I knew I was free. I just wasn't living free.
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Happy October!
This month’s theme is one that is close to my heart, because it’s the very thing this whole ministry was built on - faith. And rather than start with the teaching, I want to start by getting personal about the kind of faith I found hardest. The faith to overcome.
There was a time in my life when I had the faith to accomplish so much for God, and yet I was completely bound by something. Shame.
You see, I wasn’t raised in church. And before I gave my life to Christ, I lived a life I’m not proud of. Drinking, smoking, partying. But if I’m honest, none of that was really the problem. It was all just a mask for the deep-rooted insecurities I was carrying underneath.
When I gave my life to Christ, everything changed almost overnight. I was completely dedicated to walking in holiness and living a life that honoured God. But when I joined my church, many of the people my age who I became friends with had been born and raised in church. And even though I was now living for Christ, I found myself in bondage to shame. Ashamed of the life I had lived. Ashamed of the things I had done. Ashamed that my story didn’t look like theirs.
That shame stole my freedom. I was terrified to share my testimony or let anyone know about my past. In fact, and I can genuinely laugh about this now, whenever there was someone around with a prophetic gift, I would keep my distance, convinced they were going to expose everything I was so desperate to hide.
I don’t think I even realised at the time just how bound I was.
But then, in 2019, I started something called the Freedom in Christ course. And one day, we were reading through a set of affirmations. Simple, scriptural truths. And I came to one that said, “I am free from condemnation.” And as I read those words, it was as though a fog lifted.
And this is exactly where faith comes in.
Because here is the thing. I already knew the facts. I knew I was a new creation, and I knew my past was gone. I could have quoted the verses to you. But knowing something to be true and actually living in the truth of it are two very different things. I had the belief, but I hadn’t yet stepped into the trust. I knew I was free from condemnation, but I wasn’t living free from condemnation.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
That is the difference between simply believing and truly having faith. Faith isn’t just agreeing that something is true in our heads. It’s trusting it so completely that it changes how we live. And the moment I stopped just knowing I was free and started believing it enough to actually walk in it, everything changed.
So let me ask you this. Is there a truth you know in your head, but haven’t yet allowed to reach your heart? Are you carrying a shame that Christ has already lifted, simply because you haven’t yet stepped into the freedom He’s given you?
Because that freedom is already yours, you do not have to earn it. You simply have to believe it enough to walk in it.
Charelle x
The whole teaching is in this month’s blog if you’d like to go deeper.
👉 Read the blog here: Eyes On Jesus | Having Faith to Accomplish & Faith to Overcome.
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