After college, my wife and I had some considerable college debt. I was a young pastor, not making much money, and she was a teacher making even less. There were some months the bills were more than the income. We were frugal, and with God blessing us in unexpected ways, we were able to be debt-free. When I wrote that last check for our college debt, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted, like I had been set free. As Christians, we can find freedom in the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
Chains Broken
People want freedom from a lot of things. They want to be set free from addiction, toxic relationships, and besetting habits that keep dragging them down anytime they start to get some momentum going. Paul is telling us the key to freedom is in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is fully God. He is not just some ghost roaming earth doing good deeds. Because He is fully God, He comes with the full power of God. Where that power is, people can have the chains of sin broken and be set free.
Do Not Quench the Spirit
The reason people don’t have freedom is that the Spirit has been quenched in their lives. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20 “Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.” That quenching can happen in the church when the leadership doesn’t allow the Holy Spirit to minister, but it can also occur in our personal life when there is unforgiven sin. God wants to see you set free from those things that bind you, and the Holy Spirit is the key to that.
Freedom in the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is confusing to a lot of Christians. How does He operate, and what do I do to get Him in my life are just a few of the questions. Jesus told us that He was sending a helper, and He also said to them that they would be baptized with the Spirit after He ascended to heaven. This shows us that the Spirit is there to guide us but also fill our hearts with the love and power of Christ. It is here that freedom is found. Are you filled with the Spirit? If not, stop right now and repent of any sin and then ask God to fill you to overflowing with the Spirit. He will answer that prayer, and it will change your life.