Freedom is now my chosen word of the year. However, this has been the word that I actually wanted to avoid in many ways.
Freedom can mean a few different things according to Merriam-Webster dictionary , “The quality or state of being free such as, liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another, and the quality of state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous.”
Taking the first part of the definition, if you would have asked me originally, I would say that this is a word that I don’t need to work on. I care a lot about seeking freedom for others in my anti-human trafficking work. I care a lot about solving the problem of modern day slavery. I truly thought that freedom was something that I really understood on a deep level.
However, while that is true, I had never really cared about freedom in my own life. I had never taken the time to see if I am truly at the core, free. In the Bible, Freedom is described often as being released from sin and death. The main way that one gains freedom is through accepting the blood and sacrifice of Jesus into your own life. But this also requires letting go of that sin that was in your life from before you were united with Jesus.
Am I really free from the sin of my past? I still very much watch movies and television, as well as listen to music that is not the most appropriate. I still struggle with my temper and patience, often getting upset when I don’t need to. There are also times when I will engage in gossip or judging of other people. All of this, to say, are the many sins that I am struggling to be free from. These are still pieces of my life that are not adding positives to my life, yet I continue to hold onto them. I have thought very much about giving up these sins and problems, but I don’t want to. Even though it would make me closer to Jesus and create that freedom in my life, I also don’t want to go through the hard work and process of cleaning out this sin in my life. I find it easier to be under the slavery of this sin, because I have grown that comfortable in it.
The second part of the definition is “the quality of state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous (burdensome).” Being free means being released from tasks, jobs or even feelings that are incredibly burdensome. The Bible says in Matthew 11:28; “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” In Jesus, not only are we to have freedom from sins and evil in our lives, but we are also to be free from the burdens that are a part of our life. This doesn’t necessarily mean that everything in our lives are going to be easy and lighthearted, but we at least know that we are supposed to lay those burdens on Jesus. We don’t have to handle those burdens on our own, because that is our new freedom in our Chrisitan lives.
I realized very recently that I am incredibly burdened by fear. I have always been a worrier, and overly concerned about things that I don’t need to be. I am concerned over failure, disappointing people, sickness, death, and many other things. This became such a problem for me that I really struggled with anxiety for many years, and even though I am no longer on medication for anxiety, it is still something that is a part of my life. This burden of fear and anxiety in my life has been the biggest struggle and hardship of my life. Yet, I constantly feel that I need to carry this burden as opposed to giving it to the one who takes all of our burdens away. This is something that needs to change for the year of 2020.
These are things that I am going to work on in the year of 2020. This is my year of complete freedom.
Colossians 3:23 Blog 