Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Liberty, Peace and Freedom

Galatians 5:13

"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an oppurtunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."
Liberty; Peace and Freedom. We have been freed from the destruction of our sin. This doesnt mean that we can keep going back to sin deliberatley with the mindset that we will be free and still be able to spend eternity with God in Heaven. When God looks down at all our sin, He sees it all the same no matter what it is. No ones sin is worse than the other.
I personally have been freed and delivered from sins that had strongholds over my life. Many of you already know addiction was one of these, but I want to talk about a different one today. Another sin that I struggled with daily was lying. I lied about absolutley everything. I hated the person I was and I would lie to cover up who I had become, and used lying as a way to justify my actions. I not only lied to everyone around me, but I lied to myself as well. I told myself it was okay to live the lifestyle I was living. One lie fed into another lie, and it turned into a constant everyday thing. When I asked the Lord for forgiveness for all my sins, I made a complete turnaround in this area of my life. I went from lying everyday, to being completley open and honest about everything with everyone in my life. When i first came to IGNITE I didn't try to hide the person I used to be. I was honest with my team about the things I used to do. After all, I am not that person anymore. I made a promise to the Lord that I would be honest with everyone, and I'll admit there are times when I slip here and there, everyone does, its part of our human nature, but when I do I catch myself and feel so horrible about it that I have to make it right. I remember of one time in particular that this happened to me recently. One of my teammates here, Charis, was holding me accountable for praying for something in particular, laying it down, and giving it up to the Lord every morning. One morning, she asked me if I had done that, and I selfishly said yes. I had planned on doing it, but I didn't do it yet. I walked away and felt so horrible about lying to her about this small thing that I had to go pray and lift up the situation I was supposed to in the first place, ask for forgiveness and then went back to her and told her that I had lied to her originally. I felt so convicted over that lie. It may seem so small and even stupid to some people, but this is just an example of how much my life has turned around. If anyone knew me before, my family in particular, they would seriously be in shock over this story. I am so thankful to the Lord that He has made me an honest person, and I can live in freedom and liberty now because of it.
Application:
There are still a few things from my past that I have kept hidden. Holding on to them has torn me apart inside, and I want to be free. SoTonight, I will pull aside my teammate Charis and be open and honest with her about the things that I have been reluctant to share.

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