Day 2017 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Romans 6:22 NIV

So we've been talking about the amazing hope and promise of an eternity in Heaven. And something hit me last night while I was praying: without Christ's freedom that hope wouldn't exist. It just wouldn't be possible. You see His selfless gift gave us the freedom to leave our sins behind and move on toward something better, something that we simply don't deserve. But I don't think we really grasp just how life-changing that kind of freedom really is.

I've always been one to basically hold a grudge against myself for the things that I've done wrong. I literally still feel bad about things that I did almost 15 years ago! It's a problem, but at least I realize that. It's something that I've worked on, but I still just feel terrible about some of the things that I have said and done in my life. But when I was praying last night it dawned on me just how complete Christ's freedom is.

It's not just the freedom from one or two of our biggest mistakes. It's freedom from every single sin, error, mistakes, bad choice, stupid decision, and wrong thought. It's freedom from every embarrassing weakness and human failure. It's freedom from the weight of feeling guilt for having gotten so much wrong in our lives. It's the freedom to move on as if none of it ever happened. We know that it did, but we are no longer bound by the guilt and shame of it all. We're truly free!

We don't deserve it because let's be honest here, we've all gotten far more wrong than we've ever come close to getting right. We've all made so many messes and mistakes that our eternal suffering should be a done deal. But He wants better for us even though we're so undeserving. He still loves us, still sees us as His children, and wants every single one of us to spend our forever's with Him in peace and happiness. 

As this verse is showing us, He set us free so that we could have that undeserved opportunity to grow into the better people that He made us to be. He freed us so that we could stop living under the control of sin and live to serve Him and do good instead. He set us free from all that could and once did hold us back from Him and His plans for us. Like I've said before, He still sees what we can be, not just what we've been.

So we really can let things go. We really can forget those mistakes that are behind us. We really can just move on to something better than we will ever deserve or even imagine. His life-changing freedom opens up that door to being good and decent people, which in turn leads to eternal life with Him. So while it can seem like sin has closed off that possibility, Christ ripped that door off the hinges and gave us a gift that truly defines love and mercy. Don't hold on to the things that He has already set you free from. Let it go and move on to the true, complete, lasting, and simply unreal freedom that He's given each of us!