From Lost to Loved: A 30-Day Study of Romans 8Sample

The drive to do more, be more, or prove your worth never goes quietly into the night. It rages on. That pressure doesn’t disappear just because you now believe the Gospel. If we’re not careful, we drag that mindset straight into our life with Christ. The greatest threat to Christian discipleship isn’t rebellion. It’s religious fear disguised as faith, looking holy and sounding right. It does the right things in public but panics in private.

Paul warns in 2 Timothy 3:5 of people who have “the appearance of godliness, but [deny] its power.” There’s a kind of obedience that checks all the boxes and still leaves you in chains. That why Paul, once a man obsessed with credentials and control, draws a hard line in Romans 8:15, “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”

Legalistic performance is spiritual bondage. It feeds off fear and calls itself holiness. There are too many believers who can explain sonship but keep living like slaves. I know that life well. My dad left when I was fifteen, and something in me decided it was my fault. That lie took root and shaped how I saw God. My early years in ministry were driven by fear. I worked hard and tried to earn everything. I was preaching grace, but lived like a spiritual employee earning my keep. That mindset spread like gangrene into my understanding of how God related to me as father.

Paul’s words became a rescue line. You don’t have to impress a Father who willingly adopted you. The Spirit inside of you doesn’t whisper insecurities. He cries, “Abba!” That’s a war cry against the lie that we must earn God’s love. It declares the death of performance. You weren’t chosen because you earned it. You were claimed. That act of choosing wasn’t about your resume; it was a reflection of His nature.

Too many people walk around with doctrine they’ve memorized but never trusted. The habits of a slave don’t die willingly. God took Israel out of Egypt in a moment, but it took a generation to take Egypt out of Israel. If you want to live like a child of God, expect a fight... just don’t fight alone. Your new life is not earned; it’s formed by the faithful work of the Holy Spirit within you.

REFLECT:
How do wounds from your earthly father still shape the way you see your heavenly Father?