How to Live FREE
You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only don't let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love" ~~ Galatians 5:13 (CEB).
Once Jesus Christ has set us free, is it possible to live FREE from the bondages that have held us down for so long? Are we able to experience the full life in Christ - a totally new way of existence?
Have you ever read God's Word and finally understood it for the first time in your life? Did it minister to your spirit in a new way and give you hope of a better life?
God wants us to meditate upon His precious promises in order that we might live FREE. I have found that the best way to do this is to speak His Word over my life. For daily it seems there is tension between living the life God intends me to live, to walk in the Spirit, or to continue to live by the world's values (in my fleshly nature that is totally against all the our Lord has called us to be). It is the age-old battle between the flesh and the spirit --- good versus evil that we all face.
The battle is real. You are not the only one who is drawn back into the old way of life. We all can be enslaved to many things: wrong thoughts, wrong relationships, bad attitudes, and in general going down the wrong path that leads to destruction. These things keep us away from the Presence of our Savior. Our patterns of thinking can entangle and chain us - yes, even enslave us to the old way of living. We can become trapped and feel hopeless.
Here is an example. Each day in the fall my teenage son comes home carrying his football bag. The stench is captivating and releases a foul odor all through our garage. He even brings it into our kitchen. It is a funky odor - so unpleasant. So, what do I do to get rid of the smell? Nothing. I simply zip the bag up in hopes that the smell will go away. Of course it is still there. It is just bottled up waiting to be released at a later time.
Do you do this, too? Zip up your insides hoping that no one will notice? When we do this we are not even aware of what is going on inside and what others all around us sense about us? We may hope that they don't notice, and we secretly hope that the smell will just go away. We can even become numb to these "odors" of the fleshly life. And things don't get better until we deal with the root causes of the "smells."
This battle that wars between the cross and this world is daily for me, and I'll bet for most of us. Daily we fight thoughts of anxiety and fear. Desperately we want to close up the nasty football bag and ignore the problem. But we really need to be intentional on what our emotional state is, what evil thoughts we harbor deep in our hearts, what lies we have allowed to attach themselves to us, and why it is that we allow ourselves to languish in this condition day after day. What is the answer? Is there an answer?
We need first of all to recognize as Christians who we are in Christ and what it is that we believe. We need to take action and make the choice to receive Christ's help and allow Him to change our pattern of thinking.
The Apostle Paul faced this and wrote about it in Romans 7: 21-25:
" It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin. So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I’m in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free."
Once we become aware of what is happening, we can take action, submit our spirits to the Lord, and begin to change our patterns of thinking.
Of course, all of this is predicated upon our believing the truths of the Bible, receiving salvation through faith, getting into His Word, and then investing time developing an intimate relationship with Jesus. This is the beginning of how to equip ourselves in God’s truth so that we can overcome patterns of negative thinking and become new creations in Him! Then we truly can finally live free and full lives as He intends.
So for today join me in stretching our spiritual muscles, picking up our Bibles, spending at least five minutes with God, sharing our hearts with Him and other believers, then taking action! Start by writing out a verse; put it on your bathroom or bedroom mirror. Read it aloud. Then look at yourself, and speak over your life.
Prayer for today.
Jesus, help me speak Your affirming Words over my life. Lord, I want to dance with you! I want Your joy, Your peace, a new way of living, a life that is full and FREE! Right now I remind myself that I need to run into Your arms and get before You every morning so that Your Holy Spirit will have full access to my heart and life. I purpose to meditate upon Your Word and speak Your truth. Lord, only then can the old patterns of thinking be replaced and rewritten with the new life You paid for through Your death on the cross. Lord, I ask You to transform my mind so that I disregard worldly messages that tell me how to live, eat, dress, and think. I ask You to be my Lord. Rule and reign in my life. Help me mediate on You today and every day. Amen.
Here are some additional scriptures to commit to memory that can help us LIVE FREE!
" Through Him everyone who believes is set free from every sin " ~~ Acts 13:39 (NIV).
"For freedom Christ has set us free, stand firm therefore, and do not submit to the yoke of slavery” ~~ Galatians 5:1 (ESV).
"...through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death" ~~ Romans 8:2 (NIV).
"If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit" ~~ Galatians 5:25 (ESV.
- Elizabeth Bowman