If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher, once said "I would believe in their Redeemer if they looked more redeemed"...

...and yes, he was talking about us; Christians. Believers. Children of God.

A devotional that I am working through today said this sentence, "Many believers are certain they are forgiven. Fewer live as if chains have been broken."

That spoke to me. Why are we so content on living our lives attached to the things Jesus died to set us free from? If we are truly free, why don't we live that way?

The way we live, it would seem Mr. Friedrich was right.

If Christ declared us free, why should we continue with past agreements about who we once were? We live as though nothing has changed!

It spoke to me because I know that I am guilty of doing this. All to often, I wrap my identity up in things that have nothing to do with who I am found in Christ. My anxiety. My fears. My guilt. My inadequacies. My shortcomings. My failures. My regrets. I could go on forever.

Christ has given me a new identity and He's given you one too if you've surrendered your life to Him.

"If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." - John 8:36

Freedom is not a denial of the past or struggles you have gone through or even those you will go through in the future. It is a refusal to let the past or those struggles dictate your identity or your future walk with Jesus.

So why do we struggle so much with this?

It's because freedom is unfamiliar. It's foreign to our brains. It puts us in a vulnerable state. It removes the excuse of "this is just who I am" and requires stepping out in a new truth; one filled with faith. One that feels at first like a different reality. God's redemptive truth!

I think it's time that we as Christians step out boldly in our faith. When unbelievers look at us, we should represent the freedom that Jesus gives to all who call Him LORD! We should be living, breathing, walking testimonies to the kind of freedom that can ONLY be found in Christ Jesus. After all, we are called to be different right?

Christ's sacrifice broke the penalty and power of sin, enabling a new life. Read that again. One more time for the stubborn people in the back.

Christ's sacrifice broke the penalty and power of sin, enabling a new life.

"It is for freedom's sake that Christ has set us free." - Galatians 5:1

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Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I receive the freedom You have given. Teach me to walk in it fully as my new identity. Break the chains that hold me to my old life. I ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.