"Freedom"

(by Run Kid Run)



“All my chains
I can't disengage
And I don't believe that I want to
One hand sings Your praise
The other brings me shame
I have selfishness to blame

And I'm singing for freedom
I know I'm not the only one praying to the One
Who can bring me this freedom
I'm ready for change, change, change, change

Broken down I lay
I keep holding my chains
No longer bound, but here I stay
I scream Father, please
I need rescuing
I need You and You alone

And I'm singing for freedom
I know I'm not the only one praying to the One
Who can bring me this freedom
I'm ready for, I'm ready for...

Still You patiently await, yet I won't just let go
I see You and You alone, saying
"Come follow me
Despair has come so you can see
Release"

So I'm singing for freedom
So I'm singing for freedom

The time has come
Separation lost the war to Love
Take My hand
Grace has found you where you once began
You're alive, you're alive
In the waking of new life
Take My hand
In the end there's only Love
There's only Love

There's only singing for freedom
I know I'm not the only one praying to the One
Who can bring me this freedom
I'm ready for, I'm ready for

Father, please, I need rescuing
I need You and You alone... ”

[...conclusion of the past two days' posts]
My road to freedom hasn't been a quick one. Initially, I quit making the unhealthy choices, but I still had an unhealthy mindset. Over the past five or six years, God has done so much inside of me as I’ve allowed Him to peel back the layers and really set me free from all the stuff I tried to ignore for so long. I thought if I pretended it wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have to experience the pain it took to face it all and put it behind me. My journey has been a life-long process of giving over control of each part of my life to God, the One source of stability in my life, and the only One who truly can have control over everything. During my journey to forgive, and in times of stress or pain, I have been tempted to deal with things the way that I used to. God’s grace has prevented me from acting on those urges since 1994.

It has taken me awhile to actually FEEL free. In the Summer of 2003, I realized that I was still holding onto a lot of the bitterness and negative thought patterns from the past. I spent a week sitting in the rocking chair with my Bible, begging God to heal my heart and set me free! I discovered that there were many steps in the healing process, and it was painful to evaluate the past and discover why I felt the way that I did. I had a couple of friends and mentors who prayed with me, counseled and encouraged me. I began to feel a joy and freedom I had never known before.

For the past few years, I have wanted a tattoo to symbolize my freedom. I felt that my wrist was the perfect place to remind me that I am no longer a slave to the sin that had me bound. Since Jesus set me free, the eating disorder doesn't hold me captive anymore. My chains are gone, and I am FREE!


If you struggle with similar issues or addictions, please don’t continue on that devastating path. I encourage you to find a good counselor, pastor or friend and share your struggle with them. With God’s help and the help of others who care about you, you too can have the freedom that Jesus longs for you to have.

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing what is right." (Titus 2:14)

{If you're of the mindset that it's wrong for Christians to get a tattoo (based on a certain scripture in Leviticus), please check out this article. It's pretty long, but I feel that it has a very good Biblical perspective!}