Today, we’re going to begin by making a statement that probably feels very obvious.
Change is hard.
It takes a lot of work—much of which, if you’ve been going through these daily lessons, you’ve been doing.
Certainly, there are a variety of things which can make change a bit easier—but we should not expect change to be easy. Compulsive sin habits are most often deeply embedded struggles that have had years if not decades of reinforcement. This should go without saying, but that is hard to change overnight. There is much that needs to be rewired in our brains—and that typically takes time, spiritual growth, a level of maturing as a person, and the involvement of other people to help you in the journey. We’ve been walking through many of those things in this 30-day Freedom Experience.
Addressing core wounds and going through inner healing certainly helps with change. So does learning who you are in Christ. Beginning to think soberly about sin and realizing that we are hurting God, others, and even ourselves, is also a critical step. It’s also important to catch a vision for where your life could be once you leave your sinful compulsions in the past that you can reference in a moment of temptation to help you think clearly. All of these things and more can be immensely helpful in the journey toward freedom.
Ultimately though, as much internal work as you complete, there is one thing you have to do in order to break free and step into the life God has for you. Are you ready for it?
You have to make different, often difficult choices, consistently.
You have to say no to whatever it is that’s destroying you, repeatedly, and choose instead to pursue the path that leads to life.
Freedom from sin is less of an event and more a continual choice to stop settling for cheap counterfeits and pursue a better yes.
Every time you say no to sin and yes to the life God has for you, you build momentum. Over time, your appetites change. You begin to desire what is good and true and noble. You learn the art of living from your true, good heart—the one God put inside you that bears His image and nature. It’s a battle that requires much perseverance, but if you don’t quit, you will eventually win the war.
Our prayer for you as we near the end of this 30-day journey is that it has helped you do the internal work that will help you experience lasting transformation—but that transformation requires that you choose differently. It requires that you begin to see sin for what it is—a fleeting pleasure that ultimately leads to your destruction, and that you begin to see God for who He is, a loving Father who wants nothing but the best for you, even when He asks you to forego the temporary pleasures of sin so you can step into more.
You were created for more.
When you learn to say no to sin and yes to the better life God is offering—one that flows from union with Him—you will find it.
That is real life. It is life as Jesus intends for you. You were not created for bondage to things that lead to death. You were created to live in the freedom that comes from leaning into union with your Creator. In fact, in John chapter 17, which we read yesterday, Jesus makes a stunning statement. He says,
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3, NIV)
That’s what this whole thing is all about. Knowing Him. As we make the often difficult choices to leave our sinful habits behind—to let go of the very things we’ve depended on for life—and instead learn to draw our life from God, we become more fully who He created us to be. In a mysterious paradox, as we become more fully His, we become more fully ourselves.
Every time you face temptation and say no, you take one step closer to the life Jesus intends for you. Our prayer for you is that, after going through this 30-day freedom experience, this life of freedom feels not only possible, but inevitable, if you just refuse to quit in your pursuit of it.
Jesus has given you everything you need to live free, whole, healed, and fully alive. Now, men and women of God, it’s time for you to rise up and step into your god-given destiny. You are no longer a slave. You have been set free. Now go live like it!
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV)
Day 29 Freedom Work
Scripture Reading — Read 2 Corinthians chapters 4–5, and take careful note of who God has made you to be.
Journaling Exercises — Answer the following questions at length in your journal. Aim to spend at least 5–7 minutes per question.
- Meditate on what it means that you are a new creation in Christ. How does that make you feel? What does that mean about what you truly want? At the core of your being, do you truly still desire sin, or is God working in you to desire something better?
- Romans 6 says that you are dead to sin. 2 Corinthians 5 says that “old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.” If you believed this, how would it allow you to put the past behind you and step into the new thing God is doing in your life?
- In Christ, we are completely forgiven of all our sins. If you were convinced of this truth deep down—that before God, you are innocent and pure and holy, as if you had never sinned—how would it motivate you to live? Would you be afraid of Him and stay at a distance, or would you run to Him on both the good days and the bad? Would it make you want to sin or to stay free from it?
Prayer — Father, I am so grateful that you do not give up in your pursuit of me. Your love is truly relentless. Thank you that when I was dead in my sins, you made me alive in Christ. Thank you for making me a new creation—doing away with the old and raising me up into a new life in Christ. I don’t fully understand these mysteries, but I receive them by faith. Reveal them to me in deeper ways over time. Thank you that you have washed away all of my sins and cleansed me from all unrighteousness. Help me to trust you as a loving father and to learn to live as a beloved child. You alone can lead me to true life, for you alone are life. Amen.
