So this blog series suddenly jumped from a duo to a trilogy. I guess God had different plans on what and how much to share 🙂
Like I said in Part 1, I have recently been walking in more freedom than I ever imagined. A couple weeks ago, at the same conference I mentioned in earlier, the Lord showed me in different ways that I was not walking in all of the freedom Jesus bought for me. What is beautiful about the gospel is that it provides freedom from and freedom to. Freedom from sin, shame, addictions, guilt, worldly perspectives, and anything else that holds us in bondage to our flesh. This is usually what most people think of when they think of freedom, but Jesus also gives freedom to.
In Galatians 5:1, Paul writes, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”
That seems a little weird and repetitive at first, but what that verse tells us is that our freedom in Christ has a purpose. There was a reason Jesus set us free and it was for freedom. Freedom isn’t a onetime thing; it’s something you walk in everyday. Jesus didn’t break the chains off our bodies just so we could sit there, but so we could run and dance in freedom. There is great purpose for our freedom; that is what I mean when I say “freedom to”. Freedom to claim our identity as God’s sons and daughters, Christ’s beloved, and as chosen and important. Freedom to chase after and take part in God’s promises of abundant life and full joy. Freedom to receive the kingdom that God our Father is pleased to give us.
What I have realized is that I have spent most of life experiencing freedom from and not freedom to. But before we go farther please don’t let that statement downplay the “freedom from”. What Jesus has freed me from is astronomical; He freed me from myself. From my own desires that were deceitful, from addictive relationships where idolatry was at the core, and from great anxiety and depression that ruled my life for several years. When I look back at God’s faithfulness and His victories in my life, I am speechless.
But that was where I stopped; until the Holy Spirit awakened my senses to desire more because He had more to give me.
One of the biggest struggles I have faced throughout my life has been deep insecurity in femininity. For as long as I can remember I have been plagued with insecurity: not feeling good enough, pretty enough, or desirable, especially in comparison to other girls. To most people, I came off as a pretty confident person, but on the inside I scrambled around trying to pick up any piece of identity or affirmation I could find.
At the conference, a pretty dramatic illustration came to mind as two other friends and I tried to describe the current frustrations we had in our pursuit of freedom:
Imagine sitting in a prison cell with chains around your wrist and a locked door at the front of the room. Now when Christ entered my life and I believed in Him (which was at the age of 14), Christ broke down the prison door and unleashed me from the chains around my arms. But I’ve never walked out of the cell. Yes, I am free and guilt, sin, and death, no longer have any hold on me, but I have yet to walk out of the cell into the new life Jesus has from me. I have experienced freedom from but have hardly ever experienced freedom to.
Freedom to walk in the identity God has given me, freedom to claim the promises God shouts over me, and freedom to all that God is, through His Spirit, and the specific gifts He has given me. Here are some of the key truths and promises God has been pouring over me the last two weeks:
- I am important
- I am chosen
- I am His daughter and as my Father, it is His great joy to give me the kingdom
- God delights in me just as much as He does everyone else
- Physically, spiritually, and through my personality, I am beautiful
- Yes God loves me, but He also likes me
- I am worthy to be pursued and adored
- God’s eyes are continually on me
- God’s thoughts define me
- God sees me and God hears me
I hope these truths encourage you as much as they have encouraged me. I pray that we can claim these together and walk in freedom. For it is for freedom, that Christ has set us free.
