7 Steps to Understanding That Freedom Is a Gift

On the cross, Jesus paid for our freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom from everything that’s under the curse - fear, oppression, sickness, disease, lack, poverty, anxiousness, addiction, death…on and one we could go! In other words, everything that is the opposite of the THE BLESSING is what’s under the curse. Everything that is from the enemy. Everything that entered this world when sin entered the Garden of Eden.

This means we do not have be afraid. We do not have to live sick. We do not have to live paycheck to paycheck. We do not have live oppressed or depressed. We do not have to live having panic attacks.

And yet, none of THE BLESSING will happen in our lives by default. Though freedom is a gift, we have to receive our freedom by faith. Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32, NKJV). What is the truth? The Word of God. The Word of God that says we don’t have to walk in fear (2 Timothy 1:7). The Word of God that says by the stripes of Jesus we were healed (1 Peter 2:24). The Word of God that says our God meets all our needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19).

But, again, if we don’t receive all that freedom gives us by faith and then continue to walk in faith concerning our freedom, we won’t get to experience the fullness of that freedom. Galatians 5:1 warns us saying, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (NKJV). God wants you to receive your freedom and never let go. He wants you to walk in faith and by faith continually. He wants you to understand that God is Love, and Love is God – and to believe His love (1 John 4:16). Because God’s love defeats our faith’s greatest enemy – fear.

“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love” (1 John 4:18).
To help you put all your trust in God’s love, to receive and believe His love and to allow fear to have NO place in your life, consider these 7 Steps to Understanding That Freedom Is a Gift.

1. Faith in God is trust in love, because God is Love.

“For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth?” (Galatians 5:6).

Jesus defeated death, hell and the grave, so we don’t have to fear anything ever again. We actually have no scriptural basis to be afraid. Yes, fear comes against us, but we can remind it that it has no right to stay. Make the decision to reject fear. Determine as an act of your will that you will not fear! “So we can say with confidence, ‘The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:6)

2. Faith works at its best when you are loving.

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.… Three things will last forever – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 13).

There is no such thing as faith that does not work, but there is faith that has not been put to work. Faith works by love when you have faith in love (Galatians 5:6). And we have faith in love when we trust the truth that God loves us – individually and perfectly – and then we, in turn, love others even when they are unlovely. When the Word says, “the greatest of these is love,” the word love is agape. It means “to love as an act of your will.” Who in your world is easy to love? Love them. Who in your world is difficult to love? Love them. Whoever you come into contact with – at work, when you stop by the store or at a receptionist’s desk – love them! Because faith works at its best when you are loving.

3. Faith is decontaminated through God’s love.

“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God” (Ephesians 3:17-19).

You are not waiting to be delivered from fear; you already have been delivered from fear. The devil comes to steal the Word from those who have not rooted themselves in the Word (Mark 4:14-20). But when you build your roots in the Word by keeping yourself in the love of God – when you are filled with the fullness of God – there is no room for fear. Fear contaminates faith, and faith is decontaminated through God’s love – through believing in His love for you.

4. Receive the love of God.

“I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me” (John 17:23).

Make a quality decision to receive the love of God. A quality decision is a decision from which there is no retreat and no more argument. Make that kind of decision, to believe God loves you as much as He loves Jesus – because Jesus said He does. There is literally nothing you can ever do to make God not love you; there’s nothing that can ever separate you from God and His love (Romans 8:38). So, the next time you find yourself wanting to run from God, don’t. Run to God. Always. He’ll be there with open arms of love.

5. Believe the love.

“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (Philippians 2:5).

We receive the love of God just like we receive salvation – as an act of our will. Then, we alter our lifestyle to live like what we have received. We confess and declare that we are made a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). “Let this mind be in you,” the Scripture says (Philippians 2:5, NKJV). By faith, we receive what God has already said about us. We receive and believe His love for us.

6. Practice the love.

“No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us” (1 John 4:12).

Make the quality decision to respond to every situation and every person with the love of God – to live a life of love and faith. First John 2:5 tells us, “Those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.” Spend time thinking of all the ways you can love someone. As you do, you’ll be thinking of ways to love and serve God. You’ll be practicing the love of God.

7. Confess the love.

“All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them” (1 John 4:15-16).

We start our prayers with the answer – and the answer is in God’s Word. Therefore, when we speak His Word, we have the answer. So, continually confess and declare that God loves you. Before He left this earth, Jesus said, “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” Our freedom is the gift!

Take these 7 Steps to Understanding That Freedom Is a Gift, and let them help you walk by faith, so fear has no place in your life.