Permission to Live FreeSample

God made me precisely the way He desired me to be.

Realizing this was the single, monumental truth that changed everything in my life. It gave me permission to be exactly who God wanted me to be. To own the permission granted by my Creator. I heard His voice in my spirit affirming, “Jackie, I could have made you any way I wanted you. I made you precisely the way I wanted you to be.”

And God also made you precisely the way He desired you to be.

Imagine a master artisan, carefully crafting a one-of-a-kind-in-all-the-world creation. That artist works with precision to ensure that the creation is exactly as he or she intends. And when the creation has been executed to perfection, it has immeasurable value and worth.

It’s not accidental.

It’s not haphazard.

It’s not flawed.

Any altered version of you or me is counterfeit. And when I use the word “counterfeit,” I’m describing our behavior, our choices, the way we present ourselves that’s not fully in line with all of who God made us to be. When God dropped this insight on me, about His intentionality in our design, it triggered a deep, holy dissatisfaction with a Jackie who was anything other than who God made me to be. Again and again this sacred awareness motivated me to lean into my commitment to be only who God made me to be. It allowed me to enjoy freedom! . . .

When we live with permission, we flourish as we breathe in the truth about who God says we are. We’re released from the confines that have kept us bound. We break free from our shackles and cages to live in the fullness of who God created us to be.

Prayer

Father, thank You for creating me to be Your unique child. Please help me to embrace the truth about who You say I am, and help me to break free from the lies I’ve previously believed. Amen.