25 But after that faith is come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For
ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For
as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither
male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. –Galatians
3:25-28 (KJV)
As I write this today, I reflect back on
the time when I experienced my “face in my hands” morning.
This is the morning about 12 years ago when I sat on the side of my
bed with my face in hands wondering how I was going to get up and deal
with the world. This was the beginning of six long years of my
personal battle with clinical depression. I later wrote extensively
about those dark days in my book, “The Invitation: Embracing a Happier
Life.” During the spring of 2006, the Lord began to work in
my life in powerful ways, which resulted in recovery from depression
and the development of strategies for coping with this condition.
I continue to practice these strategies every day, one of which is writing
this blog.
If you are in a similar cave of despair,
please know the Lord loves you and will lift you out of whatever dark
place you have found yourself. Keep going forward and do not give
up. There is hope in Jesus Christ for a brighter day – I believe
this with all my heart!
Part of my recovery and ongoing plan for
managing depressive symptoms is to focus on Jesus Christ and the freedom
He offers. As I have said before, our freedom in Christ involves
freedom to serve God with a full heart unencumbered by the chains of
sin and guilt. Christ has overcome these for us through His redemptive
work on the cross and His resurrection. Our freedom is never to
be a license to sin or be rebellious. Instead, we are free to
love, forgive one another, walk in faith without the weight of coping
with life in our strength. I know from personal experience that
we cannot face life’s struggles in our power. The power of Christ
is more than sufficient for us and He will empower us to face the trials
of life.
When we try to please God by trying to be
good, we end up becoming bound up in the chains of legalism. This
is where we try to be in God’s will by obeying certain rules and regulations.
We think that if we try to obey the Ten Commandments enough that God
will be happy with us. Paul the Apostle referred to the law, of
trying to keep the commandments, as our “schoolmaster.” In
Jesus Christ, we are free from this old master, which we can never live
up to, and have become the “children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
As the old hymn says, “Freed from the law, oh happy condition.”
God loves you, my friend. You cannot
save yourself; neither can you live up to God’s perfect standards.
However, Jesus Christ has solved this problem, for in Him there is hope,
life, redemption, and salvation. Yes, you have problems, faults,
and hang-ups. God loves you anyway!
God bless you today.
