Freedom Through Security in Christ

Security. Can anyone actually make such a claim? Sure! But does anyone actually claim it for real? Finding someone grounded enough to live in true freedom is getting harder and harder. The world pressures us all into thinking that we need to be ourselves and then it tells us to look exactly like everybody else. So what are we to do? And who makes the decision about which kind of jeans we’re supposed to wear anyway? Think about the world for a minute. Not just the globe, but the people. Narrow it down to your friends. What do you see in your friends? What is driving their actions? Who are they following?

There once was a girl who was middle school age, and I could just tell by the way that she acted, that she didn’t know how to be original. If she saw someone getting attention for doing something (stupid or not) she would begin doing it. My heart went out to her because she wasn’t secure. She couldn’t be herself. She had to do what someone else was doing. And that’s the trap that the entire world seems to have fallen into. But it’s nice to know that there is an alternative. The next verse of the passage listed before says, “Such a confidence we have through Christ toward God.” Obviously, people have been struggling with being confident in Christ for a long time. What a comfort! So how do we get solid?

Think about an old building. It’s getting fragile and starting to fall apart. The owner decides to sell it because it’s pretty much worthless and beginning to be unsafe. Suppose someone else buys it with plans to make it a bigger building and use it for significant purposes. Would he add on to the already insecure building? Or would he tear it down and start again? So it is with our lives. We have to look at ourselves. Has the world built this building that with each fad, gets old? New style, new addition to the structure. We begin to get top heavy and live under pressure. Cracks begin to form and suddenly, we’re unstable. When we realize this has happened to our lives, we have a choice. We can either keep building on as the styles change, or we can let Christ completely take over, demolish, and start anew. It’s hard saying that we’re letting go of the ways of the world, but when we let Christ take over, our lives are made fresh and we have a peace and freedom that the world’s twisted ways could never offer. A little later in the chapter, Paul states, “But whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” That is the true freedom. Now you can really have the freedom to be the person that God created you to be: yourself.

“Heavenly Father, demolish the life that I have built on the sands of this world. Rebuild me on You, the rock that will never be shaken. Burn all the lies I have believed and ruin my sinful ways so that I may be used to further Your kingdom. Help me find my true identity in You, and You alone. Thank You for being my security”