Like many Americans, I celebrated the 4th of July today by watching my town’s parade. The streets were lined with people young and old, all gathered to participate in the yearly festivities. As the American flag led the parade procession, the crowd stood in honor of the great country in which we live.
The somberness of the passing flag was quickly replaced with lights and sirens, candy being thrown, and floats of all kinds. It struck me how quickly we often forget the sacrifice necessary to provide the freedom we now celebrate.
Living in America gives us many freedoms, most of which we often take for granted. We are able to choose where we live, where we work, and even where (or if) we worship. Considered basic rights in our country, many of the freedoms we experience daily are not shared with others across the globe.
For many, living in America is the ultimate dream. We are known as the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” However, the freedom that living in America provides is nothing compared to the freedom that I have in Christ Jesus.
It is because of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made when He died on the cross that I can celebrate my freedom from the bondage of sin and condemnation. I am free from the guilt and shame of my past, and I am free from the power that sin once held over me. Romans 4:25 says, “He was handed over to die because of our sins, and He was raised to life to make us right with God.”
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty of our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life shedding His blood. -Romans 3:23-25
As believers, not only are we made free of the punishment of death for our sins, but we are also able to experience freedom from anything that is not of the Lord. In Celebrate Recovery, we call these things “hurts, habits, and hang-ups.”
Did you know that as a child of God, you no longer have to live in bondage? Romans 6:7 says, “For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.” In Christ, sin loses its power. It is through Him that we are able to leave our burdens behind us and walk forward with the light and life of Christ in our hearts.
Now don’t get me wrong- this doesn’t mean that we won’t make a decision to sin. We are sinners, and sinning is in our very nature. What I’m saying is that sin no longer has power over us. We are no longer bound to sin in the same way as we were before we accepted Jesus as our Lord. As believers in Christ He has already broken the chains- we no longer have to live as prisoners to our “stuff.”
It might take some hard work and time to experience exhilarating freedom from sin and the baggage we carry, but Jesus already did the hardest part- sacrificing His life on the cross.
When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. -Romans 6:10-11
As we celebrate this July 4th, I hope you will join me in not only celebrating the freedoms that our country allows, but the freedom that Christ Jesus has allowed by being the ultimate sacrifice for us all.
For the Lord is Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. -2 Corinthians 3
Want to know how you can experience freedom from your hurts, habits, and hang-ups? Check out a local Celebrate recovery meeting in your area. Want to know what happens in a meeting? Check out my post- Celebrate Recovery- What to Expect in a Meeting.
