This post is part of a 40-Day Prayer Journey through the season of Lent. Click here to learn more and read other posts in the series.
“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15).
Because of Jesus, our relationship with and our view of God have changed in the most wonderful of ways.
Because we have heard the good news about Jesus and what he has done to rescue us from sin, the Holy Spirit created faith in our hearts and now dwells in us. Not to make us slaves, forced to live in fear and dance at the whims of some divine puppeteer, but to make us free to live as God’s children.
And by God’s grace alone, that is what we are: sons and daughters of our heavenly Father.
Think about that for a moment. Think of what it means that you and I can cry out to the God who set the earth’s foundations, who put the seas in their proper places, who hung the very stars in the night sky and knows each of them by name. We can cry out to that awesome, powerful, amazing God in the same way that my one-year-old daughter cries out to me for help, to be picked up, for anything at all—with complete confidence and trust.
We have that sort of beautiful, loving, familial relationship with God because of our Savior Jesus.
What does that mean? Paul went on to write, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17).
We know we’re God’s heirs of eternal life and dearly loved children. So why do we still live like we’re slaves?
We know the answer to that too. We’re sinful people who live in a sinful world. We struggle every day with our sinful flesh—we constantly fall into that old pattern and cycle of sin and are plagued with the terrible guilt and shame that accompany it.
What do we do? With tears streaming down our faces, we go to church or open our Bibles with shaking hands, and we whisper, “Abba, Father, help me. Abba, Father, forgive me.”
Dear Christian, listen to our Father’s response, lovingly written in the words of Scripture, boldly displayed in the life, death, and resurrection of his Son and our brother Jesus: “Of course, I forgive you. You are my child, whom I love.”
There’s nothing to fear. You’re God’s child whom he loves with an everlasting love. The Holy Spirit himself testifies that to be true for Jesus’ sake.
Today as you pray, ask that God would empower his people to live without fear as his sons and daughters. Ask that God would strengthen and comfort his children with the forgiveness won by Jesus at the cross.
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Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
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