Friend, You Are Set Free

It’s the greatest love story ever told.

The first time I heard it, it just didn’t make sense to my finite brain. Why would a man named Jesus die for me? What did that mean, anyway? I didn’t get it. Why would He willingly stay on that cross when He could have come down? Why did He go through all that pain and suffering… for me?

The answer was repeated:

He did it all out of love.

He loved us enough to save us.

He loved us enough to open the doors to eternity with Him.

For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. John 3:16 Voice

He loved us enough to make us whole in Him.

But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. Colossians 1:22 MSG

He loved us enough to set us free. For good.

So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. John 8:36 NLT

Let’s park on this truth today:

You are set free.

You and I are set free from the burden of guilt, wrongdoing, shortcomings, and sin. This doesn’t mean we will be sinless and never mess up, but it does mean we have God on our side and His strength within us to help us turn away from those things.

We are set free from the bondage of perfectionism, comparison, self-sufficiency, and performance. Our striving can stop. We can truly rest in His freedom.

We are set free from our pasts. We are no longer the person we used to be (thank you, Jesus!). We are a new person in Christ.

We are set free to find our worth in who God says we are, and not who the world says we are. (Check out the 31 Days Celebrating Who You Are posts.)

All because of He loves you. All because He loves me.

Isn’t this great news??!! Because we are set free, you and I can vibrantly live daily in His love and in His grace. To share it with others, and to serve each other in love.

My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love. Galatians 5:13

And because this isn’t a one-sided love story, what if we lived to love Him back? What if we truly put Him first in our lives? What if we–out of thankfulness for all He has done and continues to do–treated Him as the Lover of our souls that He is?

What a magnificent love story!

Live out your freedom today, my friend. I’m glad we can be free together.

Much love to you,

Julie

 

It’s Day 29 of 31 Days #CelebratingWhoYouAre. There’s a beautiful strength in living free daily. May we continue to encourage one another to live it out, one day at a time, and to love God and love others as we do. (Linking this post with Suzie Eller for #livefreeThursday. It’s a precious place for encouragement!)