Freedom in Christ

Take some time and sit with Jesus and ask Him how your life would be if:

How would you feel if you did not carry false guilt (what if, should be, or could be doing)?

How would you feel if you did not worry about your family and other nagging issues?

What if you did not need a substance or chemical to feel alive and to have pleasure?

What would your life be like if you did not compare your life to anyone else’s life? Simply content with your lot in life.

What would your life be like if you no longer cared so much what people thought of you? It’s great if others like you, but if they do not-you are okay!

How would you feel if you no longer condemned yourself or beat yourself up for your shortcomings, mistakes, and weaknesses? What if you accepted yourself completely, shortcomings and all?

What if you began to see yourself as worthy and with value? What if you believed you have purpose and your life does matter?

What would your life be like if you did not try and figure out the outcomes and instead rested and trusted God for the outcomes?

How would your life be if you totally and radically trusted Jesus? Even if your prayers “seemingly” go unanswered and you stand by and watch other people get the very blessings that you want.

What would your life be like if you loved people the way Christ wants you to, not how other people want you to love them?

How would your life be if you did not get easily offended and did not speak judgmentally and critically of other people?

What would your life be like if you focused on the good and not the negative, and your words magnified the good instead of all your problems?

What would your life be like if you did not live in a constant state of panic and stress? What if you adopted the mindset, “Take life as it comes?”

What if you are okay with being misunderstood by people because you choose to follow and serve Christ?

What if you could truly enjoy life without feeling guilty that others don’t have what you have?

What if you could be led by the Holy Spirit and not what man wants from you?

What if you lived knowing that you are a child of God, adopted into His family and are no longer an orphan? What if you knew that Jesus does love you even if you don’t get everything that you want?

What if you loved God with all your heart, soul, and strength and placed no “idols” before Him (including family, work or ministry)?

What if you truly let go of all the expectations that you have of people, if they choose to be a benefit and blessing to you-that’s great, but if they choose to do things that cause you pain, you can release and forgive them.

What if you did not let anyone disappoint you with their actions?

What if you did not live bitter because of your life’s circumstances and was truly happy when others got exactly what you have been praying for.

What if you could experience FREEDOM? Jesus wants us FREE in ALL these areas so that we can experience life in abundance and enjoy life to the fullest (John 10:10).

Having this type of FREEDOM will require some basic steps for you:

1)      Love God FIRST-He must get first place in every area of your life. Place nothing before Him. Focus on things above, not on things on Earth-become eternity focused.

2)      Push away the distractions that will come to steal your time with God and to steal your peace and joy. Distractions can come through people, phone calls and texts, the internet, and nuisances.

3)      Care more about what God thinks about you than what others think about you. People will have an opinion about you but if you know whose you are and what He has called you to do you can rise above people’s opinions.

4)      Live in the present, the moment-not projecting the future. Don’t plan too far ahead and hold your plans loosely in case Jesus wants to interrupt your plans.

5)      Never compare yourself to anyone. Jesus has a unique plan for each of us. If you try and conform to the world and what the world is doing, you will feel very lost.

FREEDOM in Christ means More joy, More peace, More love, More contentment, and More enjoyment of your life. You can have FREEDOM in Christ by following Jesus not the ways of the world. Jesus said He came to Earth to “proclaim freedom,” and He said “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Jesus was not saying free to do whatever we wanted, but free to be the kind of people He created us to be. We are all under the power of the natural tendency to sin, and sin has brought a penalty. But we have the freedom to choose life over sin and death, and that comes from accepting Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for our sins on the cross and accepting and believing that. We are no longer under sin’s grasp-we have been freed. Like a prisoner, the cell doors have been unlocked for all of us to get out by Jesus Christ. As we submit to Christ and His ways, sin loses its grip on us. When we choose to trust and follow Christ our sin habits and bad attitudes lose their control over our lives. True freedom is not doing whatever pleases your flesh, because that will lead you back into the prison without a way out.

The way out of your prison (sin) and to freedom is: obeying and trusting Jesus.