Freedom From Fear
If you had met me when I was a child, you would probably quickly have observed that I was very timid. I was afraid of everything. One of my biggest fears, apart from certain life-threatening dangers, was the fear of doing anything that would cause people to be angry with me, especially my parents. My obedience to them was partially motivated by fear. I guess I also figured that most unpleasant circumstances in life could be avoided if everyone would just follow all the rules and never do anything wrong. In other words, I was trying to be perfect and wanted everyone else to be perfect too.
As a result of these fearful attitudes, my view of God was also distorted. I had been told that Jesus died so that we could be forgiven. I believed this, but still I was afraid God would punish me if I did too many bad things. Although I strove to always do what was right, I was never sure I was doing enough to please Him.
When I was 17, I met some people who were really excited about their faith in Jesus Christ. They helped me to understand that if we have Jesus in our lives and we are committed to Him, He will not only forgive us, but He will even enable us to be better people. That was exactly what I needed to know because it was getting rather frustrating trying to live a good Christian life in my own efforts.
Now I have assurance that the only requirement for spending eternity with God is my faith in what Jesus did for me. I have freedom from the burden of guilt or fear of punishment when I do something wrong. It doesn’t give me a license to sin, but it does mean that where I fail, I can rely on God’s loving arms of forgiveness to pick me up and lead me in the right direction.
God wants to be our leverage in living, empowering us to feel better about ourselves, more excited about our future, more grateful for those we love and more enthusiastic about our faith.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, God has given you His Holy Spirit to help you live life according to His perfect plan. Why not pray this simple prayer and by faith invite Him to fill you with His Spirit:
Dear Father, I need you. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you by directing my own life. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I pray this in the name of Jesus. As an expression of my faith, I thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit. Amen.
