Slaying GiantsSample

## The Bondage Giant > “That the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Romans 8:21 (ESV) Jesus will slay the bondage giants in our life if we will allow Him to show us the way. Ask the addicts who could never escape their bondage to addictions until Jesus came to be their guide from them. They will tell you that they could not do it on their own or even with the help of well-meaning people. It took a “higher power,” and there is no higher power than the authority of Jesus Christ. Bondage takes on many forms. The most obvious are addictions to drugs and alcohol and sexual addictions of all kinds, but there is also emotional and relational bondage from abuse and wounds from our past. One of the greatest bondage giants in my life was anger and unforgiveness. It started from some abuse and wounds in childhood and festered into an angry reaction in adulthood when I felt similar threats again. People didn’t understand what set me off, for my anger didn’t seem to justify my reaction. They could not see the giant wound in my emotions that was still sensitive to even a subtle threat of manipulation, bullying, or betrayal. The ironic thing about it is that this sense still exists with me. But there is a different response that edifies rather than destroys and is used to create bridges rather than separation. This brings up another point about the way God uses even the hurts and hang-ups in our life for good if He slays that giant in our life. Apostle Paul states: > “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 1 Corinthians 1:3-4 (ESV) The Body of Christ and the Church, which are made up of Christians worldwide, all have some very important things in common. First, we were all miserably lost and separated from Holy God because of our sins. The second thing in common — we have all been saved by God’s grace through the redemption of Jesus Christ if we are saved at all. Third, we are all imperfect and still make mistakes, but God’s forgiveness is complete and secure for us for eternity if we are saved. Finally, from the beginning of our life in Christ, Father God has made an effort to free His children from our bondage to corruption in this world. This is an ongoing battle in the life of God’s children, for He wants us to receive the freedom that we should have, and therefore He permits this battle. He has a plan. He wants to slay the giants that imprison us with their values, addictions, their perspective, and their destruction. His plan is to set us free and then for us to become His freedom fighters. These people are called “Disciples of Christ.” Did you realize a disciple of Christ fights for the freedom of others? A disciple declares the gospel by how they share it, which varies. That is what the gospel does. It is a message and a process to deliver us from our bondage to death that we once faced and continue delivering us from the corruption our world leads us to. The Gospel is also a bondage breaker to a multitude of giants that imprison us in this life, which may be what attracts you to the hope that you may find help for one in your life now. So, let’s talk about where you are. If you find yourself under any form of bondage and feel that it is impossible to break its grip on your life, be assured that what you believe is a lie. God can and will set you free from any bondage that grips you if you will seek His help and release it to Him. You may ask how to release it. First, you must sincerely and sacrificially desire to have it out of your life. You must be sincere with this, for a half-hearted attempt will not defeat a giant. You must be all in with your battle declaration. Declare it to God. Declare it to the “giant” that has overcome you. Declare that this bondage giant will no longer control your life. Call it out, as David did Goliath. Declare to this bondage giant in your life, like David did, that your Lord God will prevail over it. Look what David declared: > Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head.1Samual 17:45-46 (ESV) We know the story. It happened as David declared it would. Will you declare this same thing against this bondage giant that overshadows you? It is time to do it.