Facebook. Or the person who dislikes us, or regularly finds fault with us. Our own thoughts of discouragement and despair. Maybe a vice which has its grip on us, something we can’t shake. Maybe something that was said about us long ago as a child, words that haunted us ever after, and that ended up defining us, because we thought such a person must know what they are talking about, or at least there was truth in what they were saying. There are all sorts of things which can hold us.
These things might be good in their place, or might not, as we see from the list above. The point is that we need to be coming at these things in freedom of heart, so that we can have proper discernment concerning them. Not easy. And really a byproduct of something else.
The key is learning more and more to follow Jesus in this life. Which surely means putting the good things aside at times. What holds us is what we hold on to. We sometimes need to drop it for a time. Other things we need to reject. Rejection might involve a process of working through a matter, forgiving the person who has wronged us, moving on to what is good and true.
What holds us? A good question to ask. And one that ends up with a good outcome as we learn instead to follow Jesus together for the world.
Love this post Ted. You’re on to something. Satan uses those around us, circumstances in life, and people (those who care about us and those who don’t) to speak things into our lives. Too often, we put too much value in what they say. I believe in hearing and learning from others. But I prefer to be “defined” by what Christ says. I’m a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and people belonging to God. I’ve been bought with a price. Christ died for me despite who I am or choices I’ve made. Wow!
nmpreach, True. We need to tell ourselves the truth in Jesus, and live more and more in that truth. Thanks.