Written by Michele Hansen
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1, NIV)
What is a lie that binds you to a negative view of yourself? In its most basic format, lies are a binding to our hearts and minds. We are tied up and hobbled by things we believe about ourselves that are untrue.
The Israelites in Moses time were slaves. Not one of them had been born in freedom. They were literally bound by their very existence as an Israelite to the Egyptians in slavery. They desired to be free, but didn’t have any point of reference as to what that truly was. We are born into slavery as well, slavery to sin.
Would it be a fair statement to say, “I’m not a slave to anything or anybody. But yet I can’t stop… (fill in the blank)” Excesses and abusive use of anything is “slavery”. We are bound to the habits, the chemicals, the need…it becomes the ruler of our thoughts, actions, our resources-it controls us. We are slaves.
The lies that we don’t know we believe are the same abusive rulers as the things we can identify. At least with physical addictions we can have an identifiable enemy. If we would just quit drinking, smoking, using, eating, arguing etc. we would be fine. But have we ever thought to try and find out why we are abusing and misusing things? Do we want to know what we don’t know? When we are bound up in emotional reactions and physical addictions, it can feel like we are on a psyco roller coaster.
Stop the ride, we want to get off.
The good news is that we can get off that ride. Oh, it sure can feel crazy and scary and the devil will try to convince us that we are fine or it’s never our fault or we just need to try harder.
Stop that ride, too.
Our God is a merciful and patient Father. He knows absolutely everything about us and loves us. He sent His son to live a sinless life and then took our punishment for sin and saved us, defeating the power of sin and death. Jesus also defeated the power that the sin and lies have over us, we just don’t realize it…
The Israelites in Moses time were set free and given the opportunity to live as a free people. But many times, they wanted to go back to Egypt because they had forgotten how bad being a slave was and felt like things were better back then. That’s how lies work in our life. We’re afraid because we don’t know what it would be like to be free from whatever destructive behavior or circumstance we’ve been living in and stay right where we are. Or we don’t know what it is that is keeping us in patterns of behavior that are destructive. We stay with what is familiar, even if it’s killing us.
God knows how to help us. He knows everything about us. He knows what it will take for us to realize our deliverance is already accomplished, we just need to walk into our promised land.
When the Lord was taking the Israelites into the Promised Land, He told Joshua that He would be with them. He also said that there were enemies in that promised land that needed to be kicked out, literally killed, and that meant war. The promise was theirs, but the battles had to be waged. This life we live as believers is the same. The war is won, but the battles still come, however, “ …in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:37) God has given us the ability to walk in the victory won by Christ.
I would never suggest that it’s just a walk in the park or that if we were just better, smarter, more Christian, we wouldn’t have all these problems. I am saying that the war has been won, but as long as we are on this side of glory, we will walk through battles. I am also saying that the Lord has said He will never leave us or forsake us.
We have our promises. They are established and waiting for us to take possession. The enemy of our soul, the Adversary, will do what it takes to keep us bound up in sin and pain in order to cripple the testimony of the Bride to the world. We are set free and many times, struggle in slavery to the lies that bind us to a lesser life than God intended.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
In the Christian life, the journey to freedom continues until we leave this world, or the Lord comes back. We can choose to live in the truth of God’s promises and continue to learn from Him andeach other and in that process become the living representation of the Lord.
