Believe and Expect

Summary

In this episode of the Giving a Purpose podcast, Jacques LaGrange discusses the significance of starting the new year with a mindset of belief and expectation. He emphasizes that faith is not passive but requires action and commitment. The conversation explores the importance of believing in oneself, setting high expectations, maintaining consistency, and the role of discipline and commitment in achieving one's goals. Jacques encourages listeners to reflect on their beliefs, identify habits that need to change, and take daily actions that align with their expectations for the year ahead.

Transcript

Jacques LaGrange (00:01.142)
New year, new opportunity. What are you believing and what are you expecting for 2026? Let's talk about it next on the Giving a Purpose podcast.

you

Jacques LaGrange (00:40.396)
Welcome to the Giving a Purpose podcast where we bridge the highs, the lows, the lessons learned through life's journey and filling in the gap. You already know what it is. It is a new episode. It's a new week. Guess what? It's a new year. Welcome everybody to 2026. It's on and popping. Listen, we are going to have a great year.

But there's one thing I need you to do to start the year off, right? Hit that subscribe button, share this podcast with somebody that you know, that you love, that you know that will benefit from it, especially this year, because this year we bring in the heat for you. Now, this year, I have a theme for myself. There's some things that I want to do and I want to accomplish.

And so I'm sharing with you and sharing what was given to me and how I'm going to take on this year. All right. This is the year of B for me, B-E, right? It's an acronym for me. I'm going to believe and I'm going to expect it to happen. So that's how I'm going. That's my mood for all 2026, right? I'm going to believe and I'm going to...

expect it to happen. So take this journey with me, right? So we already know how we gonna do. It's a new year, new opportunity, right? Too many people hope for change, but they don't believe for it. We're gonna change that. Faith, right, is not passive. Faith moves, prepares, and commits. This year is not about wishing.

Right. It's about expecting. So we're going to expect everything that we're going to get this year. We're going to be in a position of just expecting those things to happen. If you don't expect it, you won't prepare for it. So we're going to expect it and we're going to prepare for it. So let's let's let's give a couple of things we know in our Bible, we know Hebrews 11 and one says now faith. So let's

Jacques LaGrange (03:05.474)
Let's pause, not pause that, but let's marinate on that. Now faith, not yesterday's faith, not future faith, but right now faith, right, is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith gives substance to expectation, right? And we all know our other foundation is Mark 11, 24.

Whatever you ask for in prayer, right? Whatever you ask for. Believe that you're gonna receive it. That's believe you're gonna receive it and it will be yours. That's the expectation. Mark 11, 24 really hits the nail on the head right there, man. That thing is so powerful. That is the foundation of the year. Whatever you ask for, believe it and you shall receive it and it will be yours. That's believing in expectation. That's believe it first.

expect it next and then receive it later. I like it. Then we got last foundational point, James 2 17 faith without works is dead. All right. Belief must be followed by that commitment and action. So you got to be committed and you got to put some action to it. So you gotta, gotta keep it moving. All right. So our first pillar we're going to use, we're going to talk about is

Believing, you gotta believe, right? Believing starts internally before anything changes externally. Okay? So let me say that again. Believing starts internally before anything changes externally. So you gotta start with that mindset that we always talk about. You have to change the mindset that you have. So it starts on the inside. So it starts with however,

you allow that to happen. If it's through prayer, if it's through talking to God, but you have to make sure that your mindset is different, right? You can't expect what you don't believe you're worthy of. That's powerful right there. You can't expect what you don't believe you're worthy of. So if you don't believe that you're valuable or that you deserve

Jacques LaGrange (05:28.238)
those things that we're believing in, expecting to happen, we're already starting off wrong. So make sure you can expect what you feel that you're worthy of, okay?

Now, I know sometimes I'm guilty of this next bullet point, right? Many of us pray in secret.

Jacques LaGrange (06:01.312)
Right? And when we pray, we also doubt. We pray for those things and we wanna believe for those things, but we secretly doubt that we're going to receive it. But we're gonna change that this year. Cause that's not what we're doing. Remember our first pillar is believing. And so what we pray for, as we talked about in Mark 11, 24, right? We're gonna believe it. We're gonna ask for it, believe it.

and then expect it, right? Cause our belief requires renewing our mindset, letting go of the past disappointments. All right? Everything before is gone. 2025 is gone. All the disappointments, all the things you didn't get is done. Cause remember we're using that now faith, right now faith. So.

and we have to trust God beyond what we can see. All right, so real quick, belief requires us to renew our mindset, letting go of past disappointments, letting go of that past and trusting God beyond what we can see. All right, next thing, one thing that I want you to do, here's something I want you guys to leave down in the comments. I got a question for you. What do you say you believe

but your actions don't support it. Leave something down in the comments. I'm asking you guys a question. What do you say you believe, but your actions don't support it? Leave that down in the comments. I definitely want to hear what you guys have to say about that. All right, our next pillar is expecting. Remember we were believing and we're going to expect it to happen. right, expectation.

is faith in motion. Remember?

Jacques LaGrange (08:00.462)
Remember what we talked about in James 2? Faith without works is dead. So expecting, right, is that faith in motion. It's that action, right? Expecting means we're going to, in 2026, we're gonna prepare differently, we're gonna speak differently, and we're gonna move differently, right? Low expectations lead to low effort, right? High expectations delo-

demand alignment. So we wanna be in alignment with what we're believing and expecting to happen, right? If you expect growth, your habits have to match it. Let me say that again. If you expect growth, your habits have to match it. All right? Now, you know, when we get down to these other pillars, they're my favorite things with that.

Everything that I usually say is based on, right? And that's consistency. We gotta be consistent with it, right? We're in this first weekend, this first week of the year. We have to be consistent. We have to make sure that we're consistent throughout the year. Belief without consistency fades. So if you're believing for it and you're expecting it to happen,

and you're not consistent about it, it fades. And let me tell you, that is so true. Especially if you believe something and it doesn't happen in the timeframe that you want it to happen, and you're just not consistent on being a part of the process, stuff fades. You're like, it's not gonna happen. And so that's where that expectation of things gonna happen.

it kind of lowers and then it lowers your effort of trying to do it, right? Now, we always have to remember when we're doing this and we're being consistent about it, God honors our obedience over our intensity. So you know, we're trying to be real intense. You try to do all of these things, but God really honors the obedience over your intensity. All right, small delay faith actions matter.

Jacques LaGrange (10:24.502)
Right? But let me say that again, small, small, not, let me say that again. I messed that up. Small daily faith actions matter. All let me get that right. Let me make sure you guys understand that so we don't mess that up. Small daily faith actions matter. All right, listen, small steps can get you far distances. You don't have to make big jumps all the time.

Sometimes those small steps and we got to do them daily. That keeps you consistent and that makes sure things are not fading away. If you're consistent, things will happen. Things will happen. Consistency builds trust with God and yourself. So when you're consistent, you're taking those small steps and you have those small wins, it creates a momentum and

Now you start to have confidence in yourself, but you're also having that trust built with God. So stay consistent. Consistency turns beliefs into a lifestyle. So when you're consistent like that, it becomes a habit. And after it becomes a habit, it'll become your lifestyle. Now this other pillar, you know I'm...

I'm big up on it, is discipline. Discipline protects your belief, right? Discipline protects your belief, all right? Do what you say you're gonna do. Listen, it was at one point when I was doing this podcast, I did it for like two and a half years straight. I was disciplined by hell of a high water, an episode was coming out. That's why I told myself, doing at least, at least.

52 episodes. everyone, every week you're to get an episode. That's the commitment. But I also have to be disciplined because there's so many things, man. There were so many things happening today. I actually had a bad, bad headache, but I told myself an episode has to come out. Do I feel the best? Nope. But I'm going to be disciplined and be a man of my word because that's what's going to happen. So, cause we know

Jacques LaGrange (12:48.246)
Sometimes when things happen outside, things happen that we can't control. Motivation comes and goes, but if you had discipline, it stays. So it, no matter what you're going to make it happen. You're going to find a way to make it happen. Discipline is saying I'll do it even when I don't feel like it. Trust me, it's not filling it, but I had to make it happen.

I'm committed even when the results are delayed. That's the tough part. Let's be honest. That is the toughest part. Being committed even when your results are delayed. First Corinthians 9 and 27 says, I discipline my body and keep it under control.

Tough, tough, tough. Now we have to be determined, right? Determination is refusing to quit even when belief is tested, because you're gonna get tested. You are definitely going to get tested. Every promise is challenged before it's fulfilled.

Every promise is challenged before it's fulfilled. Man, that is so true and that's so powerful. Resistance does not mean rejection. All right, just because you're being resisted does not mean that you're being rejected. All right? Remember, resistance is just like when we work out.

when we lift heavy weights and when we do weights like that, all it is is resistance. And that actually is how our muscles are able to develop and become stronger. You're using resistance bands or you're using weights to develop those muscles. So remember that resistance doesn't mean you're being rejected.

Jacques LaGrange (15:01.642)
It's it's testing the strength and the stamina of your muscles, but you have to be determined to make it through that. Delays, remember, delays. Delays are often development. So you gotta think about delays are a part of the process. Just because it's delayed does not mean that it's not gonna happen. It's just delayed, but in the delay, you are being developed.

for when it is fulfilled. Opposition does not cancel the promise, it confirms it. Opposition does not cancel the promise, it confirms it. And you know, this last little pillar means a lot to me, commitment. Commitment is the bridge between faith and fulfillment. Commitment is that bridge

between faith and commitment. All right, interested people watch, committed people work. All right, let me say that again. Interested people watch, you know what I mean? Committed people work. Commitment means you don't quit when it gets uncomfortable. It means you don't stop when progress is slow.

You don't lower the standard. Never lower the standard. You gotta keep going. So let's go over that again. You don't quit when it gets uncomfortable. Plain and simple. You don't quit when it gets uncomfortable. You don't stop when progress is low. Just because things are going slow, that doesn't mean you stop. You don't ever lower the standard. Don't lower the standard. All right?

Luke 9 and 62 says, no one puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom. All right. So while you're plowing, don't worry about how slow it's going. Worry about the progress that you're making, what's in front of you. All right. God responds to fully committed faith, not half effort belief.

Jacques LaGrange (17:29.516)
God responds to fully committed faith and not half effort belief. Right? Man, that that is crucial. So these are some things I want you guys to do, create some application for you guys. Write down what you believe, what you believe God for this year. All right? So in your time, I want you to write down what you believe God for this year. All right?

Next, what I want you to do is identify one habit that you must change to match that belief. All right. Next, commit to one daily action that aligns with your expectation.

And the fourth thing, speak life, watch your words. So let's go over it again. First thing is write down what you believe God for this year. Identify one habit that must change to match that belief. Commit to one daily action that aligns with expectation. And then fourth, speak life into it.

Don't start this year real casual. Don't pray small and live smaller. So guilty of that so many times. Believe bigger, expect boldly. Believe bigger, expect boldly and commit fully.

This year, just don't believe it. Move like you expect it. Plain and simple. All right? Remember, please, please share this episode with someone who needs to reset their faith and reset for this year. All right? Subscribe, leave a review. Let me know what you think. New year, new expectation, but it's the same guy. All right? Two things I need you guys to do that I always ask you to do.

Jacques LaGrange (19:39.086)
is make sure you live on purpose and make sure you live in purpose. I'll see you guys next time. Peace.

Jacques LaGrange (20:03.831)
you