May the Truth Set You Free
Photo by travelnow.or.crylater on Unsplash
Our image of God can be skewed or distorted based on what people have told us about God, or what we, ourselves, think about God. This goes for believers and unbelievers, so it is important for us to find out who God is, for ourselves. You may be able to get the information you are looking for from Bible Scholars, Theologians, pastors, and other people, but who better to ask than God himself? Wherever you are in life, regardless of your Bible knowledge, or lack thereof, pray and ask God who He is. Ask Him to reveal himself to you. Then read, the Bible. Begin to find out His true nature, characteristics, how He thinks, and what He feels.
While doing so, remember that we cannot place God in a box. He is far greater than what our minds can comprehend, but I do believe God allows Himself to be known to us. Proverbs 8:17 says, I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. Another verse I like is in Isaiah 55:6-9 which says:
Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
declares the Lord.
9 As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
We see in this passage that when we turn to God and away from our own habits and ways, He has mercy on us. Verse 8-9 then tells us that’s God’s ways are tremendously different than our own. God’s thought process is much deeper and more profound, to the extent that we cannot comprehend its vastness. God doesn’t think irrationally or make rash decisions like us, for He already knows everything (Psalm 139).
Furthermore, we can see the fullness of God’s love, mercy, grace, forgiveness and kindness through Jesus. Starting in the Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (four gospels) would be a good place for you to read about the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you then feel up to it, you can dive into the Old Testament. There you will find more of God’s attributes. He is truly loving, patient, kind, and long-suffering. Many people think the Old Testament is only full of commands and consequences, but after truly reading it a couple of times, I now know that to be incorrect, and have newfound appreciation of the Old Testament.
Back to our image of God being skewed. This means that our thinking of Him can be wrong, inaccurate, and untrue. What we think and believe about God may be completely wrong! Let me give you a personal example of faulty thinking.
A few months ago, I felt that I had to protect and defend myself from something happening in my life, so I made up my mind that I would stand up for myself, and not get pressured or forced into it. I had to resist anyone or anything that would try to talk me into doing that thing. In doing so, I took on a very defensive personality. I refuse to conform to that expectation and I will not be moved, I thought to myself. So, anytime that topic would come up, or I felt something/someone moving towards that direction, I could feel my body tense up, getting ready to (verbally) fight or defend myself. I would think of all the things I would say to counter it, so I wouldn’t have to do it.
Each day, I got more and more rigid, and my heart was hardening. This eventually took a toll on me, and I was not myself. I became more irritable, had a bad attitude most days, and it was sucking all of the energy out of me. It also impacted my relationship with God, I was unknowingly distancing myself from Him. Now, I wasn’t maliciously or intentionally being mean to anyone, but I was very guarded. When the conversation came up, I would ignore it or give reasons why I wouldn’t do it (while in my mind becoming bitter and resentful), but I never yelled at anyone or said hurtful things. Yet, out of this desire to protect or stand up for myself, came pride. I became arrogant about the situation and self-regarding. That eventually turned into selfishness. I thought, I need to take care of myself. I deserve this and I deserve that.
You see, I would pray to God, but felt like the distance was growing. I’d apologize about having a bad attitude and being prideful, but deep down, I felt justified because I felt and believed that I still needed to protect myself. This was also taking a strain on my relationships.
Then recently, God revealed my problem. He spoke to my heart and said, It’s not your job to defend or protect yourself, it’s mine. It’s not your job to stand up for yourself. It’s mine. Wow, He was right! Why had I thought God was not capable of doing so? Why did I have to try and take matters into my own hands? Then I saw how all along He had been protecting me. I then thought about why I was distant from God. I could talk to God, but I specifically felt myself turning away from Christ. You see, I had this false image of Christ! I thought since he was humble and merciful, he was weak. I’m sure somewhere in my mind, Satan had said, “If Jesus couldn’t protect himself from being crucified, how can he protect you?” So, I couldn’t afford to have someone like that defending me. Would Jesus even stand up for me? All of this was faulty thinking, and I made Jesus into the image I saw him as, forgetting His true nature, and why he went to the cross.
When I realized this, I was filled with remorse and deep regret. I apologized to God, truly, without feeling justified or that I was right. I was wrong. Oh, how I was so wrong! Then I thought about it’s impact and the negative effects it had on my, those around me, and in my marriage. It only started with a little idea (that felt valid) of me protecting myself against harmful expectations. With time and continuing to believe false things, that thought grew into full blown pride and arrogance! Wait, wasn’t that how Satan fell, because of his pride? YIKES!
I then turned to my husband, and told him all I had learned and felt about the situation, and I apologized to him for my behavior and how it had been affecting our marriage. After confessing and repenting to God, and sharing with my husband, I just felt this weight lifted. I could go back to being myself. I could go back to trusting God, and lifting up the situation to Him. I felt close to Him again, recognizing that it was me pushing Jesus away. I was reminded of John 14:6, where Jesus says:
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Yes, it was me who turned my back on him, because I felt that he could not provide what I needed. Even as a believer and follower of Christ, I had developed a false image of him. My beliefs and views created a false Jesus, which caused distance in my personal relationship with him.
Matthew 16:24-26 says this:
24 Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”
So often, we think we are smart enough to lead our own lives. We think we can do it without God, that we have no need for Him. But while we do this, we turn something small (that we could have given to God) into a full-blown mess of things. Imagine if I had let this continue? What other areas of my life would it have affected? My behavior was pushing everyone I loved away. Thank God He intervened and helped me to realize the errors of my ways and thinking. Can you think of areas in your life that you may have wrong thinking? Are there images of God that you have wrong? What are others telling you about God that just doesn’t feel right? I implore you to ask God for the truth, for, Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32). I trust that God will reveal Himself to you, and any false perception of Him that you may have.
Let us pray.
Father God, loving, true, and all-knowing God,
First, I want to apologize for our faulty thinking. Forgive us for judging, criticizing, and not trusting You for trying to put You in a little box or corner so that You can fit our minds. You are so much more that what we know or understand, and for that, we need Your help! Please reveal Yourself to us, in a brand new and fresh way. Show us where we (and others) are wrong, and let us know You personally. Who better to tell us who You are than You! So Lord, for those who are earnestly seeking You, reveal Yourself to them. Let the truth set them free. If they feel distant from You, show them what is causing the distance. Show us the errors of our ways. Your truth is the utmost truth. Help us find our way back to Christ. Forgive us Good Father, You understand our weakness and humanness. Correct our errors, and renew our minds. I trust You to lead and guide into all truth. Thank You! In Jesus’ name, amen.
Prayerfully,
Pam
