I can remember a time when freedom wasn’t part of my life (not like the fullness of today, anyway).
It was a dream of mine to truly feel freedom from fear, freedom from self-limitations, freedom from fear of rejection, freedom from anxiety, freedom from taking myself wayyy too serious, freedom from trying to prove my worth to others, freedom to laugh, love, and live in vitality. I can’t pinpoint the exact dates of when each of these became a reality for me, but I do remember the first major turning point for me.
In my early 20’s, after a dark season of depression and self-pity, which was a result of living in fear of losing the things I held dear, that led to grasping and grappling for tiny things that didn’t even matter, I CAME TO MYSELF (and that story is for a whole other post). In the many years since, experiencing layers and layers and layers of junk being peeled back and pulled off, I’m becoming more and more secure in who I am in Christ!
Recently, when I thought I had been declined of an opportunity, I TRULY didn’t see it as rejection or a measure of my worth. I saw it as a door the Lord didn’t want me to walk thru at that time. It dawned on me in that moment…WOW – I’m free!! Again, recently, in what used to be a tumultuous situation, I found myself completely comfortable in my own skin, not needing to march around proving anything. I’ve known it for a while, but being put in some situations that haven’t happened in a long time, being tested in some old ways of thinking, it felt like a new victory. As a result of saying YES to the Lord’s love, correction, instruction, and ways.
Sadly, I lived far too much of my teen and young adult life living more for self (maybe this is a reality for others who are in their 30s, 40s, or even 50s); worrying more about what others thought, than what God thought about me. You know what that did? It imprisoned me. I was a slave to self: self-doubts, self-reliance, and self-confidence rather than God-confidence. I understand more clearly that what God thinks is what really matters. Guess what? He thinks we were to die for! When we understand that, our thoughts then turn outward rather than inward. It was at that point in my life that I truly started living in the freedom God called me to. This call of freedom is for everyone!
Galatians 5:13-14, For you were called to freedom, brothers (all Christians). Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
