I can remember the day I walked out of prison. Everything seemed so different, the sky was bluer, the grass was greener, and I had peace. The date was October 23, 1998. I became a free man.
For years, I lived only for myself and what other people expected from me. On the outside, I was a success, but on the inside, I lived in the prison of my mind, locked behind the bars of doubt, fear, temptation, greed, and drugs. By the world’s standards, I was living the American dream, professionally, financially, and personally… but there was something missing.
According to the Bible, King Solomon was the wisest, richest, and most powerful man to live, yet even he realized that life apart from God is without purpose, useless and empty. I will never forget how God revealed this truth to me in a hotel room in Atlanta, Georgia. It was in that moment that I surrendered to Jesus all my hopes, my dreams, my fears, my doubts… my life! I fell to my knees a prisoner of my own mind and making, but stood a free man, no longer slave to my own thoughts and emotions.
Immediately, my mind was racing with thoughts and ideas about this new life. I was excited about my future, yet I had no idea what my future would look like, but I knew God had an assignment for me. My heart burned with a passion to tell other people about the joy of this newfound freedom. The freedom to become the person God had created me to be. The years of serving myself were over. I had a burning desire to serve the one who freed me, Jesus Christ. That was over twenty-two years ago. John 8:36 makes this promise: “If the Son (Jesus) sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
What about you? Do you feel trapped, imprisoned within your own thoughts and emotions? Do you feel like your life has no purpose? Well, God is offering you the opportunity to experience life to the fullest, and free you to become ALL that He created you to be. Just follow these steps and live in the freedom and purpose God meant for you to have.
1. Confess your shortcomings to God.
2. Commit your life, your purpose to God.
3. Ask Jesus to forgive your past and to come live in your heart.
4. Commit each day to God.
5. Be determined to become the person God desires you to become.
God promises that when you “take off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception and instead, let the Spirit (of God) renew your thoughts and attitudes” then you will have a new nature, created to be like God (Ephesians 4:20-24).
Check out our podcast, “Prison to Purpose.” https://podcast.thepromoter.org/ You will hear Shay’s story of being an addict and a nine-time felon. She got free and today Shay is committed to helping others beat addiction.
