A fish which has been caught in a net can see a certain distance before it; it can even move about a little, but it is still a prisoner…If it tries to work its way out, it realises still more painfully that it is a prisoner. My studies broadened my mind, but in spite of everything I discovered that I was caught in the net of sin.
Freedom
Edward McKendree (E. M.) Bounds
Prayer breaks all bars, dissolves all chains, opens all prisons, and widens all straits by which God’s saints have been held.
Katherine Walden
Contrition, repentance, acknowledgement of personal responsibility and sorrow over sin should never include massive self-hatred and total self-rejection. God’s conviction points to a specific sin. It is sharp and accurate, going straight to the point where repentance is needed. Truly understanding this principle will lead you into freedom from your past so you can serve God and His people without the fetters of constantly looking behind.
Author Unknown
You are deceived if you believe that you are free to live your life unnoticed by God and the enemy of our souls
Ole Kristian O. Hallesby
My praying friend, continue to make known your desires to God in all things. It is when we can speak with one another about anything and everything that conversation really affords us freedom and relief. Let Him decide whether you are to receive what you ask for or not.
Peter T. Forsythe
The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master.
Corrie Ten Boom
Even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him….Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness….And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives along with the command, the love itself.
Edmund Clowney
There are people who do not want us to be free. They don’t want us to be free before God, accepted just as we are by His grace. They don’t want us to be free to express our faith originally and creatively in the world. They want to control us; they want to use us for their own purposes. They themselves refuse to live arduously and openly in faith, but huddle together with a few others and try to get a sense of approval by insisting that all look alike, talk alike and act alike, thus validating one another’s worth.
Henri J. M. Nouwen
It is freeing to become aware that we do not have to be victims of our past and can learn new ways of responding. But there is a step beyond this recognition…It is the step of forgiveness. Forgiveness is love practiced among people who love poorly. It sets us free without wanting anything in return.
C. S. Lewis
I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey.