We live in a world that tells us to hold on to guilt, grudges, shame, anger, fear, and regret, yet if we do, it's only harming ourselves. Life was not created to be bound up, but it was made to be free.

Our Creator did not want us to carry the weight of our own burdens and sins alone, so that's why He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us. By doing so, He took on the weight of all of our sin and burdens so that we do not have to.

Our society tells us to get revenge and act selfishly in order to get what we want, but sometimes getting what we wanted isn't what we expected. A lot of the time, it isn't what is truly even best for us. In the process of pursuing solely our own happiness, we lose sight of the fact that living selfishly will never satisfy us.

Bringing glory to ourselves is so temporary, and sometimes it takes learning that lesson the hard way for it to truly stick. Pride leads to the consistent fear that we are not good enough unless we achieve the world's accolades. This lack of consistent satisfaction and contentment will lead to continual searching for life meaning.

We are all wired to worship, but it all depends on what we choose to worship that will determine how our lives play out. Worshiping ourselves could never compare to the joys of worshiping The Lord. This selfless act brings more peace, joy, contentment, and satisfaction than anything this world has to offer.

There will always be new trends, viewpoints, and styles, but there will only ever be one God. He loves to be worshiped, and He is jealous for us. He wants us to come to Him just as we are and give Him the glory.

When God is given the glory, then we can be at peace knowing that we do not have to strive in this continual competition to be good enough or better than everyone else. We can have life.

We can have purpose.

This is what it truly means to live free. When we proclaim the Gospel greater than ourselves, our perspective changes. We shift our focus from inward on ourselves to outward at others and upwards at The Lord.

We can fixate our gaze upon Him, and He is faithful to see us and speak into our lives. There is no need to look to anything else for our worth.

When Christ died for us, He allowed us to trade our dirt into a crown. We do not have to live chained any longer to our selfish ways with Christ. It is important to allow Him to lift those heavy chains off of us so that we can live free from bondage.

The Gospel gives us freedom from our sin and shame.

So go and live free.