Last time, I focused on the part of this verse on truth. Truth does set us free. When Jesus spoke these words to the jewish people there, He knew if they’d believe the truth about who He was it would set them free. Being free is a good feeling. Ever been a slave, held captive, or in bondage to someone or something? It is such a burden lifted to be free.
I think about a person who gets out of an abusive marriage or a child who is removed from an abusive home. They are free, no longer held captive by fear, torment, or pain. I think about the addict who has overcome their addiction to drugs, alcohol, pornography, sex, or prescription drugs. They are no longer a slave to a substance or a habit. The truth has set them free. I think about people around the world who are taken hostage and what it must feel like when they are rescued?
Free. It’s not a big word, but it has so much power. Truth is the key that unlocks the door to freedom. Just as knowing the truth about Jesus can set us free from sin, death, and hell, so can knowing the truth and living the truth can set us free from so many bad habits, negative behaviors, unhealthy relationships, and bad attitudes.
I have been a slave to my thoughts for some time now. I have allowed my negative or obsessive thoughts to play over and over in my mind and dwell on them, like hitting repeat on a CD player and playing the same song over and over. For the longest time I was in denial or didn’t think it was as bad as I thought or to be honest, I thought it was normal and just a part of who I was, but I was wrong. I wasn’t hearing the truth or allowing it to work in my life.
I can’t tell you how free I have felt the past couple months since I began to work on “me”. The truth truly has set me free. I am not 100%. Recovering from something is “one day at a time” or “2 steps forward and 1 step back”. It’s a process, it takes time, but I can’t tell you how free I have felt that I am no longer a slave to my thoughts or held captive by my over-thinking. It takes a long time to develop bad habits, qualities, and behaviors, so it takes time to overcome them and then it takes constant effort and attention to maintain, but there is something so freeing in the process.
The truth has set me free. I can’t control other people only myself. I can’t change other people, only myself. I can’t be responsible for other people and their actions, only my own. And only with God’s help. That is true freedom when you realize that. I choose to think about what I want to think about. We can’t always choose what pops into our minds or thoughts, but we can choose how long they stay there and how much attention we give them. We can make a choice to change and do whatever it takes to change if we are WILLING and SEEK God’s help.
My bondage has been my thoughts and now I’m learning to “let go” of things and think before I speak and not dwell on things and think more positively and not negatively. I am not sure what your struggle is? Maybe you have thought issues like me, or maybe it’s something else? Whatever is holding you hostage, keeping you enslaved, holding you captive, or keeping you in bondage, let the truth set you free. Start today. One day at a time, one step at a time, one issue at a time. Eventually over time if we don’t change those addictions, bad behaviors and habits become “normal” to us and to try and do things different seems weird and that is why it’s so hard and difficult to overcome until we are willing to take the steps to begin breaking free and it begins with the truth. The truth we have a problem, we need help, we can’t do it alone, and we have to begin the process of change and freeing ourselves from whatever struggles, issues, behaviors, attitudes, or actions we have that are controlling us or enslaving us.
Freedom. God sent Jesus to give us freedom. Freedom from death, sin, and hell, but He also came to give us life. That means God wants to give us the best life possible and He doesn’t want us to be a slave to sin or struggles, but He wants us to be FREE in Him. Seek the truth. The truth will set you FREE.
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