Dear Friend,
You are free, you just don’t know it yet.
We live in a world that heaps upon us it’s expectations, rules, and standards. We, being sheep, spend an exorbitant amount of time, energy, and money in our efforts to conform to those standards.
- Fashion and design trends change and so we throw out all of our old clothes and remodel our homes excessively.
- We try every “lose weight overnight” trick in an effort to look like the models on the covers of our magazines even though we know they don’t actually look like that in real life.
- One that hits closer to home for me: We’re stuck in a continual upgrade cycle on all of the technological gear imaginable because we just can’t seem to live without the newest feature that we didn’t even know we wanted (needed?) until we were told we did.
- On a little bit darker note we tend to believe that we’ll always be stuck in ways that we don’t really like but we can’t seem to escape. We believe, however falsely, that we will always be an alcoholic, we’ll always be angry, or we’ll never be able to break free from that habitual sin.
Truth Telling
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
– Galations 5:1
It’s time for you to hear a little bit of truth.
Your house and your wardrobe are fine just the way they are.
You are beautiful no matter what you look like.
You don’t need the latest, most up to date gadget you can get. If your stuff works, it works. Replace it when it dies. Your budget will thank you later.
This next one might be a little harder to swallow, but it is true nonetheless. You are not your sins and addictions. They are what you experience and choose to do, but they are not who you are.
Like the verse from Galatians above tells us, Jesus has already set you free. What He did on the cross took away all the things that you think you are. The only thing stopping you from living in the freedom you already have is you. Your pride, fear, and doubt. Your willingness to fight. Once you choose to believe that you are free then you can start to make that freedom a reality in your life.
What is Reality?
You are free from fear. No longer does it need to hold sway over who you are and what you become.
You are free from doubt. You have everything you need to make the right decisions. Once you know who you are then … you know who you are. Own it.
You are free from everything that has ever held you back. You are free to be who and what you were meant to be.
You have so many incredible things inside of you and they are all clamoring to get out. You have talents, skills, and gifts that no one (even those closest to you) knows about you. You have abilities that would change the world if you would only set them free.
You may still have to follow the rules of this world (driving 100 MPH in your neighborhood is a no-no) but you no longer have to conform to its expectations. You don’t have to wait for permission to be who you are meant to be. There are no gatekeepers. You are free to become whatever it is that you feel like you are meant to become.
You are free to love and to laugh. You are free to live. You no longer have to be a slave to anything that has ever held you captive in this life. Not your fears. Not your doubts. Not your sin. If you’re a Christian, you are truly free. If you’re not, you can be. Live in that freedom and become the person you are meant to be.
I can’t wait to see who you become.
Your friend,
Rich
P.S. Knowing your free is one thing. Actually feeling or being free is something else. Freedom isn’t free and like I mentioned a little bit earlier, sometimes you need to put up a fight. Come back next week and we’ll dig a little deeper into what is takes to actually be free.