Before salvation, we all lived in bondage. We were all slaves to sin and self. Hearing and accepting the gospel set us free from that. The cell door was opened and we were able to step out of the bondage and into a new life- a life of freedom.
However, too many Christians have stepped back into that cell.
Have you? Are you living in bondage?
Freedom comes from truth. If we are following and believing lies, we will never be free.
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
Our freedom comes from trusting and believing God’s Word. Truth is not subjective.
Some areas we may be living in bondage:
- Sin.
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).
“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Romans 6:22).
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” (Hebrews 12:1).
Sin is not a place of freedom. If there’s a sin in your life that you just can’t seem to let go of, I pray that soon you will choose to give it to the Lord and repent. The pleasures of sin are for a season. That season will end. Give it to the Lord before He brings correction.
- People Pleasing.
If you live to please others, whether by seeking their approval, or just not wanting to upset them, this is bondage.
“Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;” (Ephesians 6:6).
“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).
You cannot please everyone. That is a stress God does not intend for you to bear. Seek to be blameless before God, pleasing Him above others.
- Service.
Now, don’t get me wrong. We are to work for and serve the Lord. We are called to His work at salvation. We should be busy for Jesus. However, this becomes bondage when we serve for the wrong reasons. If you are busy to look more spiritual, to please the pastor, to gain recognition, or as a means to earn God’s favor, this is bondage. You will work yourself to death hoping you’ve done enough. That is not why we serve. That type of service isn’t joyful. And it puts our other priorities out of balance. If you are serving at church and neglecting your family, that is sin.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” (Colossians 3:23).
“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1 Timothy 5:8).
- Unbelief.
Not believing God will keep us from serving Him, from praying, and from living the abundant life He has for us. Unbelief is the biggest problem Christians face. Unbelief keeps us from prayer and from obedience. Whether it’s choosing to ignore sin because we don’t believe what God says about it, or choosing to think we can handle our vices, it is unbelief.
“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).
“For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:16-19).
“And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching” (Mark 6:5-6).
May we all pray as the father of the sick boy in Mark 9:24: “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
Take your faith and your doubts to Jesus and ask Him to help you live by faith.
- Unforgiveness and Bitterness.
Usually these two things are separated, but I believe that a spirit of unforgiveness leads to bitterness, and both are detrimental to the Christian.
Holding on to either of these will steal your joy, peace, and fellowship with other believers and the Lord. This is a place of bondage. You will not serve the Lord or others when you live in unforgiveness or bitterness. You will not be someone that others want to be around. This attitude infiltrates your entire life. You will resent others for their joy and service, relationships will be damaged, there’s no contentment, and the result will be quitting on God. Be sure this is a trap of Satan. He wants nothing more than to get you bitter and discontent and eventually out of church.
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32).
“Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;” (Hebrews 12:15).
Stay in the Word, stay close to the Shepherd, and let Him lead you in paths of righteousness.
With Hope in His Service,
Heather
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