Have you ever felt chained to something? Like you just had to __________. There wasn’t any choice but to _________. Have you ever heard something in church or read something from Jesus and thought, “I could never _________”? 

For example, do you feel the pressure of being successful? When it comes to your grades, your salary, your resume, or your latest post, you just can’t be ordinary or average or unnoticed. Or do you feel the pressure of making everyone in your life happy, feeling guilty that you couldn’t do that and that and that for him and her and them and be here and there and everywhere at the same time? Or have you ever believed that you have to be a good person, a better person, to go to a better place and be with God? 

Where did all these “chains” come from? Perhaps from the half-truths that they contain. We should strive to do our best and serve other people and do good for God. But that’s not the whole truth. And a half-truth is a chain, a chain that can enslave you to guilt, exhaustion, and despair.

This is why I love how Jesus breaks chains. From every lord and master that would scar us, from every half-truth that would chain us, from any idea that would mess with our eternal future, Jesus went to war to win you back. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Don’t let the father of lies chain you today. You are loved. Through Jesus, you are saved. Through the Spirit, you can do all things. That’s the truth that sets you free.