Stephanie Rousselle
11 min read ⭑
“My greatest delight is to see someone fall in love with Jesus at a deeper level — that twinkle in their eye that reveals fresh insights into who they are to him or who he is to them.”
QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
There’s much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?
I live in the U.S., but last summer, I was back in my hometown of Paris, France. No place feels like home to me like the quaint little streets of Paris. I’m French and grew up in France, but I left as a young adult. Since then, I’ve lived for the past two decades on three continents, four countries and five cities, so I’ve experienced my share of cuisines, flavors and cultures.
That might be why Paris is, well, so sweet to me. It’s home. Even culinarily. So of course, I hit all my favorite Parisian hangouts when I visited last summer, including this little café that serves the spiciest savory raspberry-coulis bell pepper tarts. Now, that is a combination you’ve most likely never tasted.
It reminds me of the matchlessness of Scripture because my greatest passion is to invite you to “taste and see” the goodness of God through the discovery of unexpected flavor profiles in Scripture. My greatest delight is to see someone fall in love with Jesus at a deeper level — that twinkle in their eye that reveals fresh insights into who they are to him or who he is to them. Jesus is like a savory raspberry bell pepper tart — intriguing, enticing and most assuredly delightful to our spiritual tastebuds. Taste and see, indeed!
Axel Mencia; Unsplash
QUESTION #2: REVEAL
We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called "nonspiritual" activities do you love and help you find spiritual renewal?
A fresh garden-grown bouquet in a simple container. A crisp linen tablecloth, a couple of white candles and my favorite gold-rimmed French china dishes. A stew generously sharing its heavenly scents from my iron-cast cookware on a low flame. Those are the backdrop to the relational connections I love to foster around my table.
It’s the stuff of everyday life, really. Nothing fancy. But it makes my soul sing with the anticipation of conversation, connection over food and laughter, and memories made for eternity. I seem to sense God’s presence weaving his Spirit in the air, tendrils of love and joy, even amid the occasional heaviness of conversation.
These moments connect yesterday to today to tomorrow. I am the little girl sitting at the table, her chin barely reaching the tabletop, her eyes gleaming with wonder. I am the grandmother cuddling the baby at the end of the table — more alive than ever. I am the friend leaning in, whispering, sharing her heart. I am the mother, chasing her little ones, aware of the simple joy of this fleeting moment. I am the wife, dwelling in my beloved’s gaze. I am the hostess, loving on my people through the labor of my hands for the delight of my heart. I am the daughter, reveling in her Father’s love — fully known and fully loved. I am, at this moment, because he is.
QUESTION #3: CONFESS
Every superhero has a weakness. Every human, too. We're just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you hide it?
I grew up a devout atheist in a dog-eat-dog culture. My very intellectual middle-class French family might fit a lot of the clichés you might think of. I was proud — arrogant, even.
Then I met Jesus. He broke me in the gentlest yet firmest of ways. This was almost 30 years ago. You’d think I’d have it figured out by now, but no, I’m still learning. He’s still showing me depths of brokenness I had never suspected were even there in the dark recesses of my heart. He has shown me that one of my greatest weaknesses is my stubborn self-sufficiency, which is rooted in pride.
Pride. It hides all sorts of things, pride. Shame. Fear. Inadequacies. Pride comes before a fall, and it manifests itself in all sorts of subtle ways. I abhor this nasty pride that whispers to my heart in the dark to entice me away from my precious Lord. I am learning ever more deeply to embrace surrender to the One who knows me and loves me in spite of it. I am learning that pride is the weakness that draws me back, over and over, to the feet of the cross, where he sees me, cleanses me and tells me I am loved. I am more broken than I know, but I am also more known than I can fathom. Humility is my ambition. Surrender is my goal. Every day a bit more. His glory is my delight. Because my glory is the delight he takes in me.
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your obsession? And why should it be ours?
When I came to faith from stubborn atheism, God challenged me to dare to experience him. “Taste and see,” he taunted me.
I have tasted, and I have seen. I am tasting, and I am seeing. And my passion is to inspire others to taste and see, too. He has generously taught my heart to understand that he creates us to experience our greatest delight when we dwell on his glory and that my glory is not found in man, success or accomplishment, but in the delight he takes in me.
God’s glory, our delight — that’s my motto. So today, I have the privilege to get to inspire our generation to delight in God through an invitation to taste and see. That’s the mission of the ministry I founded, Gospel Spice. Our flagship is our top-ranking global podcast, reaching thousands in 125 countries (and counting). We provide in-depth Bible teachings with our trademark spicy twist — and my French accent, which I guess you’re going to have to try and hear for yourself! We also welcome inspiring guests with flavorful stories (Dallas Jenkins, Sheila Walsh, Joel Rosenberg and Susie Larson to name a few). Our team also serves people across the globe through “Spice Jars” (life groups), studies and more. Once we grow in our love for God with all our heart and soul and strength and mind, we also then love our neighbor as ourselves — Gospel Spice raises awareness about the fight against the unspeakable evil of human trafficking. Taste and see — make God’s glory your delight!
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Cashiers, CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it's God when it happens?
You might be familiar with the classic question “Are you a Mary or a Martha?” In other words, do you get things done or do you take the time to take the time? I used to be a Martha. Nothing wrong with that! But God is teaching me through Mary-moments. And I suspect he molds accents of Marthas into Marys in slow fashion, too.
As I get older — wiser, some might graciously say — I am on a quest to experience God through pondering the deeper things. Sitting under a tree, looking at the leaves blowing in the wind. Letting my mind wander along, springing from a turn of phrase from a cherished book. Tasting God at the tip of an ice cream cone. I guess you might say that, as a born-and-bred French person, I am culturally hard-wired for hedonism.
I find that my greatest moments of inspiration come when I find my delight in God. It can be the hustle and bustle of leading a ministry or the quiet of the giant tree in my backyard. As a Martha with goals, deadlines, objectives and plans, I am discovering that God infuses my busyness with Mary-moments when he points me in an unexpected direction through God-whispers.
God whispers through prayer. Prayer is communion, conversation, comfortable silence and also the bubbling brook of overflowing words and emotions. I see God at work in unexplainable ways — like, for example, the way he seems to be choosing to bless Gospel Spice by allowing us to serve so many — and yet I live in the holy expectancy of wonder. No expectations. But deep expectancy.
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied actions that open our hearts to the presence of God. So spill it, which spiritual practice is workin' best for you right now?
The habit of “no exception.” I think it’s the secret of the abiding intimacy with my precious Lord, which seems to have become the hallmark of our relationship. I say this with utter wonder and humility, please hear me. And I hope to beckon you to experience it for yourself, too.
No exception, no matter what, I will meet with God today.
It’s simple yet it’s revolutionary. For me in this current season of life, it looks like waking up before dawn and joining the morning stars in their silent worship. It tastes like strong coffee — black, no sugar, freshly ground and French roast in a pour-over, please. Put your coffee to work for the glory of God. My leather chair has welcomed me for so long, it is perfectly contoured and nestles me into a warm embrace. My worn-out Bible begs for a replacement, but how can I relinquish this faithful companion, which has seen my joys and my tears for so many mornings?
I usually start with a private moment of conversation with my Beloved — bringing my heart into a place of awareness of his presence and his welcome of me. We talk about all he knows about me, and what he is showing me: the good, the bad, the ugly of my heart and my hands. We spend time in his Word, alternating the Old and the New. Then he speaks to me through favorite authors — usually long-dead men and women who have walked this road before me and are lights pointing me to him. We end when I give him in prayer my loved ones, my team, my ministry, our audience, our neighborhood and the world.
No exception. It might look different for you — I remember the days of young motherhood — but I lovingly challenge you to embrace the holy habit of no exceptions.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Our email subscribers get free ebooks featuring our favorite resources — lots of things that have truly impacted our faith lives. But you know about some really great stuff, too. What are three resources that have impacted you?
I am often asked what I read since I read quite a bit. I have a large library of the “dead guys.” They’re largely puritans. John Owen, William Burroughs, Richard Sibbes, Saint John of the Cross, are the older ones. Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley are the slightly more recent ones. And then, of course, I read C.S. Lewis, Elisabeth Elliott, Oswald Chambers and AW Tozer.
Within our generation, I love classics from Tim Keller, John Piper, Beth Moore (her “Chasing Vines” is stunning), and yes, even Ravi Zacharias. (Oops, I dared say it. No one is perfect, and we need to be able to separate the man from the teachings. His insights are powerful, regardless of his morals as recently uncovered.) My theology has been shaped also by Norman Geisler’s book “Chosen but Free,” which strikes a nice balance between free will and predestination.
I am a huge fan of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Inklings, anyone? Since we used to live in London, we got to experience Oxford and all its Tolkien and Lewis hangouts. I love biographies, and I think Eric Metaxas does a great job with his.
Oh, and there’s one teen and preteen series that I believe is as powerful as “The Chronicles of Narnia.” It’s a series by Jenny Cote titled “The Epic Order of the Seven.” Delightful, whimsical and deeply biblical. I am a theologian, and I have learned from her series! I highly recommend it for all kids — from ages 10 to 100!
Podcasts-wise, well, I am a little partial to “Gospel Spice” of course. I love deeply biblical, Christo-centric content of all kinds. we get to interview amazing content creators on our show, so you will find many of the most inspiring authors there!
I am a huge fan of “The Chosen” (interviewed them twice on “Gospel Spice,” once with Dallas and Amanda Jenkins, and once with the two key producers of the show).
We all have things we cling to to survive (or thrive) in tough times. Name one resource you’ve found indispensable in this current season — and tell us what it's done for you.
I am currently going through an Advent devotional (since it’s December) titled “Prepare Him Room” by Susie Larson. Not your classic shallow devotional. It is good. Just get it.
I also just finished “Providence” by John Piper. It’s most likely his magnum opus. So much to ponder. You may not agree with everything (I didn’t on a few points), but it’s still very good food for thought.
I have recently finished “A Body of Divinity” by Thomas Watson. He was a puritan, but his writing is surprisingly modern. You will be blessed, especially because it is a little hard to read, so it forces me to pause and ponder. My copy is so marked up with notes in the margins, I will need a new copy since I intend to read it again next year! Good thing it is a cheap buy since it’s public domain.
I also recommend resources by Erica Wiggenhorn, who is a wonderfully encouraging Bible teacher.
I always recommend anything by The Bible Project. And come to think of it, there is a powerful documentary called “Jesus in Athens” by Darren Carlson that walks through the way evangelical churches have handled the influx of immigrants in Greece from 2016 through 2018. It’s powerful.
Oh, and did I mention the Rebecca Bender Initiative, which I believe is one of the best ministries out there to fight human trafficking, alongside A21 and others? Be sure to check them out. They will inspire you to love your neighbor as yourself.
QUESTION #8: dream
God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?
Dreams. Oh, how dreams matter. God infuses his dreams for us into our spirits so that he may use them to mold us into the person he created us to be. He has dreams for us, dreams of beauty and goodness and creativity and love. Dreams are scary, too, because they require vulnerability and stepping out.
I feel that God gave me a dream, and I am seeing the remotest tendrils of its distant presence on the horizon. We launched Gospel Spice two years ago, fueled by sheer faith and the indomitable conviction that the Holy Spirit was quite literally pushing us out the door and into the wide plains of his purpose.
So today, my dream is the next chapter of this new story. My wildest dream is to inspire our generation to delight in God. My dream is to cup your face in my hands and tell you of his love for you until you know it. And then my dream is for you to cup someone else's face in your hands and tell them. Across gender, race, social status, age and geography — I dream of a united community of a million points of light in a dark world, all joined in a deeply rooted knowledge of who God is and who they are to him. I dream of a community that has tasted and seen that the Lord is good and that is committed to inspiring others to taste and see.
It might sound cliché. But I tell you, it is the deepest cry of my heart and the sincerest representation of a dream that is burning brightly within me.
We love how Stephanie describes her passion to help others see just how deeply God loves them. And why is she so passionate about helping others “taste and see” God’s goodness? Because she’s experienced it for herself!
Psalm 34:5 and 8 tell us: “Those who look to [God] are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. … Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (ESV).
How do we taste and see? By following the psalmist’s example — looking to Jesus and taking refuge in him. When we stare at the heart of our heavenly Father, we can’t help but see how relentless his love is and how far he’s willing to go to pursue our hearts.
And as we taste and see for ourselves, we can help others do the same.
Stephanie Rousselle is the founder of Gospel Spice Ministries. Her motto is “God’s glory, our delight!” Born and raised in France, she has lived for Jesus over the last two decades on three continents through six professional roles. She’s a wife, mom, podcaster, public speaker, Bible teacher, former women’s ministry director and strategy consultant. Stephanie thrives on Bible-centered inspirational writing, speaking and dark chocolate. She’s been teaching Scripture to thousands over the last 20 years in France, the U.K., Africa, and the U.S., and now on all six continents through the Gospel Spice Podcast. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
