How do you handle a friend who’s become more “spiritually intense”?

My friends and I are all Christians in our 20s. We met at Bible college, though some of us dropped out (not for religious reasons).

One friend in particular has always struggled with her mental health. She’s mentioned having very low points and sometimes thinking we all secretly hate her or are only friends with her out of pity, even though she knows that’s not true. Once, before a “creative hangout” at her house, my husband texted her asking if he could bake something since he doesn’t really draw or write. Later she told me, laughing, that she had this random thought that he must hate her and think she was stupid even though she knows that’s not how he feels.

When we first met, she hid some of that insecurity but had strong opinions about certain things. For example, she’d “yell” at people for swearing, saying, “We don’t say things like thatttt!” She herself never swore.

A couple of years ago, she met her now-husband. They got close very quickly, married soon after, and she moved to his town. He was heavily involved in his church, and she got involved too. she really loves mentoring and encouraging people, especially teens.

They recently moved back to our area, and we’ve been spending more time together. But she’s changed a lot. For one, she swears now, which surprised us since she used to be so against it.

She’s also become really sensitive about gossip. The three of us girls do a Bible study together and ever since a chapter we read on gossip, she’s been quick to stop conversations she thinks are crossing a line which is fine but sometimes we’re not even gossiping… For example our friend group was talking about everyone we know who’s gotten engaged and a couple we know got brought up and we were wondering if they were still together since we knew there were some issues with their parents. She stoped us and said, “Guys, we should stop because this is turning into gossip.”

Another time, I sent her and a friend a funny Instagram comment thread I thought was shocking and hilarious. She replied, “I shall pray,” and sent a paragraph-long prayer about the comment… Or when a friend was complaining about high schoolers in Walmart, she cut in with, “They are people created in God’s image” and made him stop talking. Another time, another friend laughed at seeing someone in an interesting costume, and she said their name in a very “parental” tone to stop them.

She’s even asked if it would be okay for her to stop us when we’re ranting or complaining and remind us to thank God instead.

There are a lot of times where she acts like her normal self, laughing and joking with us about things but now I feel like I need to be careful with what I say…

I understand wanting to honor God in conversation, but some of these moments have felt awkward or like she’s trying to correct us constantly. I don’t want to be judgmental…I genuinely want to handle this with grace.

How would you approach a situation like this?

Would you say something, or just let her be since her intentions seem good?