My Secret to Freedom

Guilt was once my close friend.  Worry was a constant companion.  Depression was once my enemy that would rarely leave my company. 

I can honestly say that I've waved goodbye to those emotions.  Or at least, if they come to visit me, they are not welcome for very long.  It almost feels prideful to say.  I have never wanted to act like I have it together, because Lord knows I don't.  But by God's grace I am not falling apart. 

I once made statements all the time like: " I am not ______."   or " I didn't _______."  I feared failure the most.  If women will listen to the statements that come out of their mouth, most will recognize these sentences that start with the word "I".  And that is the problem.  It is self-focus.  They are holding to some standard that comes from themselves, others' expectations, or even the Bible.  Yes, the Bible tells us the law that should be followed.  The law was given to show that we can not fully follow it.  The law is a guideline, but not our friend.

I replaced those statements with "Jesus is _________." and "Jesus did ________".  I have trained my mind to stop making "I" statements and focus on "Jesus" statements. This miraculous thing happened:  I started forgetting about myself.  I laughed at my weaknesses.  I looked at my sin square in the face and owned it.  Peace started replacing my fear of failure.  I started being okay with "not being good enough," because Jesus is good enough.

Here are some more examples:

"I can't finish anything."                           
"Jesus said on the cross that 'it is finished'."
"I need to get it together."                    
"Jesus holds it all together."
"I can't believe I did that."                   
"Jesus believed I would do that, so He died for it. I believe in Him."
"I am not a good mother."                        
"God is the perfect Father."
"I failed."                                                
"Jesus succeeded."
"I can't do all that."                                  
"Jesus did everything that needed to be done."


I believe that if you practice these statements habitually, you will find that the solution for the Christian is never "try harder".  It is "train longer".  Train your mind to put off the old way of thinking and put on the new.