In typical fashion, the Holy Spirit pointed me toward another thought on freedom, following right on the heels of what I read yesterday in L’Engle’s Bright Evening Star. The meditation for today in Lent and Easter Wisdom is titled “Freed by the Truth of Christ.” John Paul takes John 8:32 as his starting point: “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” The Pope says,
These words contain both a fundamental requirement and a warning: the requirement of an honest relationship with regard to truth as a condition for authentic freedom, and the warning to avoid every kind of illusory freedom, every superficial unilateral freedom, every freedom that fails to enter into the whole truth about man and the world.
I never heard this verse much as a child, but once I entered into charismatic circles, I heard it all the time—but usually without a reminder that the truth is often challenging. People would raise their hand and declare “I’m free! I’m free!” without giving much thought to what the truth is. I like what Joyce Meyer says about John 8:32: “It’s not the truth about someone else that will set you free; it’s the truth about you.” Our tendency too often is to think, “If only so-and-so had heard this message; this is exactly what they need.”
Both the Pope and Joyce remind us that for the truth to be effective—for Jesus’ beautiful promise of freedom to be manifest in our lives—we have to take a hard look at ourselves. I must consider what I believe and how it lines up with scripture. Not so much in the doctrinal sense but in terms of what the Bible says about me and my situation. Paul tells us that we “have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). This is truth, and in it I will find freedom. But do I believe it? Do I know it as truth in my heart, or is it merely something I know in my head and can recite from memory? If I continually overeat because I tell myself I have no control when I see something sweet, then this truth of self-discipline is theoretical at best.
My experience has been that finding freedom often means giving up excuses: “I know I overate but…” or “I’m sorry I was unkind but you…” Instead, I must say, “I ate too much because I wanted to.” “I was unkind because I chose to be unkind”—or even more to the point, “I was unkind because I wanted to be unkind.” Ouch! Such a statement conflicts with my view of myself as a really nice guy; really nice guys don’t want to be unkind—no, it just happens!
I will know the truth, and the truth will set me free. The question of the moment for me is not “do I know the truth?” but rather, “do I want to know the truth”? And related to that, “Do I really want to be free?”
Charis means grace, and that’s what this blog is about: grace, in all its—sometimes messy, always magnificent—manifestations. I’m Dan Butcher, and I invite you to join me in learning to lead a Christ-centered, grace-filled life. 
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.