Big Daddy Weave lead singer and guitarist, Mike Weaver, talks about the group's hit song "Redeemed" from the album Love Come To Life. He shares with us the story behind it and how it continues to minister to him personally.
I'm Mike Weaver, from the group Big Daddy Weave. I sing and play guitar for Big Daddy Weave.
The song Redeemed continues to blow my mind how God is using this thing. I don't think there's any part of the songwriting process where you think, Well, this is the part where the Holy Spirit is going to talk somebody out of ending their life or encourage somebody in the middle of something that they've never been able to see a way out or see hope in the middle of.
"Redeemed" came out of a place of brokenness for me. For as long as I can remember I have always never felt like I was enough. And no matter what God has done through my life and around my life, I never really let that affect the way that I felt about myself.
We kind of resolved to do this Biggest Loser-esque kind of idea in 2009. The goal was for me to lose 90 pounds in '09. In November I was down 70 pounds, all the way down 80 pounds in December, with only had 10 pounds to go, at that point. Honestly, it had become less about my health and more about reaching this number on the scale.
And so on the last day of 2009 I got on the scale and I had lost 84 pounds. I realize that is nothing to sneeze at. But when I realized that I had missed the goal by 6 pounds, I was destroyed. I couldn't see any of the good in it. All I could see was the failure and it resonated in that place in me that had always said that about me.
It just sent me into a really, a really dark place in my life. I remember there was a day when it was at about it's worst and I was down in our garage pouring these feelings of self-hatred out to Jesus. And just saying God if you can love me unconditionally and you are perfect and you are holy and you are the king of the universe, you can love me, why can't I love and except myself, God. And it was like the King of the Universe said to me,
"Mike why don't you let me tell you what I think about you for once. I like the way you smile man,"
and he said "I love your heart for people, and I even like your silly sense of humor, because I put all that stuff in you. And you're mine, not because of your track record, not because of your ability or inability to do anything, it's based solely on what I have already done for you, the blood of Jesus Christ shed for your life. You're mine because of my track record."
I feel like the Lord showed me that day that what real humility is, is not self deprecation but what walking in humility really is, is just agreeing with what he says about anybody and anything and what he says about my life as his child, somebody who belongs to him, is that I am redeemed and that's the way I need to see myself.
Only Jesus can take the stuff that you hate about yourself, and use that to reach people man.