Grace says you are free

You should know I had a perm in the early 1980s. You should also know my mom was sick on first-grade picture day. And yes, these two realities collided. With no idea what to do with me, my dad sent me to school in a navy blue sweatshirt, purple corduroy jeans, and a brushed-out perm.

My well-meaning, but uninitiated dad misunderstood the importance of picture day and the unwritten stylist-law that says you never brush out a perm. Poor elementary me went to school in a terrible outfit and a hairstyle to match.

As traumatic as that day felt, there are worse life events than misunderstanding how to put an outfit together for your first-grader. Knowing Christ and not living in the freedom you already have is a far more serious predicament.

Grace says you are free.

Paul says you are free in Christ because God’s grace set you free (Romans 8:2). In other words, you are free right now, where you are, as you are. You don’t need to wait for freedom to find you. You aren’t sorta-kinda free. Your freedom is unconditional, complete, and immediate.

Grace says you are free.

Grace says you are no longer a slave to sin.

Grace says you are free to take off the mask you hide behind.

What is freedom?

Freedom is knowing how

welcomed,

loved,

supported,

safe,

and cherished you are

by God in Christ so you may act on the truth God reveals.

You are free to experience the Holy Spirit at work in you so you can live as your magnificent Creator intended. Free to use your gifts. Free to rest. Free to hope.

You are free from the guilt, penalty, and power of sin and the demands of the law. Free from shame. Free from condemnation. Free from death.

Sweet friend, because of God’s grace, you are free!

Christ wants you to enjoy your freedom (Galatians 5:1). He set you free because He is a God who hates oppression + slavery and loves freedom.

Grace says you are free, but you don’t always feel free.

You know what I would LOVE? I would love to speak to thousands of women each year about how much God is just crazy about them, but fear stands in my way. As my heart dreams big, my head’s inner critic tells me All The Things: I’m not a good enough speaker. Who would want to listen to me? What would I even say? Who am I to speak about God and grace?

I feel so trapped by fear I don’t feel free to pursue speaking in the way my heart dreams.

Fear isn’t the only obstacle that limits freedom. You may feel trapped, just past the grip of grace’s freedom, because of:

The enemy’s lies about your identity,
Sin,
Harsh words spoken over you,
Bitterness,
“Shoulds,”
Anxiety,
Pride,
And so on and so on forever.

God knows you and I can easily slip back into slavery, which is why Paul exhorts us to stand firm and not “let the chains of slavery hold you again” (Galatians 5:1). But how do you stand firm and resist slavery? How do you hold tight to freedom and turn away from All The Things wishing to enslave you?

How to experience freedom

Our church leadership shared this path to freedom with our congregation and y’all, it’s good stuff. True spiritual freedom comes only from Christ. Yet these steps provide wisdom and Godly perspective so you can lay aside whatever entangles you:

Acknowledge and name what you’re feeling. Do you feel anger, shame, hopelessness, worthlessness?
Ask God to reveal what past hurt, lie or sin is feeding this feeling.
Repent. Confess your sin and ask for forgiveness. Renounce any lies you hear.
Receive God’s blessing, grace, and love. Hand over the hurt you’re experiencing and ask God what He wants to give you in its place.
Ask God what you need to change in your life to preserve your freedom.

Now friend, we are talking about some heavy stuff here. You may need to walk through this process with a professional, licensed counselor or go through a program like Freedom Prayer. I’ve gone through this program at our church and highly encourage anyone and everyone to do it. For crying out loud, God wants you free! What are you waiting for?

Grace says you are free. Now what?

You are free to sin no more.

When you know Jesus, you get to choose your response: to obey or to sin, to experience peace or chaos, to love or to turn away! How amazing is that? Back in the day before you knew Jesus as your Savior, you were dead in sin and had no choice but to satisfy your flesh (Ephesians 2:1). Yet, when Christ died for you, He transferred you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13). You –yes, you!– are no longer a slave to sin because you are covered by grace (Romans 6:14). Sinning is no longer your default because you are free. WOO HOO!

You are free to let your light shine.

God gives you all the freedom and opportunity in the world to live out your dreams, interests, and talents. It means you don’t have to conform to others or live in a box of “shoulds.”

It means that you get to live out what God uniquely and purposefully placed in you. Living in this beautifully broad place means using your divine gifts and living an abundant life. This life allows you to embrace the good works pre-destined for you to do because your plan doesn’t have to be everyone else’s plan. You are free to embrace who you most fully are.

When you rest in who you are in Christ and do the good works He had in mind just for you, your world gets to see your light shine, and its response is to praise God (Matthew 5:16). You are free to take off the mask you hide behind.

You are free to go in grace and peace.

When you live from a place of freedom so you’re not enslaved by worry, legalism, fear, doubt, wounds, or lies, you live in grace and peace. You’re not shackled to people-pleasing. You don’t need to conform or compare. You’re not glancing around wondering if you’re keeping up.

Freedom reminds you that Jesus is with you. His presence goes before you, hems you in from behind, and is in you. You are free to walk into any room or situation and know that God is for you and nothing comes to you without going through Him first.

You are free to protect your freedom.

Sister, just because you are free doesn’t mean you’re immune from an enemy that doesn’t want you to enjoy that freedom. Your enemy wants to steal your freedom and rob you of joy. He wants you immobilized, scared, and isolated. While your God wants you shining your light, empowered, and in community. Because you are free, you must protect your freedom. But how?

Be self-aware. Then go back to the “How to experience freedom” section and walk through those steps in the presence of Christ.

Sweet friend, you are free.

Sister, I don’t know what your hair looked like in the ’80s, but I do know there’s at least one area of your life where you don’t feel free. But you are free to get yourself unstuck. You are free to sin no more. To let your light shine. To go in grace and peace. To protect your freedom from the enemy.

God wants you free. He died to set you free. And you are free. Walk in that truth.