“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”
John 8:31-32
Faith over fear.
I don’t know about you, but I often struggled with the thought of displeasing God. It was one of my biggest fears in life (being honest here) and I was deathly afraid of making “wrong” choices or doing things that I thought God didn’t want for me. I pictured God as someone whose emotions and thoughts toward me would change if I didn’t do things perfectly or precisely as He “planned for me.” Although you may or may not have that same experience, I think we can both agree that living in fear is no way to live.
It took me years to recognize that my fear of disappointing God wasn’t based on reality. Just because I believed that God would be upset with me for my mistakes didn’t make it true. I lived under the weight of seeing God as someone who was easily angered or who measured me by the number of things I did for Him. Where these ideas and beliefs came from, I have no idea. Nevertheless, those beliefs shaped my heart and mindset for years.
We have to stop seeing God as an angry old man in the sky who delights in punishing people for their mistakes. God is so much more abundantly gracious and loving than any of us will realize in this lifetime. When we start believing what the scripture says about God and about us, we will start to find freedom and abundant life. It was while we were still dead in our sins that Christ loved us and died for us. “For God SO LOVED the world…”
Abundant life.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
John 10:10
If Christ came to set us free and lead us into abundant life, then I think it’s worth asking ourselves what that freedom and abundant life actually look like. If He came to give us life and freedom, then we can rest assured that He wants us to have them. Rather than feeling guilty or living in shame or under the weight of the past, God wants us to let go of whatever is behind us and to continually reach forward to what He has planned for us…which is abundant life. Now and also in eternity.
Too often we feel like we have to live under the weight of mistakes in the past or that we have to keep ourselves in a box of legalism and religious duty. Jesus came to set us free and to share His Good News with people like you and me…sinners in need of saving.
God wants good things for us. God wants to bless us with abundant life. It’s not something we can earn. It’s not something we can maintain with good works. It’s something God has chosen to freely give us. When we receive what He has to give we can fully step into the new life by leaving behind the old one.
If there’s anything I hope you will take with you today, it’s that God loves you and wants the absolute best for you. His best for you will come as you seek after Him with a whole heart and stop relying on your own understanding or old ways of doing things. Take your next steps toward seeking God, understanding His goodness and love for you, and start heading toward the life He has for you.
Takeaway Action/Challenge: I want you to just soak in God’s goodness. As often as you think of God today, think of His love toward you. Think about how much He loved you even before Christ died for you. Think about how much more He loves you now that you are adopted into His family as His own. How do these thoughts change the way you see God? Do you still see Him as someone who is easily angered or upset? Does knowing that He loved you even while you were dead in your sins say anything to you about His character and unconditional love? Rest in His love today.
