Me:  Whats going on with your friends.

Prodigal:  They got caught up in their own noose.

Me:  Well maybe we can help.

 

This is from the book Parenting:  From Surviving to Thriving by Charles Swindoll

 

There are people who do not want us to be free.  They do not 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.

They try to enlarge their numbers only on the condition that new members act and talk and behave the way they do.  These people infiltrate communities of faith “to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus” and not infrequently find ways to control, restrict and reduce the lives of free Christians.  Without being aware of it we become anxious about what others will say about us, obsessively concerned about what others think we should do.  We no longer live the good news but anxiously try to memorize and recite the script that someone else has assigned to us.

 

This is not the love of God but the control of man.  Please find others who can show you the love of God.

 

John 8:31-32

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

 

 

Jennifer Van Allen

 

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org