The Freedom of Being Chosen

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The cultural lie about freedom

We live in a world that preaches self-invention. Live your truth. Find yourself. Define yourself. Be true to yourself. And, at some point, reinvent yourself altogether!

Freedom, we are told, is the absence of constraint and the presence of unlimited choice. But the gospel disrupts that narrative. Gospel freedom is this: You’re not free to become whoever you want to be. You’re empowered to become who you were always meant to be.

If you allow yourself to sit with that, you may find it both comforts and confronts.

See for those who call themselves Christians, or as I prefer—followers of Jesus, we bristle against the idea that we’re not actually free to do whatever we want. We’re drawn to the good news of the gospel’s message that saves us from sin and eternal death, but that doesn’t mean I want to live constrained from all this life has to offer right now!

But if the gospel is true, then freedom is not autonomy — it is alignment.

Identity before effort

Before you ever did anything for God, he chose you.

Ephesians 1:4-5 says, 

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—“

John 15:16 says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—“

1 Peter 2:9 says,

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Finally, what is probably my favorite Scripture that addresses this important and foundational truth comes out of the Old Testament and a time when God required strict adherence to religious law for righteousness. And even in that context, Moses says this to God’s people in Deuteronomy 7:6-8, 

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

Chosen before the foundation of the world. And not because of merit, potential, or future faithfulness, but because of love. Because God simply loves you. You are rooted in his love, not in your usefulness to him.

So when the world says, prove yourself. Then you’ll belong. The gospel tells us that we already belong, we are already chosen. Therefore we have the freedom to live differently. 

Valued without adding value

In the summer of 2022, I had been writing my blog for 2.5 years straight. No break. I was writing and posting consistently every other week since January of 2020. Six months into 2022, after my mental health declined significantly, I decided to take a break for one month. One short month, that’s all I wanted. Before I pulled the trigger and shared that decision, I asked my husband to confirm something I only knew intellectually and theologically. My feelings were betraying me and telling a different story to my heart.

I was asking, “Am I a person of value if I’m not adding value?” I wanted an outside voice to tell me I still mattered even though I wasn’t writing or contributing anything to the world in that corner of the internet I had claimed as my own. Never mind that only 3.5 people were even reading my blog—2 of them being my own parents! I felt like I was doing something that mattered and… do I even matter if I don’t do this thing?

In the end, those two weeks extended into three years and a few valuable lessons. 

• I am not loved more because I do something good

• I am not loved less if I do nothing good

• I don’t need to be envious of others who seem to manage more because God has prepared something specific for each of us

• I can’t miss what God has sovereignly woven into his plan for my life

Since that break from the blog and various other things I had put on pause, I no longer feel compelled to take on whatever is in front me. I’ve learned to decline offers, turn down opportunities, or simply bow out of things that are not aligned with God’s direction for my life. Because that’s where freedom truly lies! It’s in recognizing that gospel freedom means we’re not saved into ambiguity, but called into purpose.

You don’t have to keep all your options perpetually open or try everything out there. You can “lock in”, as kids say these days, and recognized that you’re not saved from sin and then free to construct a self that’s entirely untethered from design and intention.

We are freed from sin and death so we can finally live as image-bearers being restored. Because freedom without design and intention is chaos. Freedom within the intentional design and purpose God places into our lives becomes flourishing. 

Philippians 2:13 says,

“It is God who works in you, both to will and to work…”

So even the desire to obey is grace. Even the will to follow him comes from him. If this is true, then freedom is deeply humbling. So why do we resist this kind of freedom? Maybe because we want control. We want credit. And most difficult to admit of all, we want autonomy more than we want transformation. Was this not Israel’s story throughout the pages of Scripture?

Israel was chosen, yet constantly resisting. They were called out of slavery, yet longed for Egypt. God was preparing them to inherit the land he promised them, and yet they doubted the path.

Israel allowed fear, comparison, and envy drive their actions and drive them away from God. We are not so different.

But here is the mercy:

“He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.”

(1 Thessalonians 5:24)

God is faithful to his promise and chose you for a purpose. If gospel freedom means becoming who you were always meant to be, then you can stop treating life like a big audition you keep failing. You can stop comparing your journey to someone else’s. You can stop reinventing yourself every time you hit an obstacle. You can surrender without fear of losing your freedom. Because the truth is this: the One who chose you, knows you! He designed you. He prepared the path ahead, and he empowers you to walk it. 

By God’s grace you are not free to become whoever you want to be, but empowered to become who you were always meant to be. So imagine what your life could look like if the truest version of you isn’t discovered by gazing inward, but surrounding upward. What would change if you trusted that God’s choosing you was not limiting you but liberating you? Changing my perspective on true gospel freedom has changed my life. I am stronger than I was and yet gentler with myself at the same time. It truly has been liberating. I want that for you, too!

What’s in the Ears

This is the part where I share a song or podcast I’m currently into. One of my favorite Christian Folk artists, Caroline Cobb recently released a new album titled The Jesus Sessions and it is both lovely and delightful. Let me know if you check it out!

If this stirred something in you, share this post with a friend or drop a comment below. I’d love to hear what small step you’re taking towards the flourishing life today! And don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing.

Podcast available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favourite streaming platform!