DR. PHILLIP BRASSFIELD

As if you need me to remind you, we are approaching the election of our next president. And I don’t think it is much of an exaggeration to say that this election has the feel of being one that will define the future of our nation. It is frequently said during this election season that democracy is on the ballot. I think what people mean is that, in a way, the election will increase or decrease our freedoms (depending on your political perspective). And while much of that talk is just that, political talk, no doubt, it will certainly have an effect. But, our greatest freedom, in fact, all our freedoms, originate from our Creator. They are not a political gift from some earthly government, freedom was God’s idea.

The Apostle Paul said in Galatian 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ has made us free…” Freedom is essential to living a life of satisfaction and contentment. It’s so hard to function when you’re bound. Bondage reduces your options, opportunities, and possibilities. This is why the enemy is so focused on tying you up. Bondage reduces your range of movement and causes pain when you try to press beyond the limits and boundaries of your chains. 

Here are three amazing things that come as a result of true freedom:

1. Freedom allows you to reach beyond the limits of your bondage and become what God has ordained for you to become! When God created you, He began with the end in mind. He knows His plans for you, and for your life. Through His freedom you can experience the joy and confidence of knowing that God always finishes what He starts. And He is at work in your heart to bring you to the power of a limitless life.

2. Freedom releases you to realign with God’s destiny for your life and a partnership with God on mission! God’s plan involves freedom with a purpose. It’s not freedom from responsibility or duty. It’s not freedom for the sake of self-indulgence or selfish ambition but rather it is freedom for participation in a greater good and a higher purpose. It is freedom for your lower nature and a release of the nobler you where meaning is found. 

3. Freedom encourages you to dream again, and to imagine what amazing can look like for you. Freedom encourages you to step away from the “what ifs” and “I wish I had not” complexes and to choose to live in the powerful possibilities of your imagination where your dreams are measured by the magnitude of God’s ability. We need dreamers in every sector, people who can look at possibility and say, “Why not?” and “Why not me?”

The freedom Christ brings is your inheritance as a believer and your portion as a son or daughter of God. It is your “clean slate”, “starting point” to a life of significance. Freedom allows you to live in the reality of what Paul described in Philippians 3 verses 13 and 14 when he said, “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”