“Though we are slaves, our God has not deserted us in our bondage.” (Ezra 9:9)

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln set forth The Emancipation Proclamation, which declared, “All persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State… shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free…” President Lincoln held firm to the belief that "If slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong."

While Lincoln is put an end to slavery in the 1800’s, God issued a similar proclamation about freeing the slaves nearly 2,000 years earlier through the life, death and resurrection of His son Jesus. Unlike Lincoln, God’s proclamation was not merely to free one race from another. God’s purpose for His decree was to free the minds, bodies and souls of all people. Colossians 1:13-14 makes the purpose of His edict clear for those who believe: “For he has rescued us out of the darkness and gloom of Satan's kingdom and brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who bought our freedom with his blood and forgave us all our sins.”

From the moment we are born, we are all slaves, separated from God and held in bondage because of sin. However, when we choose to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are given a ticket to freedom— a ticket we are meant to use. (Gal. 5:1) Because of Jesus, we are no longer subject to the bondage of sin, defeat and failure. Sadly, however, we see people in bondage all the time. These are not just unbelievers, but also good Christians, who love the Lord with all their heart, yet find themselves enslaved by fear, loneliness, guilt, low self-esteem and more. Such negative mindsets hold them captive and prevent them from enjoying the freedom that God has provided them.

Why is it so hard to maintain the freedom God has given us? Why do we feel mentally trapped and enslaved more often than we would like? The reasons are many, but I believe we can glimpse one of them in Galatians 2:5. “They slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus so that they might enslave us.”

Now I’m not one to think that the devil and his goblins are lurking around every corner with pitchforks in hand. However, the Bible does make it clear that we, as believers, have an enemy and his name is Satan. The moment we start enjoying a life of freedom, a life of peace within ourselves and with our God, Satan slips in with negative thoughts. He causes us to doubt our purpose, our faith and ourselves. Satan makes every effort to enslave our thinking, preventing us from enjoying the freedom God has set aside for us.

How does he do it? Simply… by playing with our minds. The mind is a battlefield, a war zone that pits good against evil, where the result is victory or defeat. The human mind can either liberate or enslave. The war begins when we take in God’s Word, which says, “I am chosen, holy and dearly loved by God (Col. 3:12, 1 Thess. 1:4). At the same time we are hounded by an evil, negative force that wants us to doubt ourselves and say, “I’ll never measure up in God‘s eyes.” These two opposing thought patterns wage war in our minds until one or the other prevails.

Jesus may have paid for our freedom, but when we listen to the enemy’s voice and believe his lies, we have become enslaved once more. Our negative mindset once again seems to prevail and if you are like me, you have found yourself frustrated and discouraged when you realize that you have been paying more attention to negative thoughts than the positive truth of God’s Word.  

The good news about the constant struggle within our minds is that there is hope. God has not deserted us on the battlefield. He has given us the greatest weapon for fighting this battle—the Bible. Maybe you have heard it said before, but when you are bombarded with negative thoughts, how many times have you actually pulled out this weapon and fought with it? How many times have you taken hold of a scripture (ex: “I am the light of the world,” Matt 5:14), which reveals who you really are according to God, and then stood firm on it until your feelings of darkness and despair disappeared? We may not always “feel” as great as the Bible says we are, but this is God’s Word and His Word is bond.

Have you been struggling with a negative mindset lately? Are you in bondage once again to a slave’s mentality? Remember God’s proclamation for your freedom has already been set forth. Go grab your weapon and free the slave.

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!" John 8:35-36