In this powerful and personal episode of The Victory Podcast, Empress Victory continues the No Other Gods series by confronting addiction from a different perspective.

What if addiction isn’t always about drugs, alcohol, or substances? What if we can become addicted to validation, attention, acceptance, relationships, appearances, and the way the world makes us feel about ourselves?

In The God of Addiction, I take an honest look at my own life and recognize that I became addicted to how the world saw me. I allowed people’s opinions, attention, approval, and perception of me to influence how I saw myself.

But when something outside of God becomes the source of our identity, worth, comfort, or validation, it can begin occupying a place it was never meant to have.

This episode is about recognizing those attachments, confronting them honestly, and learning that our identity and worth cannot be determined by the world.

Through personal testimony, Scripture, reflection, and prayer, I invite you to ask yourself:

What am I addicted to that I never called an addiction?

It’s time to stop allowing the world to tell us who we are and begin seeing ourselves through the eyes of God.

No Other Gods. No Other Idols. God first.

Who are you trying to please—and how much power have you given their approval?

In Episode 5 of The Victory Podcast, Empress Victory gets personal about one of the biggest struggles she has faced: people pleasing. From saying yes when she wanted to say no, fearing rejection, silencing herself, and putting everyone else’s feelings before her own, she shares how the desire to be accepted can slowly cause you to lose sight of yourself—and even become more concerned with pleasing people than pleasing God.

This episode explores the fear underneath people pleasing, the importance of boundaries, and the freedom that comes with realizing that “no” is not a dirty word.

Through personal testimony and Scripture, including Exodus 20:3, Proverbs 29:25, Galatians 1:10, 2 Timothy 1:7, and Psalm 56:3–4, Empress Victory challenges listeners to ask:

Who am I without their approval?

You can love people and still say no.
 You can care about someone’s feelings without becoming responsible for them.
 You can set boundaries and still have a good heart.
 And you don’t have to sacrifice who God created you to be just to keep someone else comfortable.

No other gods. No acceptance. No applause. No validation.

It’s time to stop living for people’s approval and start seeking God’s direction.

🎧 The Victory Podcast — Episode 5: The God of People Pleasing

In this deeply personal episode of The Victory Podcast, Empress Victory continues the No Other Gods series with an honest conversation about one of the hardest idols to recognize: self.

Following the loss of her brother and a season that challenged her faith, identity, and sense of purpose, Victory opens up about what happened when grief, selfishness, fear, and negative thoughts began taking up more space than God. She shares her realization that constantly asking, “How does this benefit me?” had to become “How does this serve God, His Kingdom, and the people I am called to impact?”

This episode explores grief, purpose, humility, spiritual warfare, and the difficult process of learning to surrender our own will to God’s. Victory also speaks candidly about experiencing suicidal thoughts during one of her darkest moments and how choosing to keep fighting allowed her to see another day—and experience the grace waiting on the other side of that moment.

Through prayer, Scripture, personal testimony, and reflection, The God of Selfishness challenges listeners to examine what has taken God’s place in their own lives. Sometimes the idol isn’t money, relationships, status, or possessions. Sometimes, the idol is self.

Victory’s message is simple: Access denied. Negative thoughts don’t get unlimited access anymore. Fear doesn’t get unlimited access. Selfishness doesn’t get unlimited access. And the voice telling you that your life has no purpose doesn’t get the final word.

This isn’t the testimony of someone who has arrived. It’s the testimony of someone who is still walking—choosing faith, choosing purpose, choosing humility, and choosing victory one day at a time.

🎙️ The Victory Podcast with Empress Victory
No Other Gods Series | The God of Selfishness

Content Note: This episode includes personal discussion of grief, depression, and suicidal thoughts. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or are in crisis in the United States, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

On July 11, I lost more than my brother. I lost one of my closest friends—the person I could call about anything, the person who could make me laugh when I didn’t feel like laughing, and the person who constantly reminded me that I was capable of more than I sometimes believed about myself.

Since losing him, I’ve learned that grief doesn’t move in a straight line. One minute you’re okay. Then you hear a song, see a picture, read an old text, or remember something they used to say, and suddenly that wave hits all over again.

In this episode, I’m being completely transparent about where I am right now. I talk about losing my brother, missing his final phone call, struggling with my faith, trying to continue working and showing up for the people who depend on me, and being honest about my relationship with alcohol after previously sharing my experience with AA.

I don’t have a perfect testimony wrapped up with a bow at the end of this episode. I’m still grieving. I’m still asking God questions. I’m still figuring out how to keep going.

And that’s okay.

Things may be okay one day, but they’re not okay today.

If you’re grieving someone you love, I hope this episode reminds you that those waves of sadness, laughter, memories, anger, questions, and even moments of peace can all exist together. Give yourself permission to feel them, and don’t be afraid to reach out for support when you need it.

This one’s for you, big bro.

May the Force be with you. Always. ❤️

— Empress Victory
 The Victory Podcast

In this deeply personal episode of The Victory Podcast, I share my journey through addiction to alcohol and marijuana, my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, and what God has been teaching me about grace, humility, and freedom. Through Matthew 7:1–5, I reflect on how I judged other addicts while failing to acknowledge my own struggle with alcohol.

I also share how I knew Jesus from a very young age, experienced a life-changing encounter with Him at sixteen that led me away from drugs, yet continued drinking for years in an attempt to fit in until it became a habitual addiction. By God’s grace, I celebrate being two weeks sober from alcohol and testify that true freedom begins when we stop judging others, confront our own brokenness, and allow Christ to transform us from the inside out.

“Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the plank in your own eye?” — Matthew 7:3

Join me as I share how God’s mercy met me in my weakness and continues to lead me on the path of healing and victory.

Welcome to the very first episode of The Victory Podcast with Empress Victory. In this foundational episode, we begin by setting the atmosphere through prayer and an in-depth Bible study from Colossians 3, focusing on what it truly means to seek the things above and put Christ at the center of our lives. Together, we examine how idolatry isn’t always found in statues or possessions—it can also be found in pride, self-righteousness, our opinions, and even ourselves. This episode challenges us to examine our own hearts before judging others, encouraging believers to die to the old self, renew their minds, and walk in the identity Christ has given them. Join us as we begin this journey of healing, truth, transformation, and victory—one Scripture at a time.