Pathways Press.com

Written by Karrie Garcia, a contemporary author and life coach. This is an excerpt from her book “Free and Fully Alive.”

So what does biblical freedom mean? The freedom God offers throughout Scripture is freedom from the enslaving power of sin in our lives. The Enemy uses sin to obstruct our relationship with God, keeping us from experiencing abundant life in God.  Biblical freedom allows us to reclaim what the Enemy has robbed from us so we can live the story of who God created us to be. By contrast, worldly freedom is the ability to do what we want, when we want. When Adam and Eve were in Eden, they were free to choose whether to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. But choosing to eat from it brought consequences — death…Jesus set you free so you can stand firm in His power to live a life that is free and fully alive, not so you can be bound to the things of this earth. He wants you awakened to a life that can hold both hurt and hope. A life that cries out in grief but can whisper gratitude in the same breath. This kind of freedom allows you to have faith in Christ but still experience human fears. You can bring them both before the cross, where His grace, love, and mercy can cover you and empower you…If you want to be truly free, you must first recognize the places where you have settled for counterfeit freedom. You must awaken to the reality that parts of your story have been hijacked by an Enemy who wants you to believe that freedom lies in your power to choose, rather than through the transformation of your heart. Once you recognize where this Enemy has attacked your story, you can begin the work of reclaiming those places so you can experience the life abundant and return to who you were created to be.

 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. [1 Corinthians 6:12]