Finding Freedom
Luke 12:51-53
"Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law".
The three verses above are some of the wildest to me. When you grow up in a close-knit family, you spend so much of your life trying to please the ones you love and keep the peace—doing everything you can to avoid conflict. Then here comes our Lord and Savior saying, “…a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.”
What, Lord? Come again!
I’ve never known God to make a mistake. So yes—He said what He said, and He meant every bit of it. Luke 12:51–53 and Matthew 10:35–38 tell us everything that is hard to hear, yet necessary to know: what the Lord says about us—and expects of us—matters more than what any loved one says or expects. Yes, Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but everything contrary to the will of God will face the sword. Through Him we experience peace within, but because of Him, we must spiritually confront what this world has falsely called “truth” and expose it for what it is—lies of the enemy.
I had so much more to say on this topic that I took it to pen and paper. In my latest Instagram video, I spoke about the bondage many experience today: depression, anxiety, insecurity, pride, addiction, and more. Many of us fall into these dark mental spaces because of our inability to meet the expectations of loved ones and society. This is what it means to falsely find our identity in all the wrong places.
As you dive deeper into the Word of God and grow in relationship with Him, you’ll begin to realize that much of what others have said about you—based on their expectations and society’s expectations—directly contradicts what God says about you and what He expects from you.
Though we are spiritual beings, throughout this human experience we naturally gravitate toward what we can see, touch, hear, smell, and taste. But life is far more spiritual than we often admit. We avoid acknowledging this because we lack understanding. Yet the more we grow in understanding through Christ Jesus, the more willing we become to accept that there is a whole unseen world around us that the physical eye cannot perceive.
Because we’re so attached to the physical, we struggle to accept the truth of an unseen God over the lies of a physically experienced world. So we end up finding our identities in those lies rather than in God’s truth—because we feel disconnected from the things of the Spirit. Overcoming this isn’t easy, but it’s possible through faith and communion with Christ Jesus. The closer you get to God, the more the supernatural becomes undeniable, no longer a possibility but a lived reality.
The more you prioritize time with God, the wider your spiritual eyes become. It becomes easier to recognize your identity in Christ rather than in the expectations of this world. To be set free from the lies of a fallen world, you must accept the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—and then truly believe what He says about you.
I know that was a lot to take in, but I encourage you to take everything I’ve shared—and me—to the Lord in prayer, allowing Him to be your final confirmation.
Scriptures to reflect on:
Mathew 10:31-38
35) For I have come to turn, “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—36) a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. 37) “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38) Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
