Three Things That Will STEAL Your Freedom
When I realized that the very first real post here was going to be published on the Fourth of July I immediately scrapped my other plans and put together something new, because hello, can't pass up this sort of opportunity. :) I'm a theme kind of girl, you know?
Today a lot of people will be celebrating freedom, which is completely ironic because so many of us are anything but free.
That guy standing at the bbq grill...he plasters on a smile with that spatula in one hand and a cold beverage in the other...but inside he feels an unexplainable nag that something just isn't right in his life right now. That mom chasing her kids around the pool might seem frazzled because Johnny keeps running way too close to the water's edge, but she has a million other things on her mind today that are making her patience even more thin than usual. Even grandma, standing over her jello salad, can't explain why she can't make herself feel happy even though everyone else seems to be having the time of their lives. No one is immune from going through periods where joy seems scarce and happiness feels like something meant for other people.
My hope and prayer on this Independence Day is that all of my friends and family are feeling yankee doodle dandy. But if there is anyone reading this who is feeling blue, take a minute to ask yourself if you are carrying around some baggage that is stealing your emotional freedom. It could be a number of things, but today I'm sharing three very common culprits for feeling unexplainably down in the dumps. I'm 99% certain that if a major and obvious life event hasn't happened to you to make you feel a lack of peace (or you're not medically diagnosable), then it's one of these three things dragging you down....
1.) Secret Sin
Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you. Jeremiah 5:25
Dun dun dunnnn....the "s" word. I don't think I need to explain to anyone what sin is, right? I mean, let me know, we can dedicate an entire blog post to it. :) Sin is a thief of joy.
If you are doing something you know you shouldn't be doing...if you are thinking things you know you shouldn't be thinking....if you are going places you shouldn't be going or visiting websites you shouldn't be visiting...or....fill in the blank...even if it's something small that you think you have a handle on - you don't. NOTHING will tie an albatross around your neck and sink you faster than sin...and I've got news - ain't none of it a secret!
Bail that garbage out of your life. Throw it down, and do not pick it back up again. Ask for forgiveness where it's due (maybe it's to a person, most definitely to God) and I guarantee you that you will feel 1000 times lighter in your spirit.
2.) Holding a Grudge
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Mark 11:25
Do you need to forgive someone of something today? Have you been holding on to past hurts that someone has inflicted on you? You have GOT to let that GO. I know you've heard of this by now, but it's true: A lack of forgiveness on your part nearly never affects the other person in a physical sense, but it will wear you down. Unforgiveness is like a cancer in your soul. The longer it's allowed to fester and grow the worse you will feel. Not to mention, scripture tells us that if you are not forgiving, YOU will not be forgiven...no wonder why something hasn't been feeling right!
But you don't understand what they did to me! I get it. Believe me, I do. So to anyone struggling with forgiveness today, let me just ask you this: Do you posses the ability to go back in time and change the past? Are you hoping for a better future? There is nothing you can do to change what has been done, but not letting go of whatever it is WILL affect your future. If you want to move on with life and have a better one, forgive!
3.) Comparing Yourself
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
Say it with me now! "Comparison is the thief of joy!"
It's a popular meme, and it's popular for a reason - because it's true. So let me be your mom today and remind you that someone will always be smarter than you, richer than you, more successful than you, more popular than you, etc. Who cares?!
I know sometimes not caring is easier said than done when nothing seems to be going right for you and everyone else seems to be having this great life. "Seems" being a very appropriate word here, by the way. Because you never know. You just don't. I have lived enough life by now to know that hardly anything is as it seems. So do not waste your time comparing yourself to others. Count your own blessings, and yes, know that your day is likely coming. No one is at the top of the mountain forever, and no one is in the valley forever. We all just take turns swapping out!
Think of it like a slingshot: The further you get pulled down, the more potential you have to shoot further in the opposite direction. Great victories often come with great sacrifices. But if you spend all of your time worrying about what so-and-so is doing over there, you might get distracted and your slingshot slips, taking you nowhere fast. Look straight ahead, and don't compare.
This Fourth of July I want you to be FREE in every sense of the word! Do not sell this day short. Do not let the sun set and the fireworks go off before you evaluate whether or not you are good in these three areas of your life. Even if you think "Eh, I'm feeling pretty okay today!" I would still encourage you to take a little self-evaluation. Sometimes we're carrying around burdens and we don't even realize it! I feel like the little girl opening the latch on the bird cage. "Go! Be free!" Haha.
Enjoy your good times today, and I hope you feel great from the inside out!
Peace!
Today a lot of people will be celebrating freedom, which is completely ironic because so many of us are anything but free.
That guy standing at the bbq grill...he plasters on a smile with that spatula in one hand and a cold beverage in the other...but inside he feels an unexplainable nag that something just isn't right in his life right now. That mom chasing her kids around the pool might seem frazzled because Johnny keeps running way too close to the water's edge, but she has a million other things on her mind today that are making her patience even more thin than usual. Even grandma, standing over her jello salad, can't explain why she can't make herself feel happy even though everyone else seems to be having the time of their lives. No one is immune from going through periods where joy seems scarce and happiness feels like something meant for other people.
My hope and prayer on this Independence Day is that all of my friends and family are feeling yankee doodle dandy. But if there is anyone reading this who is feeling blue, take a minute to ask yourself if you are carrying around some baggage that is stealing your emotional freedom. It could be a number of things, but today I'm sharing three very common culprits for feeling unexplainably down in the dumps. I'm 99% certain that if a major and obvious life event hasn't happened to you to make you feel a lack of peace (or you're not medically diagnosable), then it's one of these three things dragging you down....
1.) Secret Sin
Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you. Jeremiah 5:25
Dun dun dunnnn....the "s" word. I don't think I need to explain to anyone what sin is, right? I mean, let me know, we can dedicate an entire blog post to it. :) Sin is a thief of joy.
If you are doing something you know you shouldn't be doing...if you are thinking things you know you shouldn't be thinking....if you are going places you shouldn't be going or visiting websites you shouldn't be visiting...or....fill in the blank...even if it's something small that you think you have a handle on - you don't. NOTHING will tie an albatross around your neck and sink you faster than sin...and I've got news - ain't none of it a secret!
Bail that garbage out of your life. Throw it down, and do not pick it back up again. Ask for forgiveness where it's due (maybe it's to a person, most definitely to God) and I guarantee you that you will feel 1000 times lighter in your spirit.
2.) Holding a Grudge
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Mark 11:25
Do you need to forgive someone of something today? Have you been holding on to past hurts that someone has inflicted on you? You have GOT to let that GO. I know you've heard of this by now, but it's true: A lack of forgiveness on your part nearly never affects the other person in a physical sense, but it will wear you down. Unforgiveness is like a cancer in your soul. The longer it's allowed to fester and grow the worse you will feel. Not to mention, scripture tells us that if you are not forgiving, YOU will not be forgiven...no wonder why something hasn't been feeling right!
But you don't understand what they did to me! I get it. Believe me, I do. So to anyone struggling with forgiveness today, let me just ask you this: Do you posses the ability to go back in time and change the past? Are you hoping for a better future? There is nothing you can do to change what has been done, but not letting go of whatever it is WILL affect your future. If you want to move on with life and have a better one, forgive!
3.) Comparing Yourself
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
Say it with me now! "Comparison is the thief of joy!"
It's a popular meme, and it's popular for a reason - because it's true. So let me be your mom today and remind you that someone will always be smarter than you, richer than you, more successful than you, more popular than you, etc. Who cares?!
I know sometimes not caring is easier said than done when nothing seems to be going right for you and everyone else seems to be having this great life. "Seems" being a very appropriate word here, by the way. Because you never know. You just don't. I have lived enough life by now to know that hardly anything is as it seems. So do not waste your time comparing yourself to others. Count your own blessings, and yes, know that your day is likely coming. No one is at the top of the mountain forever, and no one is in the valley forever. We all just take turns swapping out!
Think of it like a slingshot: The further you get pulled down, the more potential you have to shoot further in the opposite direction. Great victories often come with great sacrifices. But if you spend all of your time worrying about what so-and-so is doing over there, you might get distracted and your slingshot slips, taking you nowhere fast. Look straight ahead, and don't compare.
This Fourth of July I want you to be FREE in every sense of the word! Do not sell this day short. Do not let the sun set and the fireworks go off before you evaluate whether or not you are good in these three areas of your life. Even if you think "Eh, I'm feeling pretty okay today!" I would still encourage you to take a little self-evaluation. Sometimes we're carrying around burdens and we don't even realize it! I feel like the little girl opening the latch on the bird cage. "Go! Be free!" Haha.
Enjoy your good times today, and I hope you feel great from the inside out!
Peace!
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