Latest / Your Hope-Filled Perspective with Dr. Michelle Bengtson podcast / How to Find True Freedom in Christ

Transcript

How to Find True Freedom in Christ · Your Hope-Filled Perspective with Dr. Michelle Bengtson podcast

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Life audio.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Have you ever noticed how you feel free when no
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: one's telling you what to do, or maybe you wake
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: up in the morning with an appointment per day, The
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: day lays before you and you can do anything you want.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: I love a day without any expectations in it. I
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: make all these plans to paint or play, or garden
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: or read a good book. But then I open social
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: media or YouTube, and before I know it, my day
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: of freedom has turned into a slog of senseless videos.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: My day of freedom no longer feels free. The lure
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: of endless entertainment entraps me, and I feel guilty for
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: getting stuck. When this lack of freedom shows up in
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: other places too, like faith, relationships or even creativity, we
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: want freedom but end up experiencing more pressure and regret.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: In recognition of Independence Day in the United States, today,
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: we are going to talk about how to find true
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: freedom in christ. Welcome to your hope filled perspective, where
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: it's always our goal to restore hope, renew minds, and
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: empower listeners to live in your God given identity. I'm
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: your host, Doctor Michelle bankson Board, certified clinical neuropsychologist, author, speaker,
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: and companion on your journey to mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: I'm delighted you've chosen to spend a few minutes of
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: your week with us. Today we are going to talk
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: about how to find true freedom in Christ. We'll dive
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: into this right after this brief word from our sponsor.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Think about all the ways we save time. We can
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: start our ovens from our smartphones. Our fridges send us
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: notifications when we need to replace a filter, and we
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: can set our washing machine apps to send a message
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: to someone to change the loads. These modern features save
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: us time, which technically gives us more freedom to do
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: other things things, but we also find ourselves entrapped by
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: our devices. Today I'm joined by my co host and friend,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: Jessica van Rukl. She's a pastor, author and a good friend,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: and we are going to talk about how to find
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: true freedom in Christ. Scripture tells us in Galatians five,
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: verse one, it is for freedom that Christ has set
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: us free. Stand firm them, and do not let yourselves
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. So why
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: do we struggle? Scripture just told us Christ came to
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: gave us freedom. Well, we say we want freedom, but
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: we often end up more stuck. One of the reasons
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: so many Christians love the idea of freedom in Christ
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: but don't feel free is because they struggle with this
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: split life problem. Es explain what that looks like.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: Oh, I'd be happy to We live in two realities,
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: which are the spiritual reality and the worldly reality, or
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: an easier way to describe it as we have a
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: church life and an everyday life. Through sermons, Bible studies,
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: and devotions, we hear about this freedom found in Christ,
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: and often it's framed within that we've been set free
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: from sin, which is the worst form of slavery, and
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: Jesus has come to set us free. But then there's
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: the rest of our lives where we look for freedom
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: in self expression, creativity, free speech, liberation from traditions and
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: societal constraints. We seem to want more stuff and less rules,
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: but this kind of freedom avoids commitment and wants as
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: many choices as possible. Modern culture defines freedom as absence
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: of restraint.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Okay, but isn't the freedom of self expression a good thing?
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: Yes? Absolutely it is, and freedom in Christ is becoming
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: who Christ intends for us to be, not who we
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: think we should be. You know, we have to remember
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: that before Christ, we are really enemies of God. We
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: are going our own way, doing what's right in our
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: own eyes, and Christ has a different goal for us,
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: a different plan for us. And the trouble comes is
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: when we make freedom a reason for self indulgence and
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: we become enslaved to making us the main character of
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: our life instead of God. You see, we are to
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: be in the world and not of the world. But
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: when we separate our church life from our everyday life,
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: we suffer the impact of allowing self indulgence to shape
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: how we read scripture.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: So that looks like reading scripture and saying God doesn't
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: really mean that applies to me.
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: So, for example, Hebrews twelve one says, therefore, since we
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses, let us
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: marked out for us. It's so easy to find the
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: sin that entangles someone else's life, but then excuse it
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: away when we see it in our own life.
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: Exactly, I'm so reminded, like when I point my finger
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: at someone I've got three fingers pointing back at me.
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: But I like to ignore that part, right, because who
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: wants to really have our weaknesses highlighted. It comes down
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: to the fact, by our old nature, we are really
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: kind of proud people and we don't like to have
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: our weaknesses highlighted or our struggles made known. I mean,
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: we live in this fake world of social media where
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: only the perfection is praised or only perfection is highlighted.
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: And yeah, we all struggle with this sin nature that
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: is still part of us even though we have been
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: set free in Christ and by allowing sin that entangles
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: to stay in our lives. Doesn't always look like a
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: dramatic rebellion, but sometimes it can be as something as
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: small and I say that with quote small, like self sufficiency.
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: Self sufficiency can be a sin that entangles us because
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: it prevents us from complete dependence on God.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: So we experience false freedom when we have spiritual liberation,
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: but it's without spiritual transformation. Ooh. People can receive spiritual
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: freedom through the forgiveness Jesus bought with his blood, which
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: is called justification. Many people think that's all there is
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: to it, but there's a transformation over time that happens
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: in the life that is completely surrendered to God. This
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: is the part that's called sanctification. So we can think
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: of it in terms of justification is the door and
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: sanctification is learning how to live once you walk through
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: the door. Would you agree?
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: I do?
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: And I think that's a beautiful word picture of both
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: of those terms, because both of those terms are pretty
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: heady and academic sounding, justification sanctification. But when we think
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: of justification as the doorway through which we walk through,
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: and sanctification is like where we when you move into
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: a new place, you learn where things are at or
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: and you learn how things work and how to live
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: in that space. But so many people who believe in
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: Christ stop at the doorway. They don't continue on into
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: the house or place, so to speak. John chapter eight,
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: verse thirty two says, then you will know the truth,
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: and the truth will set you free. That's that doorway
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: part where we accept Christ as savior. But Romans chapter six,
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: verse four tells us that there's more to it. It
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: says this we were therefore buried with him through baptism
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: into death in order that just as Christ was raised
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: from the dead through the glory of the Father, we
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: too may have a new life. We are set free
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: to live a new life, not do what we want.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: And this new life, this freedom to live, it is
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: an ongoing daily journey.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: I like the example that you used of moving into
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: a new place and not knowing where everything is. I
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: remember when my husband and I moved into our current home,
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: nothing was in the normal place, and in fact, I
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: remember wanting to get some kind of night light to
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: put in the hallway outside of our bedroom because I
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: would frequently get up in the middle of the night.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: But I didn't want to turn on the bright lights
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: by I wasn't exactly sure like where the opening was
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: to enter the rest of the house. And I liken
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: that just to us, we walk through the doorway and
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: we're learning the new path, but we're dependent on God's
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: light to illuminate that path for us. And when we
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: get stuck in self sufficiency, it's like I want to
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: hold onto the flashlight. I want to determine where I'm
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: going to put the night lights. But really that sanctification
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: process is trusting that God is going to illuminate the
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: path and we're going to be obedient to follow it.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: I really think true freedom in Christ can only happen
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: when we engage in obedience to His word, and it's
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: when we reject the ongoing work of transformation that freedom
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: can feel like a fancy theory instead of a daily reality.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: But it truly is something that if we would submit,
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: if we would be ob and if we would surrender
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: what we think is best to the God who created
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: us and can fit all the pieces together, that's when
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: we would experience true freedom. Yes, friends, we're going to
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: continue our conversation about how to find true freedom in
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Christ after we take this brief word from our sponsor.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to your Hope Field perspective. Today, in honor
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: of Independence Day in the United States, we're talking about
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: freedom today. We're actually talking about how to find freedom
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: in Christ. So let's shift our attention to what Jesus
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: actually means when he says we are free, because I
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: think in our human perspective, we've got a different picture
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: of what freedom looks like. In the opening, I talked
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: about the freedom of having an unplanned day and doing
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: whatever I want. That is not exactly the same freedom
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: that Christ is talking about. Jesus sets us free from
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: the power of sin and from the effects of sin
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: in our daily lives. Yes, but a common mistake we
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: make regarding understanding freedom is misunderstanding what it means to
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: belong to Christ. The apostle Paul referred to himself as
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: a bond servant in Romans twelve to one, and this
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: introduced the concept of belonging and ownership.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: Okay, yes, so we're going to dive into a little
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: bit of biblical Greek here. So the Greek term for
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: bond servant in Romans chapter twelve, verse one is doulas.
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: And this belonging to God doesn't mean that we are
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: a servant expecting a wage. It's not an employee employer transaction.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: When you hire someone you expect you expect something from them,
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: and they expect something from you in the form of
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: work and wages. It's like you work for rewards. That's
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: our worldly mentality of belonging or being employed by someone,
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: and that's the reality of what we have. However, when
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: Paul calls himself a bond servant, he's indicating that we
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: are not hired by God. We belong to him. There
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: was a practice in ancient times where when a slave
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: after seven years, they would have the option to be
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: set free, and if the slave chose not to, what
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: happened is that their ear would be pierced as an
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: indication that they have chosen to remain with that family
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: because of the love or familial feelings they have with them.
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: And it's important for us to remember that the Christian
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: has nothing to offer the Lord in payment for forgiveness. Right, yeah,
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: Jesus loved us first. We love because He loved us
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: while we were still dead to in our sins. Christ
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: died for us. You see, we have nothing to offer.
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: It is by grace we are saved. These remind us
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: that we are totally owned by the Master who bought
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: us with his shed blood on the cross. We are
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: purchased by him, and we belong to him. Romans six
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: sixteen through eighteen explain this this way. Don't you know
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves,
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: you are slaves of the one you obey, whether you
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience,
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: which leads to righteousness. But thanks be to God that
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: though you used to be slaves to sin, you have
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: So powerful because the word slave feels so heavy, So
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: let's talk about why Scripture specifically uses that word. Romans
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: clearly states that everyone belongs to something. Yes, bondage to
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: sin leads to death, but bondage to Christ leads to life,
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: inheritance and adoption. And I just love what Galatians five
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: twenty four through twenty five says. It says those who
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: passions and desires. Since we live by the spirit, let
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: us keep in step with the spirit.
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: It's that passage reminds me of where Jesus says to
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: be yoked to him, and you stay in step. So
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: on two oxen are yoked. Often an younger oxen is
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: yoked to an older oxen so that the younger one
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: can learn how how to pull, how to work. And
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: when I think of this bondage to Christ, I don't
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: think of it as enslaved like chains, but I actually
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: think of it as gluing like something together, Like we
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: are so close to Christ that we go where he
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: says to go, we do what he says to go,
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: and it's his strength that enables us.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: So like walking, yes in step, step.
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: In step, just like this first Yes. Since we live
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: by the spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit.
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: Three legged race.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: You know, Okay, I have a little hard time thinking
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: about Jesus in a three legged race. If I get it.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: Is the word picture. When I don't work in step
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: with my partner, we stumble and fall right, Yeah, it's
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: all analogies. Fall apart at some point has taken us
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: off the rails. But to bring us back to finding
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: true freedom in Christ, I just want to share a
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: story of when I've struggled with daily freedom. It's when
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: I've resisted letting go of an old habit, identity, or
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: even an area of control. Sometimes it's often tied to
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: a loss of self pleasure or autonomy. We are bought
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: with a price, we are not our own, And sometimes
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: I just want to say, well, I am free in Christ.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: I can I have all this liberty, I can do
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: whatever I want, and often I lose my way. And
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: for example, when my kids were really little, so I
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: have adult children, I can't even call them children Now
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: I have adult daughters and a son, but when they
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: were little, so when my oldest was about five, I
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: was involved in everything. So by the time she was five,
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: I had another child after her, and I was resisting
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: the whole identity of motherhood being the only thing that
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: shaped me. So I was involved in the youth ministry,
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: women's ministry, music ministry. I had my fingers and all
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: the pies in church that you could possibly have, and
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: often I was leading them, which when you're leading something
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: that does require more time, effort, energy. And I felt
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: the Lord start to speak to me about what was
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: happening in my home. And I was giving all of
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: those groups and organizations my best self, like one hundred percent,
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: but I was giving my leftovers to my little family.
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: And I felt the Lord start to speak to me
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: about how I had my priorities just a little bit
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: upside down. That he gave me these little girls as
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: a ministry like. I was to minister to them, to
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: train them, to teach them, to love them. And I
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: couldn't do it because I was spread so thin and
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: all of my church work. And he called me and
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: he asked me if I was willing to lay it
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: all down to just focus on motherhood. And I really
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: resisted because I don't want to lose myself in motherhood.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: But I underestimated what I gained, So what I thought
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: was a loss of freedom actually became the pathway to
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: greater freedom. I learned that God knew what was the best,
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: and that he used that time to make me into
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: a well rounded woman of God.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: Ny story, Jessica, It brings back a conversation you and
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: I had on the podcast a couple months ago about
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: doing all the good things. I mean, we talked about
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: Mary and Martha and how each had a role, and
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: then in another episode, you and I talked about chronic
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: stress and how it can lead to burnout and emotional exhaustion.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: And yet your story is not that different from so
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: many of us because you thought you didn't want to
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: get lost in this one role. But it almost sounds
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: to me like you did lose part of yourself because
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: you were so overextended giving to everyone else.
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes I was. I lost the part of myself
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: to lose. Does that make sense?
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: It does, It does, But it wouldn't have made sense
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: to me before I went through something similar because for
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: many years, my identity was totally wrapped up in what
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: I did for a living, and that's where the accolades were.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: And I mean, let's face it, the greatest calling I
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: think we can have is to steward the little ones
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: that God gives us. But there are no accolades for
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: changing the twelfth diaper of the day. There's no kudos
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: for making sure that your kids got fed every day.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: There's no award for the laundry getting transferred to the
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: dryer when you've got a baby with colic. Yes, but
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: there are unfulfilling rewards for the kind of service you
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: did in the church or for our vocations. And so
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: as a result what I did for a living, I
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: equated that with validating my existence. But when God called
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: me to take an extended sabbatical to preserve my health,
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: honestly I received that as a punishment. You felt like
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: I was being benched. But just as you mentioned, you
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: lost the best part of yourself for the best reason.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: I'm not saying that right, but those times where God
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: calls us to pull back and make the first thing
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: first is sometimes the hardest, most painful thing we can
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: go through, but it ends up having the result of
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: giving us the most freedom.
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, because to belong to Christ is not oppressive,
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: it's freedom. Our bondage to Christ makes us sons and
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: daughters and heirs of the Most High God, and as heirs,
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: we get to partake in that inheritance eternal life. Every
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: one of us is in bondage to either sin and
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: death or to Jesus Christ an eternal life. When we
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: cling to our old lives, our old trains of thoughts
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: or fears of what's going to happen if we obey,
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: we're really refusing to trust Him with the freedom that
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: he wants to create in us because we are new
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: in him.
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: True freedom in Christ is really about surrendering our whole
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: selves to Him. It's interesting to me as I think
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: back on recent podcast episodes, how many of them come
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: back to this theme of surrender.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: Friends, we're going to take a real short break for
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: a brief word from our sponsor, but I want you
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: to stick with us to continue the conversation about how
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: we can truly experience freedom in Christ. We'll be right back.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Before the break, we talked about what freedom in Christ is,
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: and now we want to provide you with four practical
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: steps on how to find freedom in your everyday life.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: Just from your perspective, what do you think the first
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: one would be?
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: Okay? So the first step is really to identify what
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: or who you're obeying. Are you obeying sin self or
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: your savior? So it could be a sinful thought or
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: behavior that pulls you away from freedom in Christ. I
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: have been guilty of how self care can slide into
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: self obsession if I'm not careful or we can ask
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: ourselves are we walking in step with Jesus.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: Second, implement the put on put off practice. Evisians four
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: twenty two through twenty three tells us to put off
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: our old way of living, which was corrupted by deceitful desires,
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: and to put on or be made new in the
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: attitude of your mind.
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: So good, And the third step correlates to the second.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: The third step is to replace habits. Replacing habits happen
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: when we set our hearts and minds on seeking Jesus Christ.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: We can develop the habits of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness,
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: and love. So good.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: And then the fourth step to experiencing true freedom in
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: Christ is to live from identity, not effort. Jessica and
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: I can both tell you from experience we've done it
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: the wrong way, and we're both pursuing this living from
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: identity rather than our efforts. Rumin six six through seven
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: reminds us, for we know that our old self was
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: might be done away, and that we should no longer
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: been set free from sin.
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: So I remember as a young woman learning about this
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: dying to self. I'm like, ah, that sounds really hard,
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: but I've learned that this true freedom in Christ isn't
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: doing whatever I want. Really, that's not what it is.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: Absolutely not learn the hard way.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Take us.
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: Take it from us. True freedom in Christ is really
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: about surrendering control of every part of your life, including
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: what we say, what we watch, how we say something,
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: what we do, what we spend our time, on our money,
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: on our thought. Life in true freedom in Christ is
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: remembering that we are not in control anymore. We have
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: given over control to our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: You know just I think that that concept, oh my goodness,
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: has come up in so many of your hope filled
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: perspective episodes. But I think it's because the desire for
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: control started with the very first humans. It started in
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: the garden of Eden. That's where Satan started to interfere
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: the whole idea that oh Eve wanted control. She wanted
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: to be like God from a self serving place. She
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: wanted to know what God knew, and that's I think,
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: such an entrapment of Satan. But that's also why it's
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: so hard to die to self, because it does mean
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: dying to the desire to control everything. Right, It's also
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: about being aware of your thoughts and bringing them in
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: line with what honors God and what brings him glory.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: Freedom is becoming who you were, redeemed to be a
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: child of God, living a righteous life. So, just as
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: we wrap up this episode, if a listener or viewer
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: is resonating with today's conversation, maybe they're hearing it with
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: fresh ears. What Hope Field perspective do you want to
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: leave them with?
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: I want to remind you that because you belong to God,
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: he takes care of his own. He cares about you
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: as an individual, as a woman or man of God
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: who longs to live for him, but struggles. We all
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: have struggles and so when we completely and wholly depend
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: on him and say God, I belong to you, I'm
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: going to trust you to take care of me. That's
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: our first step in experiencing true freedom in Christ.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: This is such an important revelation, is such an important
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: conversation because I think so many of us are wrapped
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: up and enslave and don't even really realize it. So
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: just thanks for coming on the episode and co hosting
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: with me today and helping us think about it in
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: terms of our freedom really comes from the one who
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: died to give us that freedom. Friends, I just want
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: to close out this episode praying for you. Father. I
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: thank you for the gift of your son, and I
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: thank you that you sacrificed your only son so that
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: we could be free. You knew from the start that
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: we would be people enslaved to sin, which at its
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: core is living life in opposition of you. So Father,
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: forgive us of our sin. Father, help us in our
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: endeavor to surrender control and to appropriate the true freedom
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: that's offered because of the death, burial, and resurrection of
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. Mother, if there is one who is watching
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: or listening today who doesn't know Jesus as their savior.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: Would this be a stepping stone to them coming to
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: having freedom in Christ? Lord, we thank you that you
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: are sovereign. We thank you that you love us so much,
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: that you care about our freedom, and you sacrifice the
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: greatest gift ever so that we could have that freedom
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: in Christ is in Jesus name. I pray. Friends, if
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: there was something in today's episode that resonated with you,
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: or you know someone maybe who's really struggling with living
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: in bondage to something and needs to know how we
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: can appropriate the freedom that Christ came to give, would
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: you please consider sharing this episode with them so that
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: they'll have a biblically based hope filled perspective to handle it.
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: We look forward to being with you again next week
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: for another episode of your hope Field perspective, and in
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: the meantime, friend, it's our prayer for you that you
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: have a hope filled week.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Everyone experiences pain time. It can manifest physically, emotionally, relationally,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: or spiritually. It can follow tragic accidents, great loss, sudden betrayal,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: or unexpected and unwanted change. Often pain is temporary, but
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: what do you do when it isn't? When pain won't
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: go away, healing does not come, and grief and hurt
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: settle in to stay. Drawing on her experience of chronic
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: pain in her years as a board certified clinical neuropsychologist,
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Doctor Michelle Bankson provides a countercultural perspective on pain, offering
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: hope without any false promises or empty platitudes. Doctor Bankson
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: unwraps the complex emotional aspects of dealing with pain. She
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: gives you permission to question God, helps you identify the
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: lies you've believed about your pain, and reorients your perspective
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: based on the truth of God's word. Each chapter ends
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: with a recommended playlist, reflection questions, and a prayer. Your
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: pain may not change, but your experience with it can.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: Doctor Sandra Dalton Smith, physician, best selling author and a
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: host of the I Choose My Best Life podcast add
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: this to say about the hem of his garment. Doctor
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Michelle Bankson is honest and transparent, and she gives the
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: reader permission to ask hard questions and practical guidance on
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: how to seek God during times when you feel the
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: most wounded. A beautiful gift for every person living with pain,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: Holy Girth. Best selling author of What Your Mind Needs
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: for anxious moments. Says pain is inevitable, but enduring it
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: alone is optional. Doctor Michelle Bankson is a voice of
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: hope who will speak into your struggles, a helping hand
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: who will point you to Jesus, and a wise guide
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: who will lead you through what you're facing so you
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: can embrace more of what our good God has for you.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: Pick up a copy of the Hem of His Garments
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: for you and a friend wherever books are sold. Thank
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: you for joining doctor Bankson for your hope build perspective.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: We hope you are encouraged by her authenticity, vulnerability, and
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: biblical truths. If you enjoy today's conversation, when you take
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: a moment right now, open up your podcast app and
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: look for the subscribe button right next to our podcast
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: profile image. We think this podcast is best enjoyed with friends,
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: so tell a friend and click share in your podcast
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: app and send a friend our link to share Hope
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: with them. If you have a comment, question, or suggest
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: a topic for a future show, reach out to our
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: staff at info at Hope Prevails dot org for additional resources.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: Information about doctor Bankson's books where free downloads, or to
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: contact her to speak at your next event. Please visit
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: doctor Mishelbe dot com. Until next time, may you have
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: a hope billedweek.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: I'd like to take just a second to thank the
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: this podcast. If you go to lifeaudio dot com, you'll
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: find dozens of other faith centered podcasts in their network.
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.