From the very beginning of time, God created us to have freedom. Not only did he give Adam the garden of Eden, but also the power and authority over everything in the garden. When he saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone in the garden, He took a rib and created Eve for him. They were naked but did not feel ashamed. No sin. No condemnation. Heaven on Earth was Eden. Everything they needed, God provided. And because God wants connection and relationship with his creation, He also gave them free will and choice. They were able to eat from any tree in the garden, EXCEPT for the tree of knowledge. That one rule gave them the ability to have choice. It gave them the choice to live a life of freedom— to walk in alignment with God, free of all sin. Genesis 2:8-25
When God saw the treatment of his people in Egypt, and heard their cries, he equipped Moses to bring a message to Pharaoh to let His people go. Important to note that not only did He claim Israel as His, under His protection, but he promised them a land of milk and honey. Freedom! From Pharaoh, from slavery, from bondage. Providing them with a land that would be perfect for them, equipping them with what they needed for food, water, housing, and protection from all enemies. All Israel had to do was follow God’s ways.
And the greatest act of freedom that God has ever performed for us was to send his one and only son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. Jesus Christ was without sin. He walked on this Earth as a man in total freedom because he walked in such an alignment with God. Through his crucifixion, the ultimate price was paid, so we could step into a life where we can walk into freedom. “Yet through his powerful declaration of acquittal, God freely gives away his righteousness. His gift of love and favor now cascades over us, all because Jesus, the Anointed One, has liberated us from the guilt, punishment, and power of sin!” “Jesus’ God-given destiny was to be the sacrifice to take away sins, and now he is our mercy seat because of his death on the cross. We come to him for mercy, for God has made a provision for us to be forgiven by faith in the sacred blood of Jesus. This is the perfect demonstration of God’s justice, because until now, he had been so patient—holding back his justice out of his tolerance for us. So he covered over the sins of those who lived prior to Jesus’ sacrifice.” “And when the season of tolerance came to an end, there was only one possible way for God to give away his righteousness and still be true to both his justice and his mercy—to offer up his own Son. So now, because we stand on the faithfulness of Jesus, God declares us righteous in his eyes!” Romans 3:24-26TPT
Freedom. What does that look like to you? For me it would be this: To walk openly into the freedom of God and what he’s promised over my life. To discover my anointed calling on my life. To freely love myself because I am made in God’s perfect image. To be bold in my faith. To meet with Holy Spirit daily as a friend. To be the hands and feet so wonderfully that I am one day greeted into Heaven like Stephen was, with Jesus raised to his feet, applauding my service on Earth. To be free of the condemnation of sin.
I have had a stirring in my heart. Looking back on the past six months, Holy Spirit has been doing a work on me to prepare me for this next season of my life. He has been giving me nudges, clues, hints, at what he’s about to do for me. And what he’s been doing is creating my exodus.
I recently started Michael Todd’s teachings on Cuffing Season. I highly encourage you to go to YouTube, search transformation church, go to playlists, and watch every single sermon in that series, because even if you think that it’s not for you, I promise there is something for you in every single message. It is a series of deliverance. And without elaborating too much on his teachings, the premise is basically uncuffing from what is holding you back in your freedom walk with God.
So I had to start really digging deep into what is holding me back in my life. Where is my bondage? Holy Spirit – speak to me, where are the areas of my life I need to uproot and hand them to you? Where can I uncuff from the things that don’t serve me and cuff myself to you?
Y’all that’s a loaded question. And if you, like me, find yourself in a season where you are ready to have your exodus, be prepared for the work. I need to warn you to be prepared, because when you ask Holy Spirit to have his way with you, to strip you of anything that’s holding you back from your calling, to deliver you from things that are making you spiritually immature, He will answer you. It WILL come in his own time, but if you incline your ear to Him and stay at an attitude of surrender, He will answer. The truth of what he might say to you is probably going to hurt. But I need you to know, as a fellow child of God, the chains that you have allowed to confine you and define you can break, and you will start stepping into freedom.
God is releasing me from several areas of bondage that I have allowed myself to be placed in — full honesty. There’s several things that I am uprooting. The one Holy Spirit told me to share with you in this blog is self condemnation through perfectionism.
Nivine Richie said it best when she said “Perfectionism is pride masquerading as godliness. It is self-constructed bondage, though God promises freedom: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).”
I have struggled with perfectionism my entire life. My mother will tell you that when I was in kindergarten, I would erase my work until I had holes in my paper, because I would be so frustrated with myself if my handwriting wasn’t up to my standard of perfection. I have been competitive my entire life. I will admit that I am prideful.
I also have a voice inside my head that is so critical, it has the ability to completely destroy all joy and happiness. When a loved one, who cares for me, and wants the best for me provides me with any type of criticism, I fixate on what I need to change to be better. I run through negative self talk like it’s a marathon. “Could’ve done this better. Shouldn’t have said that today. Your friends don’t really like you. You aren’t measuring up as a good enough Mama and/or wife.”
Through my desire for perfectionism, I have created the bondage of self condemnation.
Self condemnation has put me in a place of wanting to hide from the world many times. It is exhausting to feel like I am never enough, in all areas of my life, but that’s exactly where self condemnation takes me. It has me feeling inadequate, alone, afraid. And because I have allowed the critical spirit to run freely in my mind, instead of the Holy Spirit who will bring me peace, I basically have done the enemies job for him. I have beat myself down over every mistake, every imperfection, every failure. I have broken myself to the point to where if I receive truth of conviction, I cannot allow myself to be open to it because I turn it into condemnation and offense. I have taken on words and lies from the enemy that I never needed to take on, and then allowed them to become truth.
Living in that state of mind is not what God designed for my life as a child of God. Here is what Holy Spirit spoke to me: He said, “Alex, I love you. I have created you in my image. I have equipped you. I knew the plans and purposes I had for your life before you were placed in your mothers womb. Because you still have breath in your lungs, I have purpose and plans for your life. But in order to fulfill your calling, you have got to let go of self condemnation and perfectionism, because you are living in a trapped life. You don’t immediately come to me in prayer and lay everything at my feet, because you are too scared I’ll see you in a mistake or moment of weakness. Don’t you know Corinthians 12:9?! And you are afraid I couldn’t love you unless you measure up to a perfect standard. But I love you, unconditionally. No standards required. You know the power of life and death is in the power of the tongue and you will speak life over everyone you meet, but not to yourself. You do not have to take on everything the world speaks over you, but instead find the truth and leave the hurt. In order to receive true freedom, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to cast away the critical spirit and I need you to love yourself and see yourself the way I see you. You are enough. You are my daughter.”
This is my exodus. I declare right now that I cast out and bind the critical spirit and free myself of self condemnation. I loose Holy Spirit to guide my every thought, every decision, every word spoken over myself. I will overcome perfectionism in Jesus name. I will speak life over myself. I will love myself. A mistake is only a stepping stone to fulfilling my God given purpose. I will not be afraid to make mistakes. If I can look at my children after they have made a wrong choice and whole heartedly tell them that I will always forgive them, there’s nothing they could do to break my love from them, and that a bad choice is simply a way to learn how to make a good choice, then I will believe that Abba feels the exact same way about me. I will step into freedom knowing my true identity rests in Christ alone, and that while the Bible calls us to be Christ-like, God never asks us for complete perfection.
If you feel like you are not in a place where you are living the full life God as intended for you to live, I urge you to ask Holy Spirit to expose and strip you of any bondage that you have created for yourself. If you feel like you are falling short in your walk with God, address it at the root. Heal. Listen to Holy Spirit. Read the Word. Go deeper than you have ever before in your walk with Christ and step into freedom.
Written by Alex Myers
Nesting in his presence 