Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 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.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:14-16).
How do we know we’re God’s children? God sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts. He’s given us faith—confidence and trust in our heavenly Father. It’s only by the Holy Spirit that we now cry out, “Abba, Father.”
Think of what it means that we can cry out to God—who set the earth’s foundations, who put the seas in their proper places, the stars in the sky, and by his Word holds the very universe itself together—and that he promises that he hears us. We call God “Abba, Father,” in the way that a child cries out to his or her father, asking for help, to be picked up, for anything—with complete confidence and unwavering trust.
“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” (Romans 8:15). We know we’re God’s children. So, why are there times when we still live like slaves?
We know the answer. We’re sinful people in a sinful world. We struggle every day—we constantly fall into old sinful habits and are plagued with the terrible guilt and shame accompanying them. We hear the condemning whispers as we lie in the wreckage and messiness of our sin. You did that? And you call yourself a Christian. . . . Some child of God you are. . . . Those whispers turn to shouts and screams of guilt and shame, filling our heads with unbearable agony.
What do we do? With tears streaming down our faces, we stagger into church or open our Bibles with shaking hands, and we whisper, “Abba, Father, help me. Abba, Father, I’ve sinned against you. Please forgive me for Jesus’ sake.”
And he has, dear Christian. That’s what he promises in his Word. Hear our Father’s response: “You are my child whom I love. Nothing will snatch you out of my hand.”
We so desperately need to hear that message of comfort through Word and sacrament. “I forgive you all your sins.” We need to hear that every day.
Feeling broken? Crushed? Overwhelmed? Afraid? Dear Christian, you are not alone. Bring your burdens, your struggles, your grief, your fear, your guilt, and your shame. Whatever is troubling you—bring it all and lay it at your Savior’s feet, because Jesus came to set the captives free. Jesus came to turn slaves into sons.
Yes, sometimes it feels like we are still captives of sin. It feels like those cold shackles are still there. They weigh heavy on our wrists and ankles, and it feels like we have no business being a part of God’s family.
But the Holy Spirit himself testifies that you are God’s child! And if that were not enough, listen to our Savior: “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34-36).
Look down.
Those chains and shackles of sin that once held you are gone. They’ve been taken away. Look to the cross. See your Savior there for you and me. Now look to the empty tomb and see the shattered shackles of sin, death, and the devil that once held us fast, now utterly broken and defeated by our Savior—trampled underfoot as he rose triumphant on Easter morn.
You are free. Free to live as members of God’s family forever. By God’s grace, dear Christian, that is what you are—a child of God. So live! No longer as a slave, but as a child of God and an heir because the Son has set you free.
Our heavenly Father wants us to tell him whatever is on our hearts and minds, and he promises to hear us when we pray. But sometimes we don’t know what to pray about. For those times and many more, He Hears My Voice: Prayers From Meditations contains hundreds of prayers from the popular Meditations: Daily Devotional® booklets.
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.