It took decades of heartbreak for me to learn the profound lesson that submitting to God is where I experience the greatest freedom from a slavery of “self”. In the years gone by, my life was engulfed by the relentless desires of my flesh. My enemies had taken hold within me, and I found myself enslaved to my own ambitions and dreams, driven tirelessly to achieve success and happiness. God, if at all considered, was merely an afterthought, tucked away with a hint of guilt.
I lived under the persistent delusion that I knew what was best for my life!
In truth, I was living as if I possessed greater wisdom than God Himself! God, in His mercy, drew me back to Himself. The gravity of this realization struck me. Either I had been a complete fool to ignore Him or, simply blinded by the darkness I had willingly surrounded myself with. Arrogance and ignorance were my downfall.
Although the gift of salvation had awakened my soul and spirit, I had chosen to return to the shackles of sin, willingly subjecting myself to its bondage.
Then, in His boundless mercy, God’s divine love shone into the murky cell of my prison, reminding me of what the beautiful light of freedom looked like. Although it has taken many years to lead me to learn to live in liberty, God’s faithfulness is beyond measure. Learning to live in surrender to God’s will is a lifelong journey. I have to do it daily. I often pray “God I give You 100% of my time, my resources, my love, and my law practices.” His Word resounds with promises that declare,
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
2 Corinthians 3:17
This true freedom lies in yielding to God’s Spirit instead of being driven by the prideful and destructive desires planted by our enemies. After all, it was God who intricately fashioned every single cell of our being—shouldn’t we trust that He knows what will bring us genuine joy? In Christ, the chains of slavery need never bind us again!
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”
Galatians 5:1
Sin entangles and imprisons in awful slavery, but God sets us free. When we humbly surrender to Him, we discover a freedom that surpasses all imagination. The daily surrender to God in every area of my life is the only place I’ve ever found unimaginable freedom.
“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
James 4:6-7
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:1-2
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One Response
May God continue to give us the strength to obey his will.