What Truly Sets You Free

I wish all of you a Happy Easter. Jesus was a gift to all who walk the face of the earth because God knew we would be unable to save ourselves from doing wrong. As humans it is inevitable that we would err in some way and we have in many – gluttony, greed, lust, envy, wrath, sloth and pride. At some point in our lives we have all committed at least one of these wrongs. All the injustice in this world is as a result of the negative things we have done to this planet, to others and to ourselves. Justice would dictate that we would have to face the consequences for these wrongs.

God knew we couldn’t save ourselves. He sent One who chose to take our consequences upon Himself so we could experience grace and mercy from a God of justice. As Christians our sole responsibility to non-Christians is to spread the message of Christ. Don’t deny the gift because you can’t understand it or because others misuse it as an attempt to force others to do what they think is right and escape the need to focus on what they do wrong. The message of Christ is:

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:9-13 (NIV)

So basically, if you don’t deny the precious and amazing gift of someone giving their life for you, you will not die in shame because God loves us all. When you view this as a second chance at life, it is not intended for you to do whatever you feel like; instead, it is meant to give you another opportunity to get life more right every day, which means that you become a better person. It’s not too much to ask for such a gracious gift, is it?

Accept the gift with all your heart and do your best to become a better person. You’ll still make mistakes along the way – we all do because we are human. Learn from them, grow from them and do your best to not repeat them over and over again. When you do that, at some point you will learn, you will grow and you will become a better person.

So on this wonderful and beautiful Easter Sunday know and believe that, no matter what you have done in your past, it can all be put in your past. You can grow and change and become a person that even you would look up to. Don’t wallow in your mistakes – learn from them and be thankful that your past does not have to define your future, and that One loved you so much that He died to prove that fact to you.

When you experience something real you feel it with all of your heart, all of your soul and all of your strength. God’s grace and mercy through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins is as real as it gets. You can ask for proof all you want, but if everyone had proof everyone would believe. He’s not asking us to think He’s a car – He asks us to have faith and believe. Wouldn’t you want to believe someone loved you so much they would literally give their life for you? It boggles our minds that someone would love us enough to take our consequences upon themselves, so it makes it hard to believe. I suggest to you – believe anyway.

“All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Cr 4:14-18 (NIV)

Enjoy your spiritual freedom. God bless.