PODCAST · education
The Living in Truth Project
by Jon and Ashley Lefrandt
🌟 The Living in Truth Project: A Christian Podcast 🌟 Hi! We are Jon and Ashley Lefrandt. As devoted Latter-day Saints, we explore the intersection of faith, psychology, and daily life. We discuss doctrine, life challenges, and offer insights for everyone—members, seekers, and questioners. Join us on this journey of faith and understanding. We are committed to learn truth, apply truth and to share it with you. We invite you to join us! #FaithMeetsLife 🙏✨
Episodes
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Episode 61. The Emperor’s New Clothes: When a Family Is More Committed to the Image Than the Truth
What happens when a family becomes more committed to protecting its image than confronting the truth? The Emperor’s New Clothes was written nearly 200 years ago, but it may be one of the most powerful illustrations of an unhealthy family system. Everyone can see what’s happening. Everyone...
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Episode 60. Father’s Day Hurts: Grief, Father Wounds, and the Legacy of Good Men
Father’s Day can bring up a lot more than celebration. For some, it brings gratitude. For others, it brings grief, longing, anger, regret, or the ache of a relationship that is not what it should have been. In this episode, Jon shares a deeply personal reflection on fatherhood, grief…
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Episode 59. Q&A Part 2 | Reconciliation Without Accountability?
Description Can reconciliation happen if someone refuses to acknowledge what they did? In Part 2 of this Q&A conversation, we talk about what reconnecting should look like after no contact, especially when the other person refuses to admit wrongdoing or take accountability. We also address the...
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Episode 58. Q&A Part 1 | Honoring Parents Without Enabling Dysfunction
Description What does it really mean to honor your parents as an adult — especially when the relationship has become painful, controlling, or unhealthy? In Part 1 of this Q&A conversation, we talk about the difference between childhood obedience and adult honor, why boundaries are not dishonor…
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Episode 57. We Don’t Talk About Bruno: Encanto, Family Trauma & The Scapegoat Story
Was Encanto really about magic… or was it about family trauma? In this episode of Leave Then Cleave, Jon and Ashley unpack Disney’s Encanto through the lens of family systems, generational trauma, scapegoating, emotional roles, truth-telling, and healing. Why did We Don’t Talk About Bruno…
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Episode 56. Love Is Not Compliance: The First Truth of Christlike Boundaries
For many Christians, the hardest part of setting a boundary is not the boundary itself. It is the guilt. The fear that saying no means you are selfish. The fear that needing space means you are unforgiving. The fear that limiting access means you are dishonoring your family. The fear that...
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55. How to Recognize the Fruits of True Repentance
How can you tell if someone has truly repented? In this episode of Leave Then Cleave, Jon and Ashley talk about one of the most confusing dynamics in faith-based families: when someone claims repentance but refuses accountability, repair, or honest conversation about the harm they caused. Using...
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54. When They Won’t Change | Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Christlike Boundaries
This is Part 2 of our conversation with Rachel Wood on boundaries. In Part 1, we talked about why boundaries are not unchristlike, how people-pleasing can become a form of control, and why healthy love requires truth, agency, and self-respect. In Part 2, we move into one of the hardest questions...
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53. Boundaries Are Not Unchristlike | Why Love Requires Truth, Agency, and Self-Respect
One of our most-listened-to conversations is back. This episode originally aired a couple of years ago, when our podcast had a different name and a much smaller audience. But as our community has grown, we realized that many of you have probably never heard this conversation before, and it...
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52. Boundaries Didn’t Ruin Our Life. They Gave It Back.
If you are afraid that setting boundaries, going no contact, or disappointing your family will ruin your life, this episode is for you. Most conversations about boundaries focus on what they cost. The grief. The backlash. The loneliness. The fear of being misunderstood. The pain of relationships...
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51: When Faith Gets Weaponized | Peacemaking, Boundaries, and Spiritual Control
What do you do when a sermon, a Bible verse, a conference talk, or a spiritual principle gets used against you? In this episode, we talk about a painful dynamic many people experience in unhealthy family systems: when teachings about peacemaking, forgiveness, humility, honor, or reconciliation…
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50: Q & A Part 2 | How to Stop Letting Family Live Rent Free in Your Mind | Discussing Marriage, Siblings, and No Contact
What do you do when your spouse has not fully left and cleaved? Why do siblings experience the same family so differently? And how do you stop letting unhealthy family dynamics live rent free in your mind long after distance has been put in place? In Part 2 of this Q&A episode, Jon and Ashley...
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49. Q&A Part 1 | When Boundaries Feel Like Family Drama | Covering Guilt, Change, and Helping Kids Grieve
How do you know if you are setting a healthy boundary… or just creating more family drama? In Part 1 of this Q&A episode, Jon and Ashley respond to some of the most common and emotionally complex questions they receive from this community. Together, they talk through the guilt that often comes…
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48. Holy Saturday: What God Is Doing in the Silence
Holy Saturday is the day in between. Friday’s pain has already happened. Sunday’s redemption is coming. But today… it can still feel quiet. In this Holy Week episode of Here’s the Lesson, Jon reflects on the meaning of Holy Saturday and what it teaches us about waiting, grief, unanswered prayers,...
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47. Love Stayed | Good Friday, Suffering, Grief & the Hope of Christ
Good Friday brings us to one of the most sacred and sobering moments in all of scripture: the cross. This is the day when betrayal, grief, abandonment, and suffering seem to reach their deepest point. And yet Good Friday reveals one of the most powerful truths of the gospel: love stayed. In this...
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46. Jesus Did Not Bypass Agony | Holy Thursday, Gethsemane & Faith in Suffering
Holy Thursday brings us to one of the most sacred and deeply human moments in all of scripture: The Garden of Gethsemane. This is the night Jesus is not before the crowds. He is alone. In anguish. In prayer. Under the full weight of what is coming. And what makes this moment so powerful is this:...
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45. Jesus Was Not Betrayed by Strangers | Holy Wednesday, Family Betrayal & Christian Healing
Holy Wednesday confronts us with one of the most painful truths in all of scripture: Jesus was not betrayed by strangers. He was betrayed by someone inside the circle. Someone who had walked with Him. Sat with Him. Learned from Him. Shared meals with Him. That is what makes this day so deeply...
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44. Holy Tuesday: Not Everyone Who Sounds Spiritual Is Safe | By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them
Holy Tuesday gives us one of the most sobering lessons of Holy Week: not everyone who sounds spiritual is safe. Jesus was not hardest on weakness. He was hardest on what looked righteous but quietly harmed people. In this “Here’s the Lesson” episode, Jon explores what Christ teaches about...
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43. Holy Monday | Jesus Was Gentle With the Broken—But Not With What Exploited the Sacred
On Holy Monday, Jesus does something many Christians do not know what to do with: He cleanses the temple. He overturns tables. He drives things out. He disrupts what everyone else had learned to tolerate. And He does not do it because He lacks love. He does it because something sacred is being...
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42. Palm Sunday, People-Pleasing, and the Cost of Following Jesus
On Palm Sunday, the crowds welcomed Jesus with praise, palm branches, and celebration. But beneath that moment was a painful tension: many people were not surrendering to who Christ truly was. They were embracing who they hoped He would be. In this mini episode of Here’s the Lesson, Jon explores...
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41. Here's the Lesson: Christian Boundaries: The Truth About Peacemaking (Stop Keeping the Peace at Your Expense)
What does it actually mean to be a “peacemaker” as a Christian? For many of us, “keeping the peace” meant staying quiet… avoiding conflict… and carrying things that were never ours to carry. But that’s not the peace Jesus talked about. In this episode, we break down the difference between true...
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40. Here's the Lesson: When “Truth” Gets Called Gossip (Faith, Boundaries, & Toxic Family Systems)
Have you ever been told, “Don’t talk about that… it’s gossip”—when you were just trying to make sense of something painful? In many families and faith communities, truth-telling gets mislabeled as gossip. And when that happens, harmful patterns stay protected, voices get silenced, and the people...
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39. Why Your Parents Can’t Hear You (And Why It Hurts So Much)
Why do conversations with your parents feel impossible? Why does it feel like you’re asking for something simple—honesty, accountability, understanding… and getting defensiveness, silence, or “we did the best we could” in return? In this episode, we break down what’s actually happening beneath…
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38. Here's the Lesson | Smear Campaigns: Why People Attack You When You Set Boundaries
What happens when you set a healthy boundary… and instead of being met with understanding, you become the target of a smear campaign? In this episode of Here’s the Lesson, Jon shares a personal story about what unfolded after he and his wife Ashley set boundaries within their family—and how…
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37. Here's the Lesson: Guilt Doesn’t Mean You’re Wrong (Why Boundaries Feel So Hard)
If you’ve ever set a boundary with your family and immediately felt guilty… this episode is for you. That voice that starts asking: “Was that too harsh?” “Am I hurting them?” “Am I being selfish?” For many people, that guilt is enough to pull them right back into old patterns—people-pleasing,...
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36. SPECIAL EPISODE: The Moment Everything Changed (Free Chapter from Our New Book Leave Then Cleave)
This episode is a special release from our new book, Leave Then Cleave: Breaking Unhealthy Patterns Without Losing Your Faith. What you’re about to hear is the opening segment from the book — a chapter we call “The Letter.” It tells the story of the night everything changed for our family. After...
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35. Here's the Lesson: When Evil is Far Away, Everyone is Brave
Why do people easily condemn abuse when it appears in the news… but struggle to confront it when it happens inside their own families or communities? In this Here’s the Lesson mini-episode, Jon explores a powerful blind spot that exists in many family systems: moral clarity is easy when the…
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34. Joseph in Egypt: Why God Allows Betrayal, Injustice, and the Pit
Why does God allow betrayal, injustice, and seasons that feel like the pit? In this episode of the CLEAVE Podcast, Jon and Ashley explore the story of Joseph in Egypt and what it teaches us about suffering, family betrayal, faith, and personal transformation. Joseph’s story is one of the most...
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33. Here's the Lesson | When Family Functions Like a Cult (Spiritual Abuse & Control Explained)
What does it actually mean when someone says a family “functions like a cult”? This episode explores the psychological dynamics of control inside certain family systems — especially in religious or faith-centered homes. We’re not talking about compounds. We’re talking about: • Unquestioned...
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32. When In-Laws, Family Loyalty, and Marriage Boundaries Collide
What does it actually mean to “leave and cleave” in marriage? Many couples don’t struggle because they don’t love each other. They struggle because no one ever taught them how loyalty shifts when you enter a covenant relationship. In this episode of CLEAVE, we unpack: • Marriage boundaries and...
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31. Here's the Lesson: When “Honor Your Parents” Becomes Control: Boundaries, Spiritual Abuse & Discernment
Many Christians are told that unless there is sexual or physical abuse, they should “just work through it.” But what about spiritual abuse? What about chronic manipulation, gaslighting, emotional control, and family systems that demand silence over truth? In this episode of Leave Then Cleave, we...
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30. Why Healing Makes You the Family Problem
In many families, the person who starts healing becomes the threat. In this episode, we unpack the role of the scapegoat — and why the one who sees unhealthy patterns is often labeled dramatic, divisive, or difficult. We explore how discernment develops, why systems protect stability over truth,...
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29. Here's The Lesson | Forgiveness Is Not Reconciliation: What Joseph Teaches Us About Boundaries
Most Christians are taught that forgiveness means immediate reconciliation. But that’s not what happened in the story of Joseph. In this episode of Here’s the Lesson, Jon unpacks the powerful intersection of scripture and psychology — showing how the biblical story of Joseph and his brothers...
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28. Here's the Lesson: When Truth Gets Called Contention
Have you ever tried to address a hurt, name a pattern, or set a boundary — and were told you were being contentious? In many families, discomfort gets treated as spiritual danger. Hard conversations get shut down in the name of “keeping the peace,” and scripture is sometimes used to avoid...
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27. Here's the Lesson: When Family Loyalty Conflicts With Truth
We’re often taught that faith means holding families together at all costs. But what happens when keeping the peace requires ignoring what’s true? In this episode of Here’s the Lesson, we talk about the tension many people quietly live in — loving their family while feeling pressured to stay…
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26. Q&A #1: Toxic In-Laws, No Contact, Estranged Parents & Family Boundaries
This episode is a listener Q&A — real situations people are living through right now. We talk through questions about toxic in-laws, going no contact with parents, when a spouse doesn’t see the problem, attending weddings or funerals during estrangement, and whether reconciliation is actually...
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25. Here's the Lesson: When “Don’t Gossip” Becomes Spiritual Abuse
One of the most damaging misunderstandings in faith communities is the belief that talking about abuse is “gossip.” In this episode, we break down the critical difference between gossip and truth, and how spiritual language is often used—intentionally or unintentionally—to silence survivors,...
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24. Here's The Lesson: The Hardest Command Jesus Gave: Loving Those Who Hurt You
Jesus once gave a command that feels almost impossible when you’ve been deeply hurt: “Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you.” These words weren’t spoken to people in safe, healthy relationships. They were spoken to the wounded. The...
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23. Here's the Lesson: Being the Peacemaker Might Be Why You’re Exhausted
Being the “peacemaker” in a family is often praised — but in unhealthy systems, that role can quietly lead to anxiety, resentment, and exhaustion. In this Here’s the Lesson episode, we explore how peacemaking can shift from genuine reconciliation into emotional self-abandonment, especially in...
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22. Forgiveness Isn’t Reconciliation: Why “Forgive and Forget” Keeps People Stuck
Forgiveness is one of the most misunderstood—and most weaponized—concepts in faith communities. In this episode, Jon and Ashley dismantle the damaging belief that forgiveness requires forgetting, excusing harm, or immediately reconciling with people who continue to hurt you. Drawing from their…
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21. Here's the Lesson: Forgiveness Isn’t What You Were Taught (and Why That Matters for Healing
Forgiveness is one of the most misunderstood teachings in faith communities — and for many people, that misunderstanding has caused more harm than healing. In this Here’s the Lesson episode, we explore why forgiveness has so often been taught as immediate reconciliation, emotional closure, or...
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20. Here's the Lesson: How Resentment is Born in Good Intentions
What happens when kindness comes with expectations? In this mini episode of Here’s the Lesson, we explore how giving—especially in families—can quietly turn into obligation, control, or resentment when it’s tied to unspoken expectations. This conversation isn’t about blame. It’s about honesty,...
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19. Spiritual Abuse & Manipulation: When Faith Is Used to Control Instead of Heal
What happens when faith—meant to heal, guide, and liberate—is used to control, silence, or shame? In this episode, we dive into the often misunderstood topic of spiritual abuse and spiritual manipulation. We talk honestly about how gospel principles can be misapplied in families, churches,...
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18. Here's the Lesson: "Don't Judge" Isn't What Christ Meant
“Don’t judge” is one of the most quoted — and most misunderstood — phrases in Christian culture. In this Here’s the Lesson mini episode, we unpack what Jesus actually taught about judgment, discernment, and accountability. Christ never asked us to abandon truth in the name of love. He warned...
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17. Here's the Lesson: Turning the Other Cheek Was Never About Accepting Abuse
What did Jesus actually mean when He said, “turn the other cheek”? For many, this teaching has been misunderstood—and misused—to encourage silence, endurance, and even compliance in the face of harm. In this episode of Here’s the Lesson, we slow down and place Christ’s words back into their...
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16. Here’s the Lesson: Boundaries Aren’t Betrayal
This isn’t a full episode — just a short reflection. In this Here’s the Lesson segment from Leave Then Cleave, Jon explores why boundaries are often mislabeled as betrayal, especially in families and faith-based relationships. Boundaries aren’t rejection. They’re clarity. If someone experiences...
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15. Here’s the Lesson: Silence Isn’t the Same as Peace
This isn’t a full episode — just a short reflection. In this Here’s the Lesson segment from Leave Then Cleave, Jon explores the difference between peace and avoidance, especially when silence is mistaken for righteousness. Forgiveness was never meant to erase truth. And love was never meant to...
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14: Introducing Cleave: Leave What’s Unhealthy. Cleave to What’s True.
Welcome to Cleave — formerly The Living in Truth Project Podcast. In this reboot episode, Jon and Ashley introduce what Cleave is all about: honest, long-form conversations on marriage, family dynamics, boundaries, healing, faith, and emotional health. We share the story behind the name Cleave —...
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13. The Truth About Glinda: When ‘Good’ Becomes Wicked
Wicked is not the story we all thought it was. In this episode of Cleave, I break down the emotional and psychological layers inside one of Broadway’s biggest hits — and why its message hits differently as an adult. We talk: • the Wizard’s manipulation • Glinda’s toxic charm • the recipe for...
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12. Cleaving, Covenant, and the Healing Power of Family
What happens when the ideal of “eternal family” meets the reality of imperfection and grief? In this powerful episode, Jon Lefrandt reflects on the doctrine behind family, partnership, and divine order—through the lens of his own loss, love, and lived experience. A heartfelt look at what it means...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
🌟 The Living in Truth Project: A Christian Podcast 🌟 Hi! We are Jon and Ashley Lefrandt. As devoted Latter-day Saints, we explore the intersection of faith, psychology, and daily life. We discuss doctrine, life challenges, and offer insights for everyone—members, seekers, and questioners. Join us on this journey of faith and understanding. We are committed to learn truth, apply truth and to share it with you. We invite you to join us! #FaithMeetsLife 🙏✨
HOSTED BY
Jon and Ashley Lefrandt
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Living in Truth Project have?
The Living in Truth Project currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Living in Truth Project about?
🌟 The Living in Truth Project: A Christian Podcast 🌟 Hi! We are Jon and Ashley Lefrandt. As devoted Latter-day Saints, we explore the intersection of faith, psychology, and daily life. We discuss doctrine, life challenges, and offer insights for everyone—members, seekers, and questioners. Join us...
How often does The Living in Truth Project release new episodes?
The Living in Truth Project has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Living in Truth Project?
You can listen to The Living in Truth Project on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Living in Truth Project?
The Living in Truth Project is created and hosted by Jon and Ashley Lefrandt.
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