Freedom

"He forgives all my sins and heals my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle's!"

Psalm 103:3-5

Raise your hand if you've ever felt ashamed. Guilty. Unworthy. Chained.

I know this feeling well, as I'm surrounded by a world filled with seemingly perfect people. Whether it's the airbrushed model in an advertisement, the virtuous church member across the aisle, or the polished mother with a thriving blog and voluminous blowout, our culture presents insurmountable expectations for women to hurdle. What culture and society deems as "right" constantly changes, and by the time you've jammed yourself into a box of idealism, the standard has shifted. Imagine an acrobat striving to catch the high bar during a free-fall, failing every time, and you'll capture the condition of the human heart. Sometimes your fingers brush the cool metal, and sometimes you can't muster the courage to jump. Maybe you're so paralyzed with the fear of failure that you haven't even climbed up the platform, but remain on the ground frozen under the pressure of the fall.

This is not the life we were created for.

We were created to live under the privilege of our royal status as daughters of the King.

We were created to thrive in our natural gifting without measuring ourselves against a certain standard of creativity, beauty, value, or efficiency.

We were created to rejoice in our Father as He delights in us, His spotless and beautiful children.

In my devotional this morning, I discovered the perfect retaliation against culture's ludicrous expectations. As Paul is discussing laws and regulations regarding clean and unclean food, he asks a simple, defiant question that applies to so much more than dietary restrictions:

"For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks?"

Can you say "hallelujah?"

The first churches to form after Christ's resurrection were struggling to balance cultural expectations with spiritual truths just as we are today. Today, pastors chase after culture so their church can stay relevant and trendy to high-maintenance millenials. Graphic designers create beautiful, Pinterest-worthy content to advertise Bible studies, sermon series, and worship events. Worship leaders have a definitive "look" based on the freshest lines at H&M and Pacsun. Keynote speakers walk the wobbly tightrope between building a fanbase and adhering to scripture, only to be persecuted when they go a step too far. The church today focuses so much on outward perfection that it can be easy to forget the purpose behind the polished printout. Following clothing trends is not a sin, agonizing over fonts and color schemes doesn't lead baby believers astray, and having thousands of followers on social media doesn't make you superficial. The risk of being culturally relevant is that endless striving and rebranding focuses less on faith, scripture, and grace and more on flashiness, tweeting, and screentime. When you look to Instagram or church attendance to validate you, you're ignoring the simple freedom of running with Christ. You're hovered over your computer when Jesus wants you to lay in the wildflowers. You're agonizing over the perfect morning devotional shot when the Holy Spirit is calling you to be humbly genuine. You're creating a Pinterest board of scriptures that you've never read with your own eyes in an actual Bible. Why do we succumb to the cultural pressure to compete and look a certain way when God designed us to thrive in our unique nature, barefoot and untamed? Why have we twisted Christian pillars to adhere to cultural norms?

Everyone's interpretation of freedom is different, but the freedom available to you and I as believers is clearly defined. To understand and shape your freedom in Christ, I thought it best to focus on the three principles of salvation: sola scriptura, sola gratia, and sola fide.

Sola scriptura, or by scripture alone, forms the essential moral code for Christianity. We must not check ourselves against our neighbor, a textbook, or a government, we must check ourselves against the Word of God alone. It is the only rulebook that never changes, never becomes outdated, and never fails. Live by His Word, and you'll find the life you were made for. 

Sola gratia, or by grace alone, counters any argument concerning salvation or righteousness. We are righteous by the grace of God alone. Our value in the Kingdom of Heaven is not determined by our goodness, virtue, service, or church hours. Our value in the Kingdom of Heaven is defined solely by the voluntary death of a perfect and blameless King, who walked through the same devastation and disappointment that every human does, yet escaped triumphant against sin. You cannot make yourself any more or less worthy of God's grace after accepting Christ as your savior. God is going to use you regardless of your track record or spiritual prowess. 

Sola fide, or by faith alone, is the key to the prior pillars of Christianity. Your faith in Christ alone unlocks the key to God's perfect, unending grace. Your faith in Christ alone opens your soul to the Holy Spirit, who uses scripture to lead you along the path of righteousness. Unless you believe that Christ is the Son of God, the divine and perfect King above all kings, you cannot walk in freedom. Faith is freedom. When you trust that God is who He says He is, every other truth in the Bible becomes your heart's cry. With faith, you trust that your value is found in Christ. With faith, you trust that your sin has been washed away by the blood of Jesus. With faith, you trust that nothing in this life compares to the joy found in Jesus. 

When you love God more than anything else, the shackles of society break. You cannot be bound by insecurity and comparison when your eyes are locked on Jesus. 

"So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"

Galatians 5:16, 22-23

There is no limit to the fruit you can bear through the Holy Spirit. There is no limit to the blessing that God can pour out in your life. There is no limit to the reach of Christ's redemptive power. Whether you've failed to meet the expectations of man or the commandments of scripture, take heart in this: your freedom is unlimited in Christ. Don't allow yourself to be influenced by unbiblical culture or unrealistic expectations. Spend time with the Lord daily, and discover what He has to say about living righteously. Abide in Christ, and you will bear fruit. Your worth is not determined by your own efforts, and that alone is freeing. Your worth and freedom are based solely on Christ's sacrifice for you, and that is irreversible and unchangeable. 

I love Jess Connolly's monologue on Eve. Eve may have a nasty reputation for committing the first sin, but there was a time before the Fall. No one knows how long Eve ran wild around Eden before the serpent came along. In her work Wild and Free, Connolly defines the freedom that Eve experienced with God as living "in a very pure and wild state, secure in who she was and confident in her purpose... [her] identity and purpose are uncomplicated and unhindered by [her] own insecurity or need for acknowledgement." In the Garden, Adam and Eve had ONE rule: don't eat the fruit on this tree. God didn't hand out a list of commandments until the Israelites got unruly in Exodus. Jesus came and streamlined those commandments into one rule: love God, and love others. Paul spent the majority of the New Testament sorting out cultural law from spiritual law. This reveals that God doesn't desire for us to live under a set of laws and regulations, but to run wild and carefree under His banner of love. When you find yourself securely in God's love, you'll obey and please Him out of gratitude and worship, not out of obligation or social pressure. 

"Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God's people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God's mercy"

1 Peter 2: 10

Friends, what's more freeing than that?

Represent

"And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father."

Colossians 3:17

"Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people."

Philippians 2:14-15

Today in my film class, we discussed the purpose and effect of violence in media. We've watched films with various degrees of violence, from Casablanca to Pulp Fiction. When my professor asked what I thought of violence in media, I admitted I don't watch gory films. I believe images are powerful, and that violent images demoralize viewers and decrease their ability to sympathize with others. Personally, one way I can live purely, as Scripture calls me to, is to focus my mind on things above rather than cheap entertainment. Gruesome films provide little benefit, other than possibly enlightening viewers on the devastation of war or genocide.

Minutes after my confession, I was stopped by a photographer from the campus newspaper, who asked if she could take a picture of me for the Student Style section. I happened to be wearing my Girls Are Not For Sale shirt from The NET store for a photo shoot later this afternoon, and suddenly had an opportunity to share a bit of Jesus with an unexpected audience. The photo shoot is for my blog post this Thursday on women's true worth, but now my message will be broadcasted to faculty and students all over my campus. Today I've had two obvious opportunities to represent Jesus, but how many subtle opportunities have passed by, unnoticed? Have I used edifying language today on my walk to class with my fiancé? Did I smile at a stranger who feels invisible? Could I have struck up a conversation with that photographer about the spiritual aspect of my shirt? 

We have a thousand chances each day to share the Gospel. Scripture tells us that we are children of light, that we should shine like a city on a hill. Honestly, how bright is your light? How much impact can you truly have on a stranger without accidentally deterring them from Christ? Some of you may have rejection stories after you tried to invite someone to church or a Bible study. Maybe you've been directly persecuted for wearing a shirt with a Christian message, or maybe you've been called a hypocrite for marking yourself as a Christ-follower after a life filled with darkness. Maybe you're an eager middle schooler who will invite anyone you can get your hands on to youth group. Whatever your situation, know this: God has equipped you with all the wiring necessary to shine.

"For God is working in you, giving you the desire and power to do what pleases him."

Philippians 2:13

God will never call you to stand for Him alone. Outwardly, you may look isolated or forsaken; inwardly, you have the Spirit of God Himself beside you. In Luke 12, Jesus tells his disciples that the Holy Spirit will give them the right words in times of oppression and persecution. Later, in Acts 1, Jesus appeared to his disciples after the Resurrection and promised they would receive the Holy Spirit as a guide and witness. Throughout Acts, we see Christians perform miracles and bring people to Christ after being filled with the Holy Spirit. Before the Spirit was sent to them, they were moral people who loved Jesus. After the Spirit was sent to them, they were world changers who were divinely guided in every opportunity. This is exactly what we are called to, believers. We are called to be divinely guided in every opportunity. We are called to be on guard and stand firm in our faith, to be courageous and strong, as 1 Corinthians 16:13 commands. We are called to stay alert and clearheaded in our pursuit towards righteousness in 1 Thessalonians 5:6. Ephesians 5:17 warns believers not to act thoughtlessly, but to understand what the Lord wants them to do. 

Each of these verses applies to you, if you believe that Jesus Christ is the prophesied Messiah and the sole path to eternal life with God. You won't have the time or energy to verbally preach the Gospel to everyone you pass by, but you do need to set yourself apart from the world by the way you live. Maybe an opportunity will come along to defy cultural norms in favor of holy commandments. Maybe someone will ask you what your tattoo means, or why your t-shirt says girls aren't for sale. Maybe you'll have the chance to incorporate spiritual truths into your speech at school. If you take a few moments each day to ask the Holy Spirit what the day holds for the Kingdom of Heaven, you may be surprised at the lost and hurting people you encounter. Everyone needs to encounter Christ's love in their day, and He's given you the resources to share it. You have a mouth that speaks, you have a face that can smile, you have a mind that can decide what to participate in and what to refrain from. 'Tis the season for lights and giving, why not shine your light and give Jesus to someone?

Decisions

Last night, one of my dear friends came to my house in a panic over her senior year. Like any high school senior, she's scrambling to settle on a college, meet application deadlines, and decide what she wants to commit to for the rest of her life- at the ripe age of 17. This season of her life is filled with life-changing decisions, first times and last times, and heavy expectations on what her choices should be. If you graduated high school within the last five years, you can probably remember the stress, anxiety, and pressure of creating a future that meets everyone else's expectations. My fiancé and I are in the midst of a similar struggle; we're striving to lay a spiritual, emotional, physical, and financial foundation that the rest of our lives, and our children's lives, will be built on. We're also trying to find out how to blend two dissimilar upbringings into one cohesive lifestyle, weeding out what works for us as a couple versus what worked for our families. This season of my life, like my young friend's, has turned from a predictable brook to a coursing river. As Pocahontas sings, "you can't step in the same river twice/the water's always changing, always flowing." As a young adult who's lived in the same house for the majority of her life, "always changing" isn't exciting. It's scary. I'm not an adventurous person by any means; I thrive on routines, schedules, and clear instructions. There's no manual for major, life-changing, world-shattering decision making. Or is there?

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures forever." 

Isaiah 40:8

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Psalm 119:105

Y'all, the Bible is POWERFUL. The Holy Spirit didn't inspire forty men to write decrees, wisdom, and eyewitness accounts just for kicks. The scrolls haven't been preserved, protected, and recreated for centuries "just because." The Word of the Lord is faithful and true because it is God's love letter written TO US, His children, for the sake of our purity and His glory. Yesterday, I opened my Bible to Proverbs 19 and found five slices of wisdom, perfect for the decision I've been praying through and seeking wisdom for. My fiancé frequently refers to scripture to reach solutions, and my mom and dad's parenting style is fully shaped by the Bible's teachings. An entire religion with hundreds of denominations has been shaped around this book. Reading my Bible has never failed to bring peace, closure, or direction. These words have fallen to us directly from God's perfect lips. Reading and memorizing scripture is essential for knowing and following our Lord. Don't you think you should check it out? For those of you struggling with any major decisions, these scriptures have helped me tremendously.

"Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes."

Proverbs 19:2

"Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry."

James 1:19

"Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest."

Proverbs 20:4

"God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.

God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.

God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

Matthew 5:5-10

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy."

James 1:2

"Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs." 

Proverbs 19:11