A lot of non-believers think that Christians live the easy life. They think that we don’t face trials, that we’re perfect and don’t make any mistakes, that everything just comes without work for us. What they don’t realize though, is that a LOT of Christians have actually walked through some of the hardest things in life. Sometimes, it’s in those hard seasons that actually renews their relationship with Christ. We all sin, we all make mistakes. Through Christ though is where we find forgiveness and freedom. There’s no room for guilt or shame and our Father doesn’t want that for us especially since he’s already forgiven us.
One night this week, the girls in our squad had a girl’s night where we did a Beauty For Ashes activity called Stand Up For Your Sister. They passed out a questionnaire made up of a series of questions pertaining to things we have/are struggling with and we circled yes or no to them. Drugs, premarital sex, physical, mental, emotional abuse, bodily harm, excessive weight loss remedies, eating disorders, family issues, self-esteem problems, self-image problems, insecurities. You name it, it was on the list. We didn’t put our names on them and then our squad leaders picked them up, shuffled them, and then passed them all back out randomly, not knowing who’s we had. They then went down reading off the list of questions and each time your “person” circled yes, you stood up for them so that that took pressure off of them. It was MIND BLOWING to see how many people struggled with the same things that so many people believed they were alone in.
Girls can be mean. Girls can be intimidating. Girls can be judgmental. What was so beautiful was that we all came together from different backgrounds, with at least one common denominator (Christ), and were able to open up and be vulnerable and real with each other. Girls started standing up admitting to things that they struggled with in the past or might still be struggling with. There was nothing but love in that room. When I say, we ALL walked out of shame and into freedom that night, I mean it from the absolute deepest part of my heart. (Even one of the guys mentioned noticing how much we radiated with joy the next day and that something was very different about all of us.) Sometimes you might think you’ve moved on or have forgiven yourself and think you’re not carrying shame for something in your past but then God reveals that you are still holding on to something and he so gently whispers, “Daughter, let go of that and give it to me. I forgave you a long time ago when I died for you on the cross, so no need to cling to it any longer.” It’s so powerful to finally reach a point where you fully surrender whatever it is you’re clinging to and then to have Christ give you such freedom and grace to fill that empty void that that “thing” left within you. Our identity isn’t found in guilt, shame, or fear but is only found in the one true living God and we are learning to walk in freedom with him alongside us each step of the way even if it’s painful at times.
“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.” Galatians 5:1
(This was taken during some worship on the roof one morning at our ministry host’s house. We start every morning off with worship time and amad (quiet time). I feel like this picture shows what walking into freedom looks like. Hands up, surrendering everything we have to Christ)
