“The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.” (Psalm 146:7, NKJV)
Have you ever felt insecure? Been afraid to fail? Felt plain and ordinary when others around you seem to be shining stars?
Do you think you have to be “good” for God to love you? You have to “do” in order to be someone? You don’t measure up to others? You’re ugly, invisible, or inadequate?
If any of these secret thoughts apply to you, I want you to know that you are not alone. But it can certainly feel that way. I know, because I have struggled personally with every single one of those issues.
For years I lived in a prison of fear and self-doubt, paralyzed by the false thinking that God would love me only if I was good, which to me translated to being busy “doing something” for Him. And yet no matter what I did, it was never enough. I was still plain, ordinary Betty — the middle, invisible, inadequate child who grew up feeling like she never measured up.
I’m here to tell you that Jesus took me from the shackles of fear to true freedom. Although the journey has taken me many years, and it’s not entirely over yet (because He is continually refining me), I can now boldly say that I finally discovered the “good news” that God loves us and accepts us just as we are, right now.
We don’t have to be perfect to come before Him. He is waiting for us, longing for an intimate, two-way conversation. And He longs to show us how to break out of our individual prisons — negative thoughts, addictions, destructive patterns — He wants us free!
Free to be the unique people He has created us to be. And, most of all, free to pursue, without hindrance, the kind of loving relationship He wants to have with us as His children.
So today, ask Him for freedom in every area of your life. He will give it to you!
Father, I thank you for the freedom You have given me in Christ Jesus. I want to walk in that freedom in every single area of my life. I want to experience freedom in my relationships, my finances, and in my day-to-day struggles. I want to be free to love others as You love them. I ask to experience Your freedom in a new way today.
