Dangerous for Good, Part 3: Transformationનમૂનો

Day 1: What’s in the Way of Your Freedom?

If the offer is freedom, then why aren't more of us free?

In all our stories, there were untrue words that were whispered to us. Then, over time they develop into thoughts that we have rehearsed and recycled, lies the enemy has reinforced in our hearts, souls, and minds for so long that they feel like they are true. Subtle and powerful declarations made in the quiet places of our pain—I am alone. I am not enough. Love must be earned. No one will fight for me. These beliefs, shaped by wounds we may not remember, have woven themselves into the fabric of our hearts. But they are not the words of our Father.

And yet, we cannot help but be ruled by them, living smaller lives than we were made for.

Unlearning false beliefs (lies) is not simply an intellectual exercise—it is a sacred act of healing. To unlearn is to allow God to take us by the hand, walk us back through the places of our wounding, and gently show us where they began, why they are there, and invite us to turn in our false belief for what is true. It is to let him unravel the tangled cords of fear, shame, and striving, replacing them with the experience and certainty of his love.

This journey of transformation is not easy. There is an odd comfort, however false, in what is familiar. Lies often feel safer than truth because they require nothing of us—no risk, no surrender, no vulnerability. Truth, though it may sting at first, brings relief and then love, and in the end, truth sets us free.

God does not expose our false beliefs to condemn us. He reveals them so he can restore us, and a man being restored is a man becoming more and more free. Like a loving Father kneeling before his child, he invites us to place every self-imposed declaration in his hands—every “I am on my own,” every “I have to prove my worth,” every “I am too much” or “not enough.” And one by one, he tears them apart, making space for something lovingly new.

"You are Mine."
"You are fully loved."
"I will never leave you."
"You do not have to strive for what has already been given."

The process of unlearning and untangling from the lies may feel like loss at first. But what we are losing is only what was never meant to define us. And what we gain is what we were made for—intimacy with God, the weightless joy of being fully known and fully loved—and that is worth everything…that is a man living free.

It was George Macdonald who once wrote,

Foolish is the man, and there are many such men, who would set the world right by waging war on the evils around him, while he neglects that integral part of the world where lies his business, his first business—namely, his own character and conduct.

Looking back over the previous Dangerous for Good Reading Plans, they all lead to this next invitation—to step into the light, see the moment when the voice of darkness or your false self has the mic. See it, hear it, THEN call “time out.” It's when you see it and pause that you can allow God to help you bring the voices and false beliefs of your past into His loving presence. This is the good he is up to. He already knows and he is waiting, waiting to let the voice of Love rewrite your story, and to walk you backward in order to move you forward, unburdened and free, into the fullness of who you are…who you were always meant to be. Will you take him up on his offer of redeeming and freeing you by making good what wasn’t good in your story?

As you ponder all this today, consider asking God:

Father, what false beliefs (lies) have I carried from my past that are not from you? Would you show me where they began?

Jesus, as I turn them in, what is the truth you want to replace them with? If they are not the truest thing about me, how do you see me, who am I to you?

Spirit, give me the courage to let go. Help me see and then unlearn what is false so that I may see again and fully receive what is true.