Are You Free?

We all want to be free. We don’t want to be entangled, suppressed, and certainly not enslaved.

So, are you free?

The culture has its own ideas about freedom. You should be free to be whoever you want to be. Free to express yourself however you want. Free to partner or act out sexually however you want. Free to watch whatever, eat whatever, chose whatever. Free to do whatever you want. This sounds logical at first, right? No one telling you what to do. Freedom.

But sometimes this kind of freedom manifests itself as chains.

And suddenly, you are under the power of drugs or alcohol. Or you are enslaved to sexual addiction. Or rage is your master.

And you are a slave. This is not freedom at all. You cannot get out. Your lust leads you around like a bull being dragged around by a ring in its nose. You don’t know how to control yourself. You can’t give that thing up even though it’s killing you.

John 8:34-36

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ³⁶ Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

This, my friends, is not how to be free.

And I would go so far to say that many Christians are enslaved still, even though Jesus Christ is standing there with all the power at His disposal to set them free.

If not enslaved to drugs and sexual immorality, then to food, entertainment, or thrill-seeking.

1 Corinthians 6:12-14

¹² All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. ¹³ Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.

Just think about it. We say we have liberty as Christians. We’re free to watch whatever movies we want, or eat whatever food we want.

Galatians 5:13

¹³ For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

But whenever we’re obsessed with something or can’t bring ourselves to give up certain things, we have created an idol. And, as human beings, we were not made to idolize things, but to adore Christ alone. We were made by Him and for Him.

Colossians 1:15-18

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. ¹⁸ And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Whenever we make created things our idols, this naturally creates a problem. Since we were not made for worshiping created things, we become enslaved when we start worshiping them. It does not fulfill us, it enslaves us. It stifles us. It hurts us.

When I started watching more questionable movies and TV shows, I didn’t feel free. I felt entangled. I felt a heaviness that wasn’t there before.

When I idolized books and writing, I didn’t feel free. I felt suffocated. What if I lost my book collection? What if I moved somewhere I couldn’t bring them? What if God asked me to give up writing? What if my favorite book series isn’t honoring to God? I couldn’t bear giving it up!

I obsessed over these thoughts and felt like I was lugging around chains.

Then, one day, after days, months, perhaps years of praying and wrestling and seeking, the chains fell off.

I realized: Freedom isn’t being able to watch or read or have whatever I want. Freedom is desiring Christ above all else. Freedom is being able to give up anything for God. Freedom is counting everything as loss in light of belonging to Jesus. Freedom is simply not needing these things.

These things no longer had a hold over me.

I felt such a giddy, light, joyful feeling. Nothing was holding me down! My book collection might be destroyed. I might never publish a novel. I might feel convicted not to go watch a movie (because of questionable content) that I’ve been dying to see with my friends. I might feel convicted to give up a favorite book someday. And that was okay! It was just a book. Just a movie.

Psalm 119:45-47

⁴⁵ And I will walk at liberty,
For I seek Your precepts.
⁴⁶ I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings,
And will not be ashamed.
⁴⁷ And I will delight myself in Your commandments,
Which I love.

Now, I’m not diminishing the power of words and art, or God’s specific calling on people’s lives to write books or create films for His glory.

I’m not saying it’s a sin to watch movies or collect books.

I’m just saying that these things shouldn’t be idols in your life. They were idols in my life, and they were weighing me down. Causing anxiety, depression, and unhealthy obsession. Making me feel distanced and disillusioned about God and my relationship with Him.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

But when I let go. Released my death grip on these things. I saw some as gifts that God had given me. But not necessary for life.

I am free.

Free to do all for the glory of God. Free to worship Him, un-entangled by suffocating devotion to something else. Free to see clearly sin or bad content and steer clear because Jesus Christ is sweeter. Free to disregard exciting-looking things that I know simply will not benefit me or draw me closer to the Lord.

I say this is true freedom. Being a slave to righteousness isn’t chains at all, because you are unhindered by negative emotions like shame and fear, the consequences of sin, and the sickening weight of idol worship.

Romans 6:16-23

¹⁶ Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? ¹⁷ But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. ¹⁸ And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Instead, like an eagle, you fly free to glorious heights. Free to worship and serve your Creator with everything in you. Free to love like He loves. Free to live the life that’s truly best for you. Knowing this: I do all for the glory of Christ. And maybe that doesn’t make sense to you. But somehow it is an awesome truth: Being free to do all for the glory of Christ is freedom, indeed. There is love, and joy, and hope, and security, and contentment, and boldness, and courage, and peace, and good.

Isaiah 40:28-31

²⁸ Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
³¹ But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

So choose real freedom, my friend. Try giving up that thing you’re clinging to and cling to God instead. I think you will find yourself lighter, and happier, and more hopeful than before. ❤

Gaither Vocal Band – Only Jesus

[Verse 1]
Take the things I once called treasures
Take my castles in the sand
Take my shallow store of knowledge
And the future I once planned
Take all vain accumulations
All awards and claims to fame
Take my hard-earned reputation
Trade it all for His dear name

[Chorus]
Give me Jesus, only Jesus
My heart can’t resist His call
For the joy of His sweet sorrow
At His feet I lay it all

[Verse 2]
Take the friends that I once courted
What I hoped they’d think of me
Please restore Your wealth I squandered chasing phantoms foolishly

[Chorus]
Give me Jesus, only Jesus
My heart can’t resist His call
For the joy of His sweet sorrow
At His feet I lay it all
Give me Jesus, only Jesus
My heart can’t resist His call
For the joy of His sweet sorrow
At His feet I lay it all
At His feet I lay it all

Advertisement