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"Why do I think God hates religion? It is because religion, in its worst form, makes us victims."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 83.
When we are stuck in victim thinking, we are in a kind of captivity that God hates. It is when the evil of this world does things to us that makes us believe that we will always be victims that we are bound up in ways that makes it nearly impossible to live out the destiny God has prepared for us to live.
Religion can be just as binding as any evil Satan might use to get us off track. Religion imposes rules and regulations with the hope that we can work our way into who God wants us to be. Jesus spoke harshly against such religion. Why? Because Jesus came to set us free. He paid a high price for that freedom. Anything, including religion, that threatens to put us back into bondage is something all Heaven will war against.
God is serious about our freedom. He wants us to live our life as a victor in as free a manner as possible. Check out what God says about freedom in our reading from today.
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8 (NIV)
The wording from our reading today really makes me stop and think. Hollow and deceptive philosophy is what threatens our freedom. Human tradition is what gets in the way of the life Christ wants for us. Religion can be filled with philosophy and tradition that might be getting us off track.
How do we know if our freedom is in jeopardy? It is when rules and regulations based on traditional interpretation of what God wants from us overrides the love and acceptance we are to have for one another that red flags should be seen.
God isn’t about rules and regulations. He is about love. That love doesn’t happen as a result of letting tradition or philosophy dictate our worship style. That love happens as we enter into a symbiotic relationship with each other and with God Himself. Religion can’t do that if religion is based on dos and don’ts. That’s why Jesus spoke so strongly against religion. Religion binds. Love frees.
Our reading today has the answer to all this mess. The answer is Jesus. By relying on Him, religion becomes what God wants it to be – a safe place where people can be set free. Anything short of that is something that God detests. We should as well.
Drop all the rules. Crush the regulations. This doesn’t mean become lawless. That’s just foolish. What this means is don’t let rules and regulations be the basis from which you find identity. Let rules and regulations be the tool they were meant to be. Making rules and regulations the foundation of anything is such a damaging and captive making endeavor.
If you are a victor you were meant to be free. Don’t let anything bind you up when it comes to who you are. Yes you will be in positions where freedom will seem so restrictive. Circumstances aren’t the judge of who you are. They shouldn’t be the judge of your freedom either. Let the fact that God loves you be all the proof you need to live as the victor He is calling out in your life today.
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