~John 8:31-32
That was one of my favorite church youth group songs, based on David's repentance in Psalm 51.
If you OBEY My teaching, You are really My disciples; you will KNOW the truth, and the truth will set you FREE.
"IF you obey."
Obedience to Christ is the condition for real freedom.
The more my soul is waking up and coming into the light, the more I can see where I've been cutting corners. I have grown complacent in several areas, repeatedly choosing comfort over conviction with my eating habits, with my language, with what I read, with what I watch, etc. It all starts with my thought life, where I have failed to take certain thoughts captive and bring them into obedience and alignment with Christ. Without recognizing it, I've casually drifted into caring more about pleasing myself and others than pleasing God, and my love for Him has been more surface level than I would prefer to think, not requiring much real sacrifice or submission or surrender from me. That dynamic is changing now, and I can feel the joy and excitement of it, along with the growing pains that come with swimming against the world’s current.
"The first reason why people fail to break free is that they expect a quick fix to a longtime problem. It's sort of like putting a single Band-Aid on a person with dozens of gaping and bleeding wounds... God can do anything. But the vast majority of the time, Jesus invites men and women on a journey that forces them to humble themselves and call on His name with childlike helplessness within a fellowship of believers... Heart change requires more than willpower... The recovery community coined the term 'white knuckling' to explain the furious grip people use to overcome compulsive and addictive behavior to no avail... We gain strength by admitting our weakness... Change is hard and painful. We need a safe and effective process for guidance and safe people to help us carry the burden of this difficult work." ~Mapping Your Journey, Victory app
Stepping down into humility is hard and painful, but it's better than falling from a height of pride.
Choosing obedience means taking responsibility in some areas and giving up control in others. Walking with slow integrity when you can feel the familiar wind of the forward momentum of the easier path feels *exceptionally* difficult. I'm reminding myself that no one "gets away with" anything before God - He knows our hearts and motives, and He tells us not to grow weary in doing good, for in due time, we will reap a harvest.
“In due time” is often longer than we would hope. And the pull of the world is strong, and the roar of the enemy is loud, and the internal battle is real. I'm a work in progress, but God is the artist. He knows how to bring beauty out of messes, and He never leaves things unfinished. I want my life to be characterized by real freedom and walking in truth and God’s anointing, a treasure that comes at a price. I'm sorry this post feels a bit vague and unfinished, and now I need to go to bed. What I'm writing about applies to multiple areas in my own life right now, and hopefully these things I am moving through will be encouraging for someone else reading this.
The meme at the top says you are allowed to outgrow old versions of you, to grow and change and live in alignment, to choose today to BE the version of you that you dream of being! What does that look like for you? The version of me that I dream of being does whatever it takes to stay closely connected to Jesus - she is humble and repentant and fiercely devoted. She loves others well and adds value to people's lives, partly because she cares much more about what God thinks than what people think, and she is free from the compulsion to people-please or present a shiny image! She makes hard choices and pursues character over comfort, and she is warm and competent and genuine. She embraces God's process without cheating the system or seeking the quick fix or escape route (woof). She trusts God's heart and provision, and she does not try to justify sin or meet her own needs outside of His will and timing. And she lives a life of love that flows from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5)!! ❤
The beautiful news is that God loves us right where we are today, and He knows how to renew our minds and continue transforming us into the best version of ourselves. He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it... so we don't have to wallow in guilt or white knuckle our way through life, only to humble ourselves and believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life!
"So Jesus said to those who BELIEVED in Him, 'If you obey My teaching, you are really My disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'"
~John 8:31-32
❤
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