Shift Your Thinking For A Deeper FaithSample

Day Four

Living in Freedom

Scripture: Galatians 5:1

Consider the sin in your life, no matter how small or big you think it may be. Perhaps there’s gluttony, doubt, pornography, lying, pride, or other sins that are looming in the corridors of your heart. 

Sometimes we believe the lie that carrying the weight of guilt and shame upon our shoulders will have some redeeming effect on the sin we’re in. But this does nothing except condemn us to a less-fulfilled life. The capacity to redeem sin was given only to Christ and he didn’t suffer on a cross so we could trudge around in self-condemnation and depression during his perfecting process in our life. God does not want us to carry that kind of load or exemplify that kind of witness. What’s more, being convicted about sin doesn’t require any feelings of shame or guilt, just the acknowledgment of what we are doing along with the awareness that sin is wrong, and there’s a better life waiting without it. Sin is difficult to stop unless you have something of equal or greater value than the sin itself to replace it with. 

Every sin, shortcoming, and breakdown of our human condition was nailed to the cross so we could live in complete freedom; freedom that would bring such rich blessing to our heart, mind, soul, and spirit that the sins we dabble in would eventually lose their allure and go away. In other words, the value of the sins we entertained would pale in comparison to the full experience of what God desires each of us to have in our lives. 

In the minutes and hours of every day, sin grows stronger when there is an absence of our communion with God. It is only when we are more aware and filled with his freedom, power, and presence that there will be less room for sin; it becomes a “no vacancy” reality because all the rooms of our mind are filled with the fruit that can only come from a fully engaged relationship with God. When we walk in light we become lighter. Your sin was nailed to the cross . . . so stop hammering yourself! Instead, walk in the full freedom of Christ’s perfect and permanent work. 

In what ways do you allow the burden of guilt or shame to keep you from moving away from sin and into freedom in your life?