Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17
Free
Daily Devotion – February 13, 2018
Devotion based on 2 Corinthians 3:17
See series: Devotions
Christian author, Timothy Keller tells of a woman who has tasted what real freedom is.
As a parish pastor, Keller met this woman when she was in her 40’s. Years of trouble, however, made her look far older. She had not always looked this way. In her teens and in her 20’s, this woman had breathtaking physical beauty. In fact, her attractiveness was so striking that powerful men would habitually pursue her. They wanted her by their side, however, just to display her as a trophy—just to show others how powerful and influential they were.
This went on for years. As the years went by, two terrible things happened to her. For one, these men of power often abused and humiliated her. For another, these experiences broke her down. They conditioned her into assuming that if there was any kind of meaning or value in her life, she would only find it when she was with a man—any man.
She started to see a therapist. The therapist helped her see that, for far too long, she had been seeking her sense of worth in the wrong place. Then the therapist offered a solution. “Instead of seeking your sense of worth in a man, you need to seek your sense of worth in some kind of career. Then, when you are successful in that career, your sense of worth will be in a good place.”
The woman took in this advice from her therapist. She thought for a moment and then responded. With great respect she asked her therapist. “And so instead of getting all my sense of worth from loving a man, now I’m going to get all my worth from being successful and making money?” Then she asked her therapist this question. “What if I don’t want either addiction? Can’t you let me build my life on something that cannot let me down?”
It was during this period in her life when the Good News of Jesus embraced her soul. Now she is free. She is free from serving something that cannot possibly bear the weight of her needs. She is free from serving something that can only let her down. She is free because Jesus has washed her in his blood and wrapped her in the blanket of his own righteousness. She is free because, through faith in Jesus, she now belongs to him. She is free because, through faith in Jesus, the old desperation and the old fears are gone.
Through that same faith in Jesus, you are free too.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, through faith in you, I am free. Forgive me for all the times I have sought my sense of worth in anything other than you. Refresh me in your Spirit. Amen.
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