I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
You’ve Been Set Free!
If you’ve ever been in debt (or known someone who has), you know the impact it has on a person. When you’re in debt, your money, time, or resources aren’t your own—they’re continuously being taken from you, and often with interest.
No one wants to be enslaved to a lender, and yet—every one of us has owed a debt we could never pay off.
The ancient Greek word for “sin” means “to miss the mark.” It was originally used to describe an archer’s arrow that didn’t hit the center target. In archery, it didn’t matter whether your arrow was close to the mark or far from it. If you didn’t hit the center, you lost.
In Scripture, the “mark” is the standard God asks us to aim for—but we all miss it. We miss it when we choose selfishness over humility, and anger over gentleness. We miss it when we lie, cheat, steal, slander, complain, and gossip. We miss it when we tear people down, and disobey God’s command to love others. Sin prevents us from becoming the people God created us to be.
But the good news is: Jesus saved each of us by sacrificing Himself for our mistakes. We couldn’t pay off our debt of sin in a million lifetimes, but He freed us from it in one moment.
And because He paid our debt, He wants us to live as free people.
When we pursue anything that separates us from God’s Spirit—whether through legalistic actions or lawless decisions—we act like Jesus hasn’t set us free. But when we choose to love others like Jesus loved us, it shows we value Jesus’ sacrifice and want to embrace the freedom He bought for us.
So how do we live free?
We accept that what Jesus did was enough for us, and then we commit to loving Him. As our love for God grows, His Spirit helps us unconditionally love others. The more we love, the more we embrace our freedom—and because of God’s love, nothing can take our freedom away.
“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who has a husband.” Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? ...
“Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: Consider, and behold our reproach. Our inheritance is turned to strangers, Our houses to aliens. We are orphans and fatherless, Our mothers are as widows. We have drunken our water for money; Our wood is sold unto us. Our necks are under persecution: We labour, and have no rest. We have given the hand to the Egyptians, And to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. Our fathers have sinned, and are not; And we have borne their iniquities. Servants have ruled over us: There is none that doth deliver us out of their hand. We gat our bread with the peril of our lives Because of the sword of the wilderness. Our skin was black like an oven Because of the terrible famine. They ravished the women in Zion, And the maids in the cities of Judah.”
Lamentations 5:1-11 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/lam.5.1-11.KJV
