You don't have to be a slave anymore

Good isn’t good enough when it comes to your eternal soul. You must be perfect. That's why Jesus had to die for us.

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. (John 10:10)

Have you ever had a boss you just didn’t get along with? Or have you ever had a monstrous loan you had to pay back a penny at a time? Or if you’re a creative professional, have you ever had to perform for a harsh audience?

If we have chosen to follow and serve ourselves rather than God, we are ultimately choosing a tough, lonely road. When you serve yourself, for one, you’re basically choosing Satan’s side in the matter, even if you’re doing good things for good reasons.

Good isn’t good enough when it comes to your eternal soul. You must be perfect. And since nobody can be perfect, nobody can be good enough. (That’s why we needed Jesus, btw.)

When you serve yourself, even if you think your motives are righteous, ultimately they’re not. (Think about it if you disagree.) We are all driven by a self-serving, flawed, broken human nature that strives to accomplish things for ourselves. Even our “good deeds” have an underlying motivation of trying to earn our way into eternity.

If you’ve ever tried to walk and live and make it on your own steam for yourself according to your own purposes, you know exactly what I’m talking about. When you live for yourself, you run out of reasons to find satisfaction with your life. When you live for yourself, you can’t ever get enough to be content.

That’s what walking your own path gets you. That’s what following your heart apart from Christ will eventually lead you to. Discontentment. Dissatisfaction. Emptiness.

But when you make your life about Jesus—serving Him, obeying Him, doing life the way He did it for the reasons He did it—everything changes. The things you used to do for yourself become satisfying when you do them for Jesus—and, what’s more, they become more effective.

Jesus set us free from slavery to ourselves and our own ambitions. When you serve yourself (Satan, actually), all you’ll end up with is broken pieces of dreams you never saw fulfilled. But when you keep in step with Jesus, He doesn’t just provide for you in every way, He also fulfills the true dreams in your heart. Because He’s the only One who actually knows what your true dream is.

Jesus set us free to give us a life that satisfies the eternal ache in our souls. We are free to live in His abundance.

Questions for Reflection

• How are some ways your “pure” motives might not be as pure as you think they are?

• When we have the option of living a full, satisfying life in Jesus, why do you think people still choose to do life their own way?

• Why do you think Satan’s lies are so effective in this area?

Weekly Memory Verse

---