True Liberty

What is it that you want that God does not want for you? Whatever it is, if there is anything, you are to that extent in bondage. This is the most prevalent form of bondage that exists on earth, though often unrecognized for what it is. Most people in this world are in bondage to themselves, to their own desires, rather than to the will of others.

I heard my father say many, many times, "I only want what God wants." The extent to which we can say that, and mean it, is the extent to which we are truly free in Christ Jesus, who himself wanted most of all to have only what God wanted for him.

True liberty is first and foremost, liberty from yourself. If you are not dominated by your own lusts, your own will, or your own opinions, but are instead subdued to the will of God for you, then you are among the few who are truly free.

Speaking Truth in the Heart

"LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?

who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

He that walks uprightly, and works righteousness,

and speaks the truth in his heart."

Psalm 15:1-2

"Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. . ."

Psalm 51:6

The real challenge for us all is to be honest with ourselves about ourselves. Jeremiah warned us that the human heart “is deceitful above all things” (Jer. 17:9), and the one person that a man’s heart most often deceives is himself. God’s grace is God’s offer to deliver us from the bondage of our own hearts; it is the offer for heavenly strength, the strength for us to tell ourselves the truth about ourselves. Without that grace, every man is a liar, and hopelessly so.

God desires truth to reign in our hearts, the truth about Him and His Son Jesus, the truth about ourselves, the truth about those whom we love the most, and the truth about everyone else in our world.

May God help us to be honest with ourselves about ourselves. His will is to deliver us from every secret thing about ourselves that is not holy. If we are honest enough to confess to Him the truth about ourselves, He is faithful and loving enough to “cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

David pleaded with God to “cleanse me from secret faults” (Ps. 19:12b). He did not mean that those faults of his were secrets from God. He knew better. He wanted God to cleanse him from those things that were a secret to others, and maybe even to himself, so that he could truly be the man that some people thought he was. And in the end, because David spoke the truth about himself in his own heart, he truly did become that man.