Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Free to be Me!
By Elin Henderson

“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
John 8:36 (NKJV)

Life today is all about being happy with who you are! Happy and free to be me! Individuality is highly encouraged and eagerly sought! Self-esteem and self-actualization are pushed at us on all fronts from cosmetics to shampoo to health food to exercise, and more. Yet, despite this, many of us struggle with who we are and with being ourselves. What keeps us from wanting to be ourselves? Fear of what people may think of us. Insecurity with who we are. The list really is endless.

Today’s society would have us be content with who we are, but content for what reasons? Our experience or age? Our beauty? Our accomplishments or education? As believers, the true question for us to ask ourselves is “Can we dare to be ourselves (free to be me) in the will of God?”(1) We can look for freedom and contentment in many outside sources, but there is only one place where we can find it. We are only free to be who God created us to be - - free in our individuality - - when we find ourselves in Him.

How do we find ourselves in Him, or in His will? For one, we must know Him as our personal Savior, aware of His life within us in the form of the Holy Spirit! Only then can who we are (my “Elin-ness” as I like to call it), be used for its greatest potential in Him. But having that Holy Spirit in my heart does not guarantee that I am now all set! It is when I choose to walk with Him, and allow Him to renew and transform me from the inside out, that my security comes! Being in His will is simply being willing to let God be God in my humanity! That is when man’s approval takes a backseat and I realize, “If God is for me, who can be against me” (Romans 8:31). In fact, “I will not fear what men can do to me” (Psalms 118:6), because “I am free indeed” (John 8:36).

That is what I call true freedom! True self-actualization! True self-esteem! Free to be me in the person of Jesus Christ! Free from the search for man’s approval because I have found the source of true approval – in Christ, in God!!

GOING DEEPER:
1. In what areas have you been struggling in your personal identity? Individuality? What promises from Scripture can you claim to find security in Him?
2. How can this newfound freedom now impact the world around you? How you deal with others? Yourself?

FURTHER READING:Galatians 2:20, 5:1; Romans 8:2

Oakwood’s missionaries Elin Henderson and her husband Phil serve as church planters with New Tribes in Mozambique, Africa. Elin is mother to ten-year-old Callie and eight-year-old Elias.

(1) Wiersbe, Warren. The Bible Exposition Commentary: Volume 1. Chariot Victor Publishing. Colorado Springs, CO. 1989.
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