January 20 - New Life

January 20 – New Life

“But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.” (Romans 7:6)

What are things that hold you captive and keep you from being the person God calls you to be?  What things enslave you and stop you from growing and transforming each day into His emissary here on earth?  What stops you from finding your place within God’s will every moment of every day?

It’s funny … I’ve been thinking about this a lot this last week for some reason.  And my answer is to all of those questions is … fear.  Fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of perceptions, fear of anger, fear of scorn, fear of judgment, fear of loss, fear of losing, the list becomes incredible when I stop to think about it.  Consequently, I try not to think about it too often and I try to move forward without allowing fear to rule me.

FDR said that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself … Jesus tells us that perfect love casts out all fear.

FDR is absolutely right – and the only perfect love I have ever experienced is that from Jesus Christ, and to be honest – I’m definitely not afraid of His judgment or His criticism, His scorn or failing in front of Him.  He’s the only one I can be absolutely myself with. 

But I have a problem moving my fears away from the immediacy of my surroundings and the people that I encounter regularly to Jesus.

The people in Paul’s time had a problem with this as well.  They were so accustomed to living under the Law … they couldn’t bring themselves to realize the freedom that came from walking in Jesus’ will.

We are so accustomed to living with each other that we don’t know what it is like to actually live a life free from the baggage that traipses along on its own behind us.

To be honest, I don’t know how this is supposed to work.  I can come up with the standard platitudes and happy stories that will tell you how it is supposed to work, but in reality, you know that each day we look for proof that Jesus’ love outweighs our questions and our fears.

What I do know is that every day I look for that proof, I find it.  Every day I am honest with Him about my fears, He doesn’t negate them or ridicule me, He simply loves me.  Every day I open my heart to Him, Jesus shares His heart with me.

This is the new life that He offers us, this is the freedom from fear that He brings to us.