Mess it Up Show 426 - Palatable

Mess it Up Show 426 - Palatable

How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This chatty episode of the Mess It Up Podcast leans into that question by looking at love as the first “fruit of the Spirit” and how it shapes recovery, relationships, and faith. Hosted by The Bow Tie Guy and his wife Bev, the show blends light humour with honest talk about life change.

Kicking off a ten-part Fruit of the Spirit series, they focus on love from Galatians 5, linking it to recovery and their work inside prisons. For anyone trying to live differently, the reminder that “love is what we get when we accept the spirit” will feel especially relevant. The tone stays relaxed and playful – there’s even a “word of the week”, *palatable*, complete with a wild Survivor story about a very unpleasant scorpion snack.

But the heart of the conversation is serious: what does genuine love look like in messy, imperfect lives?

Bev reflects on how often people say “I love you” right after tearing someone down, pushing back on cheap versions of love and stressing that “love has to be selfless” and is “a posture of the heart, not a posture of the head.” They talk about God’s unconditional love, forgiveness, and the idea that many of us feel unworthy of being loved at all.

One striking line captures their approach: “I kind of have to step out of the way and let God love through me.” They also unpack tough love, boundaries, and making amends in recovery, showing that love is both a feeling and an action, sometimes soft and sometimes costly. Stories of marriage, parenting, divorce, and prison ministry keep it grounded and relatable.

If you’re curious how faith, forgiveness, and everyday choices around love can support sobriety and healing, this conversation might give you something worth sitting with this week. How “palatable” does real, selfless love feel in your own life right now?