Oh to be Free!

My church is currently going through a 6-week series entitled Free. Even before turning to the first page of the orange book that would serve as the weekly guide for the series; I felt a strange sense of trepidation that I could not shake off. See, to me, a series titled Free screamed “let go” and “be open” which would mean shoving all my inhibitions and hang-ups aside and allowing people to know the real me -so yeah, fear and trepidation sounds about right.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying to be Free, you need to be completely open and transparent to everyone that you meet but not being able to let loved ones in to know the real you is like living with shackles that just wouldn’t let you go farther than a certain perimeter, trust me I know, I’m living proof. So far, the journey has been tough and painful, it’s made me realize how “unfree” I am and wishing I could break through the shackles and run…Free.

The most important thing I’ve learned in these past three weeks though is that what keeps me shackled is the lies; the ones I tell myself, the ones I let people tell me etc. Lies such as “God loves other people more than me”, “God is disappointed in me”, “I need to clean up my act before God will love me”, sound familiar? Well, the bible verse “…..the truth will set you free” has never rang so true. These Lies, though not big and glaring have been digging roots and spreading branches in my heart for years now and I have been letting them. It’s crazy, I didn’t even know the lies I believed until they were presented before me and I had to say, “Yeah, that’s me”.

It’s going to be a long and painful journey but one that I’m willing to go on while praying and hoping that I find myself victorious on the other side screaming “Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I'm free at last” (sorry, just had to sneak that one in there). Seriously though, join me on this journey if you need to be free.

PS: Can you guess how many times I used the word Free?