroom, prayer journals, grief over past sexual sin, etc. We got to know each other for well over a year, dated for four months. Engaged for two and a half and didn't sin sexually with one another. Our first kiss with each other was at the altar on our wedding day.

Starting point is 00:02:27 We've been married for over five years now, he says, and she's been the most wonderful and godly wife, mother to our three children, and homemaker you could imagine. She's more pure than most virgins, as biblical purity has less to do with past sins, though they matter, and more to do with one's current posture of the heart and daily decisions to honor the Lord,

Starting point is 00:02:42 Matthew 5-8. We're far too quick to forget the story of the woman labeled as a known sinner, likely a prostitute in Luke 736 through 50, who was washing Jesus' feet with her tears while kissing them too. The Pharisees were shocked that Jesus let a public sinner do this. Jesus responded with a parable

Starting point is 00:02:59 about debts being forgiven and ended with this powerful conclusion. Her many sins have been forgiven. That's why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little loves little. Super powerful. He also quotes 1 Corinthians one, which is one of my favorite passages and 2 Corinthians 517. If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. He also goes on to say everyone seems to highlight the benefits of virginity. It certainly is a blessing, but we forget to highlight the benefits of being forgiven much as well. My wife knows the depths of Jesus's forgiveness. A woman or man's

Starting point is 00:03:34 past sexual sin matters. But what matters far more when it comes to deciding who to marry is if the person is truly born again, if their repentance is real, if they truly have a heart for Christ, if they truly follow Jesus and obey his commands. So I read this post on X, and I saw that it had thousands and thousands of replies. And usually when a post has thousands of replies, it's like some kind of engagement bait where people are trying to stoke outrage or say something ridiculous, so a bunch of people respond or a question and a lot of people, a lot of people answered. So I immediately wanted to read the post. It had to have been something ridiculous, something that I was really going to disagree with,

Starting point is 00:04:13 because that's the other reason why a post would have that many replies is if they said something really dumb, really bad, really controversial. I read the post and I was like, okay, that is, you know, standard Christian testimony. That is standard Christian theology. I don't understand what's controversial about this. It must just be a bunch of secular progressives who are angry about a Christian testimony. The demons are screeching. That could be the only explanation for this being considered controversial.

Starting point is 00:04:44 I read it. I didn't find anything controversial in it whatsoever. But then I was so surprised to see conservative Christians responding negatively to this. I saw Robbie Starbuck, for example, and these are not personal attacks on these people. I was just surprised to see their response. He said, dude, dot, dot, delete this. And then I saw my friends at Daily Wire also disagree with how this person worded this testimony.

Starting point is 00:05:10 For example, here is Michael Knowles. Sot 1. Purity ultimately has more to do with one's present state. As long as we're oriented toward God, as long as our desire is turned toward God, and we're moving in that direction, that's what God really wants. That's what delights God. And if we're moving in the opposite direction or we're despairing or giving up or whatever, that's a big problem. But all of that said, I agree with so many of the points he's making.

Starting point is 00:05:33 And yet, there's someone wrong with this post, right? You shouldn't call your wife a whore on social media. I think you don't need to talk about your past sins all the time. Sometimes that can be powerful testimony, but sometimes it's a little awkward and weird. Sometimes it can be humiliating. Sometimes it can serve selfish purposes. Okay, so he goes on. You can find his whole mom for the entire context on this, but he also said this on X. I saw a lot of people saying that, that, okay, fine, well and good, but you're humiliating your wife and you are lacking discretion. And Michael even says right there, sometimes it's fine, but a lot of times it's not. Well, as far as I know, these people don't talk about this all the time. I went through Trevor's

Starting point is 00:06:17 tweets. I had never seen him tweet before, but I don't see him talking about his wife's story past or her promiscuity a lot. He felt compelled to share her testimony. She's felt compelled to share her testimony publicly. And so they decided to do that. And I thought that it was beautiful and to see so many professing Christians and conservatives, I'm not just talking about Michael Knowles, but a lot of people with a lot more intense negative reactions. I mean, I saw a lot of Theo Bros out there saying, wow, you're calling your wife a whore on the internet. That's the one I saw over and over again. Oh, this is so sad for the young men out there who are going think, I'm using their words who think that you have to marry a whore. I can't believe you just

Starting point is 00:07:02 call your wife that. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, he did not call his wife that. You called his wife that. You called another man's wife that. You called a new creation that. Like, you called a person who has been redeemed by Christ, who has been sanctified and made new and is pure as the driven snow because of Christ a whore. That is on you. That is not on her husband. Okay. And so just the hyper patriarchy bros who call themselves Christians out there who just want to take any opportunity not only to denigrate women, but to denigrate the work of the gospel. It's just, it's just insane. It's like this very obvious tenet of Christianity that you have become a new creation is now like, oh, well, maybe that's just a, maybe it's a little nuanced. And then of course you do have people,

Starting point is 00:07:50 which, okay, who say, yeah, all that's well and good, but still, like we shouldn't be promoting this, kind of thing, virginity matters and all of that. Again, I would say Trevor said that. Trevor didn't say anything against virginity. He didn't say that that doesn't matter. He didn't say that sexual sin doesn't matter. He just said that his wife has been made new. And that is true. That is true. Like, think. Let's hold multiple thoughts in our minds at the same time. I believe in some of you out there. I really do. I mean, sometimes you make me want to lose my belief in you, but I'm really trying to hang on. Okay, we've got some more negative reactions in just a second. Let me pause and tell you about our first sponsor for the day. And that is Adele Natural Cosmetics. Adel is a Christian

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Starting point is 00:09:21 you'll get 25% off your first time purchase adele natural cosmetics.com code alley. I just thought that it was interesting that this became, that this testimony became fodder for a lot of conservatives out there that even if you are not a Christian, like there is an understanding of the testimony that Christians give when we say, okay, this is how we were when we were dead in our sin and this is who we are now by grace through faith. and because I am a new creature and a new creation, the old has passed, the new has come. I have a new identity. I am a new person because of Christ.

Starting point is 00:10:04 That is what I read from this post. And then you have someone like Dr. Kevin Young. This is coming from the progressive side. He's a very progressive guy. He says he posts a screenshot and was like just highlighted the first line. My wife was formerly promiscuous. I was a virgin. Dr. Kevin Young says, nothing after this line matters.

Starting point is 00:10:20 There is no reason ever under any circumstances in any university. where it is appropriate for a man to make this statement about his wife true or not with or without her permission. This is her story, not theirs. This is what is wrong with evangelicalism. Look, this is just a misunderstanding of marriage, of the situation, of what went on here, of this person's consent to her sharing, her testimony. There are so many assumptions going on that he is like pimping out his wife's story for money. That is not what is happening here because you can see if you go to her social media, how often she has shared this story publicly. Now, there are a lot of Christians who are supporting them, like my friend Samuel say.

Starting point is 00:11:03 He says, professing Christians who are offended by this are telling on themselves, Jesus is going to marry a formerly promiscuous bride, the church. Hello. Some of you are acting like you won't be a part of the wedding. Mike drop. Samuel continued quoting Proverbs 1822 and saying, He who finds a wife finds favor with the Lord. he advised users to take their advice, Twitter users, ex-users, take their advice from God over fools on social media.

Starting point is 00:11:29 Owen Stram also defended Ashley and Trevor and also pointed out that Ashley shared her testimony publicly on an online platform in 2020. So this is certainly not the first time, again, that her testimony has circulated. She's gotten all kinds of insults. She's been denigrated in all kinds of ways just because not only her vulnerability, but because her husband, along with her, but on his account, also shared her story. And yeah, that's going to seem scandalous to the world because most people can't understand that level of honesty and transparency and the lack of shame that you have once you are in Christ. I, for one, thought it was a beautiful testimony. I think Ashley's testimony points to the grace and redemption and the opportunity that each and every one of us has in Christ.

Starting point is 00:12:26 And I'm so thankful for her courage. She posted, becoming a Christian in general opens you up to ridiculed, slander and shame. But it is worth it for the sake of the gospel. Jesus is worthy. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you. She's quoting Matthew 511 and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. So that is her perspective on all of this. Praise God. Ashley is here today to share her testimony with us coming out of the darkness of abuse and the new age and promiscuity and into the light of Christ. Without further ado, here's our friend Ashley Sheets. Ashley, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. So first, I just want to hear from you. What was your reaction when you saw your husband's post go viral and then get so much back.

Starting point is 00:13:21 flash. Thank you so much for having me. I was surprised. You know, when Trevor told me that he made this post and it's really doing well, I was like, okay, like he's, he's done great post before and that have gained traction before. So I didn't really think of anything of it. But then it just kept getting more and more traction and it's reaching millions of views. And it was, shocking, but I wasn't embarrassed at all by it because, again, I've been sharing my testimony for years. It was more of a praise God, praise God that my testimony is being seen by millions of people, millions of unsaved people, and the gospel is being magnified in that. I'm zero shame. I, and my husband knows I do not mind him at all sharing any aspects of my testimony.

Starting point is 00:14:25 He's a wise, godly man. I trust what he does and he is discreet when he needs to be. And I had no issues with it. And even though there's been a lot of backlash, again, I always praise God when I'm reviled and persecuted for righteousness's sake as Jesus talks. about in the beatitudes. It's, it is a blessing. It's hard, but it's still a blessing. Quick pause to tell you about our next sponsor, and that is Voice of the Martyrs. So you might remember if you went to share the arrows that I mentioned Voice of the Martyrs in my last speech,

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Starting point is 00:15:52 Just go to vom.org slash alley. That's v-O-M dot org slash alley. I've already talked about this with my audience at the beginning of the episode, but I was really taken aback, not only that the post went viral, because I read it, it's a beautiful post, but I'm like, this is a, you know, the Christian testimony. We hear these kinds of things a lot. Christians are very famously vulnerable, open about what their past look like, how God redeemed them. So I just thought this is another great Christian testimony, but I not only saw secular progressive saying, wow, this is so weird, which I've come to expect after years on X, but then also like professing Christians, people in the conservative world saying, this is

Starting point is 00:16:37 embarrassing. How could you throw your wife under the bus like that? Was that hard to see? It might have even been people that you were fans of. Yes, yes. It's been hard to see, you know, other people you've looked up to in the past that like, yeah, this is absolutely horrible and, you know, calling me derogatory words, which Trevor never said that. Sure, the word was promiscuous and you can relate it to that horrible word, but still, he never called me that. And it's in and of itself that word is derogatory. So, yeah.

Starting point is 00:17:16 Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was, it's hard again, but it's been. a blessing. Yeah. So we've seen all of the public backlash, but has there been anything privately, either bad or good, that has surprised you, messages that you've received conversations that you've been able to have? So, of course, it's been, I'd say more backlash than anything. Of course, it's reached over 34 million people. Yeah. I'm totally going to expect that because, Ali, as you know, the way is narrow in the Christian walk. And this is a dark, dark world. Why would I expect

Starting point is 00:17:58 to be praised and admired by over 34 million people when Jesus himself was hated for his message? And it was shocking in the sense that, you know, as a human, it's hard to be persecuted and even attacked for my looks and all, just all the worst words that you could think. But I have also received such beautiful messages from people saying, I am so happy that I found you and that God led me to you and your testimony because I have a similar past and I never thought I could experience the blessings that you've experienced now with, you know, having a godly husband and just people messaging me that they're just been crying from reading my testimony and have been blessed by that. And even that just cancels out like all the bad,

Starting point is 00:19:05 you know? And you know, you probably know the scripture. I can't think of it at the top of my head, but how heaven just rejoices when one sinner repents over. all the righteous people, you know? Totally. And praise God for that. And there will be stories like that that you never even see until you get to the other side of glory. There will be someone you meet in eternity in heaven who will say, you don't know me, but I heard your testimony through this crazy viral post. And when it seems like God is doing one thing, he's actually doing a million things. And so often we can't actually see what those things are. And I know that you're not fishing for compliments,

Starting point is 00:19:47 but you are really, really beautiful. Not only just beautiful in your face, but just beautiful because I really see the light of Christ and the peace of him shining through you. A lot of people would be broken over what they're seeing on the internet about them, as you said, it's really hard, but you have peace because of Christ. And so I just want to hear your testimony.

Starting point is 00:20:09 It is incredible. You've shared it in the past. You're so open about it. Take us back to the very beginning because the hardship that you went through in your life really starts when you were little, right? Yes, yes. So I never grew up in a religious household at all. I never knew who Jesus was. And I grew up in a family, a broken family, really. My mom and my dad were never married. In fact, they split up when I was about three years old. So I have no memory of them ever even really being together. And both my dad and my mom are

Starting point is 00:20:45 they don't have any religion. So I never grew up with like religious or, you know, virtues to really practice. It's just all about living your life now. And you figure it out as you go. But I actually, I have always had a sense, maybe this is just the Lord's hand over my life, always had a sense that this world is not it. I never really. believed that I'm just going to live this life and I, I wanted to seek truth. But I never believed in God either. I had no, again, like I said, I never really dope into researching different religions when I was younger. Right. But when I was about 15, I ended up wandering into a Barnes & Noble section and was really drawn into the spirituality section,

Starting point is 00:21:47 really just new age mysticism and self-help, all about you, all about lifting you up, all about enlightenment, and it's just such a focus on you. So, of course, I was drawn into that. So I ended up gathering, like, so many books, reading them front to back all the time,

Starting point is 00:22:07 thinking I was just this amazing spiritual guru. I got really into yoga, and different religions. Of course, every religion, but Jesus, again, never went into Christianity. Did you have like a natural distaste for Christianity or was it just not one that you had considered? I did. I did. And I never even knew who Jesus was.

Starting point is 00:22:32 And I've talked about this with my sister before because she was with me at the time. I remember when I was a teenager and we were walking through like a senior. living home because my grandma lived there. And there was like a Christian sign on the door, just about how Jesus saves. And I remember just saying Jesus isn't here. Jesus can't save you. I'm like, I don't even know who Jesus was. And I'm just saying that. And when I look back on it, it's like, it's so much demonic influence in the world that just keeps you from seeing the light of Christ. It, when I look back on those memories, It just, it makes me smile now because it just shows you the realness of Jesus.

Starting point is 00:23:19 You bring up every other religion in the world and no one bats an eye, but you start talking about Jesus and everyone is like, why would you start saying that name? Next sponsor is Paleo Valley. Y'all, I love the Paleo Valley products. I love their bone broth. I love their protein powder. It's all so good. but I also love their 100% grass-fed beef stick.

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Starting point is 00:24:24 going. So make sure that you've got protein packed, super healthy snacks. Paleo Valley can help you out with that. Go to paleovalley.com. Use code alley. You'll say 15% on your first order. PaleoValley.com code alley. So you turn to New Age, Hinduism. You considered yourself a very spiritual person. This is when you were a teenager. You said about like 15, 16. And then you started turning to partying, psychedelics, things like that, right? Yes, yes. That path led me down to what the first woman says, being a promiscuous woman. And I became heavily addicted to drugs and psychedelics. And I thought these psychedelics and these drugs were leading me into enlightenment. Like all, I was just seeking such a crazy experience, I guess.

Starting point is 00:25:18 with being spiritual. I thought this was leading me closer to knowing whatever truth was out there. And yes, I saw worth and satisfaction and men and all these different religions and these books that just puff you up so much. And I ended up being with just the wrong crowd of people. they were all into drugs thinking and telling me as well that you have to take these drugs to become enlightened and that you had experienced this wonderful experience with God or source or whatever you want to call it. That's what new age mystics will call.

Starting point is 00:26:04 Oh, oh, or the universe. Okay, I can't forget that. Right. The universe. You want this experience with the universe. And again, I became really addicted to these drugs. taking them almost every day at some point. And mind you, I'm under age. I was living with my mom at the time. My mom and my dad was split up. And my dad was actually a police officer at the time as

Starting point is 00:26:31 well. But I, since I was living with my mom, I was able to get away with a lot. I love my mom, but she just wasn't, she was a bit naive in the sense that she believed everything I said. And I was a horrible liar. And I like to talk about my testimony from the point or making clear that this is not like a sob story of, oh, see how Jesus saved this poor victim. I was an absolute culprit. And this is my testimony on how a gracious, loving, merciful God took a culprit. from the pit.

Starting point is 00:27:18 Yeah. Yeah. And I had very long dreadlocks. I considered myself just this enlightened hippie. Free spirit. Yeah. Yes. Spiritual, very, yeah, these long as dreadlocks, I, after my dad said that to me, that shook

Starting point is 00:27:35 me up. And when I got out of the hospital, I cut all my dreadlocks off. I thought this was going to be like a new beginning, right? And of course, it wasn't because it was with my own strength. I thought I was going to be able to have this new life. And what do we think happened a few months later? I ended up going to another festival and getting back into drugs, finding a new boyfriend, and the same pattern continued.

Starting point is 00:28:06 And was this, just to get my timeline, was this the, you had a boyfriend who was 50 when you were a teenager, correct? You've talked about that. Go ahead. Yes, I didn't, I wouldn't consider him a boyfriend. Okay. He was, he had his own made religion. This guy was very manipulative in my life, very brainwashing. I was abused by him many times, but I felt like I couldn't get out. And this was an angry man. And any person who tried to help me escape from him, he was angry and would yell.

Starting point is 00:28:52 And, like, I was his possession, in a sense. And I never wanted to be with this man. It was just, it was, it was a horrible situation. He was basically like a cult leader. He was, it was

Starting point is 00:29:08 absolutely a cult leader. Yeah. No doubt. Yeah. He still has it to this day. Wow. We looked at it not too long ago to see if it was still a thing. And yeah, still has this whole main religion, probably still deceiving people. And an immense hatred for Jesus. Amense hatred for Christianity.

Starting point is 00:29:31 Yeah. Wow. And you talk about also within this period, both before and after your near-death experience, before and after the dreadlocks, like experiencing demonic activity. and feeling like a sense of demonic oppression. Can you talk more about that? Because a lot of people, they don't believe that or they just don't really even know what that means.

Starting point is 00:29:55 Yes, definitely. I was very suicidal in the season of my life as well. So on the outward, you know, I appear like I'm this spiritual, a happy hippie, everything's free spirit and love. And yet on the inside, I was extremely, having dark thoughts. I was self-harming as well. I was cutting myself. I still have scars to this day. And I consider that such a demonic influence as well from just everything I was also reading and consuming. I remember I was listening to like dark scream of heavy metal music. And then I would

Starting point is 00:30:40 self-harm. And I, I, yes, I was suicidal. I was just didn't, um, see any joy, real joy in life. I was also having like dark nightmares all the time. And, um, yeah, just, just darkness all around, really. Yeah. And you had moved to, New Mexico with your boyfriend around age 18 and you continued, you know, doing drugs, yoga, and then online prostitution as well? Yes. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:31:22 When I moved to New Mexico, I lived with, yeah, that boyfriend for a couple months. And then money was just a rough thing at the time. And I remember I was following different. it wasn't even only fans back then it was something else but all the you know some models and that line of work it is basically only fans but a whole different kind of website so I remember telling my boyfriend you know what I could do this for a few months that's fine and yeah I did that I made different videos and I was just trying I didn't have like a huge online presence or anything but it was just in the background something I would do.

Starting point is 00:32:11 And I didn't even think that was wrong at the time, which is crazy when I look back upon it. Because this is just such a public thing. And yeah, so I did do, if you call that online prostitution as well, then yes. Yeah. And that was around the time that you overdosed and you were having seizures. you found yourself in the hospital where your dad met you, right? Yep. So this is all the year 2017.

Starting point is 00:32:44 Yeah, I was 18. So thank you. I got it mixed up with, I thought I was 17. It's hard to remember. But yes, after years of just being promiscuous and going into drugs, I ended up coming close to death multiple times. I had a really big overdose when I was about 17. and so close to death, I can barely remember the experience just from going out of consciousness.

Starting point is 00:33:18 I was having seizures. And I woke up in the hospital. And my dad, who was a police officer at the time, came to be with me. And when I woke up, he looked me in the face and said, Ashley, I've seen this so many times. And if you continue this path, you are going to die. That is your destiny if you continue down this path. Next sponsor is Alliance Defending Freedom. Y'all, they are fighting on the front lines for the sanctity of life, for the rights of women and girls, for our religious freedom, for our free

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Starting point is 00:35:30 by my own spirituality didn't work. What led you to Christ? Yes. So, yes, I ended up going back into festivals in the month of August, I believe. And then I moved out with another boyfriend who I met at this festival to Oregon for a month. And I actually had a yoga retreat planned for the entire month of October. So I had to leave Oregon. And because I was going to be gone the whole month to be trained to be a certified yoga teacher. So I left to Guatemala. And actually, the day before I left to Guatemala, I remember just praying on my knees. I was feeling really just lost and hopeless. And I remember a video that I came across before going to Guatemala. just a random YouTube video.

Starting point is 00:36:35 And it was talking about how there's chakras and Eastern meditation and this false spirituality is all hiding Jesus from you. And that really pricked my heart. I feel like that was just the Holy Spirit starting to lead me to Jesus. And after that video, I was on my knees just praying to the God I didn't know at the time. I was just praying, I don't know who you are. are or what you are, but I please just show me the truth. I just want to know the truth. I don't care. Whatever it takes, I just want to know the truth. And then I went on this yoga retreat for an entire month. It was, I didn't have cell phone connection. It was just me every single day practicing yoga.

Starting point is 00:37:25 And I ended up getting certified after that month. And when I can't. back home. In God's Providence, I came across another YouTube video. And it was, this is from me searching too. So that first video was in my head about Jesus. So this started leading me down a rabbit trail of looking into who Jesus even was and what the Bible actually is. So when I came across the second video, this time it was all about how Jesus alone is the truth the way in the life. and no one comes to the Father, but they're in which is in the Gospels. And different verses just about Jesus being God and the one true God. And I remember just breaking down in tears.

Starting point is 00:38:20 I was crying and I truly feel like I felt the Holy Spirit's presence with me in that moment. And I, after that video, I was just crying and crying and I called up the only Christian I knew. I had no Christian friends. I had, yeah, I know I didn't know any Christians really, except this one man who has been in my life because he was friends with my sister. And he got radically saved from being in a gang and would come over and share the gospel. Well, I was so young, so I didn't really understand what he was saying. But he was the one Christian I knew. And I called him after that video, just crying and asking if he could help me understand

Starting point is 00:39:09 who this Jesus is and the Bible and that I was just so confused. I feel like my whole life has been a lie. And I don't know how to comprehend it. And he ended up coming over, cleared out his. busy, busy schedule for me, talked with me for 10 hours straight, and he showed me, like, you have gravely sinned against God. You know, we went through my promiscuity. We went through my lying, and I've broken all of the 10 commandments. I've sinned so greatly against God, and I recognized that. And he showed me that I was in great need of a Savior.

Starting point is 00:39:56 I cannot get to heaven by my own works. There's no good works here. It's God. He showed me that Jesus came in the form. God came in the form of Jesus, and he lived the perfect life that I couldn't live. And he died on that cross for me, all my sins upon Jesus.

Starting point is 00:40:26 And he rose from the grave three days later. And all I had to have to do is to repent, actually turn from my sin, give my all to Jesus Christ, believe in the gospel, and I will be saved. And he walked you through all my questions as well. And that night I gave my life to the Lord. I confessed my sin. I committed myself to Jesus. And I said, whatever it takes, Lord. I want to follow you.

Starting point is 00:40:58 I want Jesus. I want the true living God, no matter what it takes. And my life completely changed. I got rid of my library of New Age books that night. My family thought I was absolutely bonkers, but I've lost my mind. And I threw it all in the trash. I threw all these new age spiritual idols in the trash. I got really into Hinduism.

Starting point is 00:41:24 So I have this Hindu false god on my arm. And I threw it all the way. It was just me in my Bible in a bare room. And I read through that Bible so fast, Allie. It was like within a month that Bible was done. And my life radically changed. I never went back into that life again. And I've been saved for nearly 10 years now.

Starting point is 00:41:52 Praise God. And you got baptized. there's a picture of you. Quickly. Yes, getting baptized. Beautiful. I love that so much. I mean, you can just see like the renewal shining from you because of Christ.

Starting point is 00:42:05 And just I know that we can't go into detail about what the last 10 years have been like. But I would love just to hear a little bit of an overview of your walk and sanctification and then how you met your husband. Yeah. So I got saved that December of 2017. And the man who led me to the Lord brought me. to church that first weekend. And I'm still at that same church to this day. And I was going every week, reading my Bible constantly. This man, he was pouring into me. He was such a great brother, just instantly brought me into such amazing, solid theological, or showed me amazing theological men and pastors

Starting point is 00:42:53 to read. And I was reading John MacArthur right away. And Paul Washer is my absolute favorite preacher. And just solid, solid men and brought me to a solid church right off the bat. And I truly believe that that is what helped me grow in such a great degree in the span of that first year of being a Christian. Reading godly books constantly. Like my whole, my life, my life. My life. love for reading, as you can see, ended up going into a good direction. So my whole library filled with just the best godly books that you could think of. I just kept putting my eyes on Christ and learning what it means to be a godly woman and a woman after God's heart. And I know I desired to be a wife after I became a Christian. I never thought I would be a wife or

Starting point is 00:43:53 even desired that before I was a Christian. But after reading, you know, what God desires for a woman in the scriptures, that became my desire. I was like, man, I would love to be a mom and a wife at home and a homemaker. But I also knew I needed to focus on Jesus. And that whole first year was focused completely on Jesus. I met Trevor. And that first year, that first year, I was saved actually. My friend who led me to the Lord introduced me to him. We were in the same small group and he was the only one in that small group who was really answering all the questions about the Bible. And he just had such a heart for Jesus and a love for Jesus more than I'd seen any man around me. Like such a deep love and a deep knowledge of the scriptures. They called him

Starting point is 00:44:52 a Bible and cypopedia because you ask him anything and it's like he knew the scripture to it. And I just loved that about him. So I ended up talking to him more. So we kept in touch here and there, I would ask him or I would text him a few questions about the Bible and ask him like his favorite sermons or pastors to listen to. And so we never hung out like one on one or anything. But this is the whole year of 2018. This is what I call the year of really diving deep and pursuing godliness above all. All right. Last sponsor is a two-fer.

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Starting point is 00:47:02 That's patriotmobile.com slash alley. The end of 2018, 2018 in December, Trevor was good friends with the family I was living with at the time. It was a family from my church. They took me in. I really wanted a mentor. and that the woman I was living with, she just poured into me for like six months. Just, I was under her roof.

Starting point is 00:47:36 She was teaching me cleaning and homemaking. We were diving into the word together pretty much every day. She's such a sweet woman. And Trevor actually lived with them before too. And we had no idea about this. So in a day in December, he wanted to visit that. family and I happened to be there. And when he came to see me, I was showing him around in my room, and he, me and him just really hit it off. We had such an amazing connection and just a mutual deep love for

Starting point is 00:48:16 Jesus. It's all we would talk about with each other is just how much we have been forgiven and how much we loved Jesus and we loved evangelism as well. And he ended up coming out again to see me after that day, maybe only a couple days later and we spent like the whole day together with the woman who was mentoring me. So we were never like alone together. That was a conviction of ours. We just wanted to get to know each other around friends. And Trevor, he also felt that deep connection with me. And he wanted to meet up with me again after that. And I texted him asking, is it your conviction as well to have a chaperon around us wherever we go?

Starting point is 00:49:13 And then he said in his head that was like, oh, my goodness, I think this actually might be turning into something. I need to clear the air immediately. And he facetimed me a couple days later and just laid out his feelings. And he said, I want to pursue you. I think you are a godly woman. And obviously we have this connection. But I only want this to be an intentional friendship. This is not a relationship. I'm interested in you, but I want to get to know you as a friend first. And he had a year timeframe in his mind. So we were intentional friends for this whole year. This is the whole year of 2019. you know, never holding hands, nothing romantic, just always hanging out with each other,

Starting point is 00:50:19 either with an older, a older godly person around us, chaperone, wherever we went, there was always someone. We were never alone in the car together. It was just a big conviction of ours. We wanted this to be solely focusing on being friends. And that's what we did. that whole entire year. And it was hard because obviously our affections were being more and more drawn to each other. And it was hard to not want to like hug on him or hold his hand. It got difficult in that sense. But he was, he was very adamant about that. And I'm so grateful for that. Yeah. Yeah. And I just have a, I just have a couple more questions for you. I mean,

Starting point is 00:51:06 after that year, y'all, eventually you got engaged and, of course, got married. But going back to kind of what he said in the post that he was very open, he was a virgin, obviously you have the past that you've just shared with us. Can you just tell us, like what was that like sharing those things with him? And how did he respond? Because people who are listening to your story might think I could never tell someone. Like, I'm a Christian now, but I could never tell the person I'm going to be. marry all of these things. What if they don't love me anymore? Don't want me anymore. So tell me how

Starting point is 00:51:41 you kind of overcame those fears and had that conversation. That's a great question. Even from when I first got saved, I was even clear about my testimony in the baptism of, and he went to the same church as me, of course. So I was reading like a page long thing of my testimony and just also how I was into drugs and lived this promiscuous life and everything else. I didn't go into too much in detail, but he knew about my past from that as well. And of course, in our intentional friendship, it came up as well, of course. But I wasn't afraid to tell him. Because honestly, I just saw God's redemptive hand in my life.

Starting point is 00:52:40 I didn't think it would be something that would repel a godly man. I, the reason why I wasn't, like, ashamed to tell him my past as much, and I want to clear this too. I think virginity is a wonderful thing. And that's what all Christian women who aren't married should be pursuing. I have experienced so much pain. I experienced so much pain in that life and was hurt so much. And it brought me so much grief and pain and never, you know, lasting joy, if anything, it brought me way more pain and scars than anything.

Starting point is 00:53:29 It's not a life to live. And it's not this life that you can just go into and have fun. And then you can just repent of it and be forgiven. And you're just, it's easy to do because you had all that fun. Like, no, it was horrible. Even being in it, you're being used and abused by men. And all you want is like a real love. And you're not getting it because you're searching it in all the wrong things.

Starting point is 00:53:59 and with sin comes always destruction. Sin always bring some form of death. And I just want to make that clear. There have also been challenges in my marriage in the first few years. I was having just flashbacks of when I was abused sexually. And it was hard for us to work through that. Or even in the beginning of our marriage for me to feel like, this is wrong, like, to be with my husband.

Starting point is 00:54:32 Like, I felt like I couldn't even be with him sexually in a marriage. So we had to work through those things. And I totally recognize that you're not going to have those issues if you're both virgins. And that's beautiful. And that's something that you should pursue as a Christian woman. And it's a beautiful thing. But onto the question, I, Trevor has always been such a sweet, godly, understanding man.

Starting point is 00:55:08 And anytime I ever told him anything of my past, he has only met me with just grace and just, wow, look at what God has done in your life. He is all about the gospel, all about Jesus. And he saw how much Jesus changed me. And the key thing is that person who I was is not me anymore. And he recognizes that spiritual truth. You know, Romans 611 says, we are dead to sin and alive in Christ Jesus.

Starting point is 00:55:47 And Galatians 220 says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And Trevor understands that spiritual truth. that Ashley is no more. She is gone. She is a new creation in Christ. And he only saw me as that. And that's how I saw myself. So that is why I wasn't afraid or ashamed to tell in my past because although that's a very real part of my life is not who I am. I am a new creation. I'm brand new. Thank you so much, Ashley, for just being vulnerable and sharing your testimony. And now you are on social media and you are sharing the gospel and just sharing your life as a wife and mom with other women who need it.

Starting point is 00:56:42 So where can they follow you? I'm on X and Instagram. It's just Ashley Sheets. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. And I just encourage people to support you and pray for you because there will continue to be commentary around that tweet. But, you know, as you mentioned, God can do anything and he uses people's testimonies to bring glory to himself. And so thank you for just being a vessel for that.

Starting point is 00:57:06 And I'm very grateful that you took the time out of your busy day to come on the show and to encourage people. So thank you so much. Thank you so much. I'm seriously honored to be on your show as well. Thank you, Ashley. Thank you.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1324 | Christian's Viral Post About His Wife’s Past Sparks HUGE Backlash. She Responds | Ashley Sheatz

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