Why I Quit Young Living
Taking a Spiritual Stance
As most of you know, part of what I promote on the same platforms as my Grace and Gratitude business is Young Living essential oils. A few months back, I had an ENTIRE video/multiple posts about why it was so aligned for me to partner with them. I have always loved essential oils and believe that natural remedies are God’s gift to us as a means of health and healing as opposed to all the harsh medicines out there.
I only announced this a few months ago, and have since gained close to 20 customers within my circle, which felt pretty good but it’s not like I was soaring through ranks by any means
I know a lot of people have their mixed feelings on Network Marketing businesses and I totally get it - some individual companies or even individual people within great companies, can be incredibly “spammy” and annoying which might taint someone’s view altogether. I get it, but I also think Network Marketing has blessed a lot of people and provided a means to stay home with their kiddos, or even reach incredibly great financial success that a lot of us only can dream of.
That’s the shiny object here.
“Financial freedom” that you see so many high-ranking Network Marketers achieve - and it looks and sounds, amazing!! So I partnered with Young Living because promoting and teaching about natural products seemed very aligned, BUT I also partnered because of course it seemed like huge potential for income.
Here’s the problem.
I am an all or nothing type of person. It isn’t in my nature to just casually join up with a company and incorporate it into my content here and there. So what did that mean for me in this instance?
I was constantly torn on where to focus my attention. I had JUST announced the realignment of Grace and Gratitude becoming Catholic-focused, and already I added a completely new aspect to my business. Could I perhaps have tried to do both and only focus SOME attention on Young Living? Yes. But, again, it isn’t my tendency to give something 10%. So with that said, it seemed like every night when I finally had my devoted “work” time, it was back and forth on where my heart was at.
Given the team-like nature of Network Marketing, there’s the trainings and the groups and the mentorship and the endless resources, it was SO much easier to be pulled THAT direction instead of putting my focus on Grace and Gratitude.
It wasn’t feeling quite right but it also wasn’t “wrong” enough to quit. So I kept at it… but something felt off.
And THEN….
About a week ago, a particular post (an Instagram story) started circulating all different social media platforms. Anyone who is involved with Young Living, was talking about it.
The story was a girl, a former Young Living partner, who was sharing about a book that she had just received in the mail from a high ranking Young Living leader.
The book is titled, “My Word Made Flesh” Now, unless that is God speaking, a phrase like “MY Word Made Flesh” doesn’t make any sense…
If you’re Catholic or even Christian you know the Bible refers to Jesus as the Word. “The Word was with God and the Word was God.” (St. John 1:1) And then later in that same chapter, “And the Word was made flesh” (here is where, if you attend a Catholic Mass, the entire parish including the priest and alter boys, genuflect in REVERENCE for the words being said… the Word was made flesh, GOD MADE MAN )
“…and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and TRUTH.” (St. John 1:14)
A moment of complete reverence during the Latin Mass as the host is changed into the Body of Christ
Disrespecting any part of such a solemnity is not something I can ignore.
So you have this book title, “My Word Made Flesh” - and it is NOT a book filled with Godliness whatsoever. It is very much a mindset book, which, don’t get me wrong I am all about mindset. I do believe our thoughts become our reality and I do believe how we talk to ourselves dramatically impacts our life. However - there was just too much in this book (based on the few pictures I saw of it) that didn’t sit right with me. The title alone... makes me want to cry at Jesus’ feet at the total slander against such Sacred words. And then some other content inside the book was “I am the Resurrection and the Life of my lineage” - so, as a suggested affirmation. As in, saying that WE are the RESURRECTION and the LIFE. What?!
It was just all too strange to me. So the girl who shared it was labeling everything as “completely demonic, satanic” etc…. do I agree? In a way, yes.
Do I think the author intended that? Not necessarily, but the enemy is SLY and SNEAKY (a wolf in sheep’s clothing) so even if that isn’t how the book was intended, I truly, firmly believe the devil had an influence on its title and its content... knowing that it would be getting into the hands of so many believers and for a good majority of them, they would find nothing wrong with it.
So what does this mean for me?
Well, like I said the author is a Young Leaving leader, NOT a corporate employee. And I guess she personally sent the book to all the leaders on her team, or something like that. HOWEVER, the CEO of Young Living did write the foreword. So to write a foreword for a book I would imagine you are familiar with the title and the idea of the content, at the very least...
The fact that she wrote the forward just, in my opinion, shows corporate approval for the book. Now, when this Instagram story went out, a LOT of people were defending Young Living saying corporate basically knew nothing about the book and we can’t blame Young Living etc etc. But, the CEO wrote the foreword?!
To me, the weirder part wasn’t even so much that they were saying it wasn’t coming from Young Living - the weird part was that their verbiage was basically, “individuals can think and believe what they want” (Young Living has had multiple formal statements come out saying that they did not release this book from Corporate and that they want to remind us all that individuals are free to think as they wish basically, so why does it matter?)
Well, to ME it matters because in this instance the individual is sharing something that I believe to be extremely blasphemous to the Word of God. It isn’t just that I don’t agree, it’s that I’m appalled and offended and extremely saddened by it. (Not to mention, I have a conscience to answer to)
Secondly, I was very much under the impression that Young Living was “very Christian” and I strongly based my partnership on that fact. So to have all these statements come out about “everyone is entitled to their beliefs, we embrace diversity etc” was just surprising to me because no where has any statement addressed the very anti-Christ title/content.
Now, some of you may be thinking I'm being over the top. And let me make it clear, my goal here is NOT to turn everyone away from Young Living. Not at all. I still believe they have extremely top notch products, their brand partners are good and wonderful people and their business side provides incredible potential for the right person. But for ME, I will no longer be partnering with them as a business venture and also will not be buying my oils from them either. I encourage everyone to pray and make their own decision on this matter and not to just do what I'm doing. I'm simply providing an explanation for why Young Living will no longer be part of Grace and Gratitude.
It just wouldn't make sense for all that I stand for with Grace and Gratitude, to brush something like that under the rug.
And as I mentioned in the first half of this, spending my time and attention on Young Living was honestly taking away from all the things I have planned for Grace and Gratitude, so even if this book isn't a big deal to others, it WAS just enough of a nudge for me, from God, to change directions. I have multiple Catholic friends who actually brought this book to my attention, asking my thoughts on it. I know that it's a red flag to many, to see a title like that, and that's why I wanted to provide such a thorough explanation on my thought process and final decision.
We are called to be IN the world, not OF the world and I truly think if there's ONE thing we have to be absolutely unwavering in, it's our Faith and our Loyalty to God - through and through, in ALL aspects of our life. It's why we're here on this earth! To know, love and serve HIM. So the moment something is putting off alarms in my conscience and in my soul, it doesn't take much time for a decision to be made.
