Nothing to Prove

We all want to live lives where we experience freedom, joy, peace and contentment on a daily basis, but instead many of us live lives marked by fear, worry and anxiety. Why? Humans have always lived in communities, and our communities are defined by culture. Our culture brings us joyful experiences like theatre, movies, music etc. but our culture also pushes us toward a set mold that we need to fit ourselves into. Our culture always tries to tell us what is wrong versus right. We are told how to dress, look, work, shop, do relationships, parenting etc. by culture. Culture tells us how to live, and we conform to it.


Most of us are fully aware of the pressures that our culture puts on us to look a certain way, to have a certain type of house, car, smartphone, career, relationship, clothing style etc. It's exhausting to try to measure up to all the different types of pressures and expectations that our culture puts on us. As we live our lives trying to measure up and please other people in our culture we lose our joy, contentment and freedom.


God never intended for us to live in this way, weighed down by the pressures and expectations of this world. When we choose to live for God's glory instead of our own glory we are suddenly free. We get to enjoy this life and experience gratitude for every new day we are given, instead of being weighed down by fear, worry, anxiety and pressure.

Worries are destroyed when we worship

Every human-being longs to be free. We all want freedom from something, whether it's to be free from guilt, shame, worry, fear, destructive thoughts, addiction or something else. The door has been opened, we can choose to walk in freedom, but are we willing to do what it takes to take hold of that freedom?

Jesus came to Earth to set us free, we no longer have to be slaves to the darkness in our lives. Jesus overcame all the darkness for us. No matter what's trying to hold us back in life, God is stronger. We have been given the gift of freedom by God but it's our job to choose to walk in freedom. Pastor Holly Wagner from Oasis Church in Los Angeles teaches a great sermon about how we can live free.

The struggle with worry and anxiety

We all have two different voices in our head, one is for us and the other is against us. We describe the situation as having a little devil sitting on one of your shoulders telling us what to do, and on the other shoulder we have a small angel who tells us to do the right thing. Life is a constant struggle when we try to decide which voice we should listen to in each situation. The worse we feel, the louder the voice of that little devil gets. This voice tells us that we aren't good enough, that we might as well not even try because we are going to fail. This voice has the power to make us worried, fearful and filled with anxiety.


The good news is that we have the power to choose which voice we will listen to, which voice we will believe. We will never be able to push that little devil off our shoulder, but we can make the voice less loud. The louder the voice of that little angel gets, the less we will listen to the voice of the little devil. But how can we make that little angel's voice more powerful? We can seek out the truth and then intentionally feed ourselves the truth on a regular basis. Every time I struggle with worry and fear in life I know I have a choice. I can continue to listen to the voice in my head that tells me that I'm not good enough, or I can choose to listen to something else.


Every time I feel anxious and choose to listen to a church sermon I always feel better afterwards. Every time I lay in bed and feel worried and decide to get out of bed and listen to a few uplifting songs like "Cast my cares" by Tim Timmons I always feel better afterwards. The only problem is every time I feel hopeless and worried the last thing I want to do is listen to a sermon by some pastor. That little devil on my shoulder keeps telling me that it's a stupid idea. He tells me that God can't help me and that I'm all alone. He tells me that I should stay in bed and that there is no point in trying to feel better. Every time it's a battle. Will I do the right thing, or will I continue to listen to that negative voice in my head?

You were not created to live your life in fear

Our fears are fueled by worry. But what is really at the bottom of our worst fears? And is there any way to shift our fear to faith?

Steven Furtick gives us a great sermon on the topic of fear. We were not meant to live our lives in constant fear and worry. God wants us to be free from fear and live a life of joy and peace. Steven Furtick teaches us three things that we can do to get free from our fear, worries and anxiety.