There is a nearly universal experience in childhood of wanting to run free without anyone telling you where to go or how long you can stay there. Most children long for open space, movement, and freedom simply because they were made to explore. As we grow older, life begins to narrow, with schedules, expectations, responsibilities, and obligations shaping our days. School keeps us seated for hours, work demands consistency, and adulthood often feels more restrictive than free.
That longing for freedom does not disappear as we age. It simply changes form. Beneath our routines and responsibilities is a deeper question that many of us carry, whether we say it out loud or not: Have you ever truly felt free?
There is a danger here that cannot be ignored. There is a difference between the freedom God offers and the freedom the world says is attainable. The world will tell you that you can, or should be able to, do whatever you want in life, and no one should tell you otherwise. You might hear people say, “Live your truth.” This is often the justification for living freely in whatever capacity this may look like in your life, as long as it makes you happy.
Freedom is more than the absence of rules or authority. It is the experience of being released from something that once held power over you. When you are freed from a heavy burden, there is relief, joy, and often gratitude. If freedom feels abstract or unfamiliar, consider what is holding you bound. Every person is bound by something.
Jesus teaches that sin has the power to enslave us, even when we believe we are acting on our own terms (John 8:34). Bondage does not always look dramatic or destructive on the surface. It can look like patterns you cannot break, emotions that control your reactions, approval you constantly chase, or beliefs that quietly shape your identity. What binds us does not always announce itself, but its presence is felt.
In John 8, Jesus speaks to two types of people at once. He speaks to those openly caught in sin and those who believe their religious obedience has made them free. To put it plainly, He speaks to the rebels and to the religious.
Although they are two very different groups, Jesus offers them the same invitation. He says that true freedom is found by abiding in His Word (John 8:31). To abide means to remain, to cling, and to stay rooted. It is not a momentary agreement with, compliance, or toleration of Jesus but a continued trust in what He says is true.
Jesus goes on to say that knowing the truth leads to freedom (John 8:32). This truth is not simply information or moral guidance. It is the truth about who God is, who we are, and what Jesus has done. Truth exposes the lies we believe about ourselves and the faulty sources of freedom we rely on too often. With truth at our root, freedom flourishes and follows.
For the rebel, this freedom looks like release from the power and death grip (literally) of sin. Jesus does not minimize sin, but He does break its authority and bondage. Scripture teaches that if the Son sets you free, you are truly free (John 8:36).
Freedom in Christ does not mean the absence of struggle, but it does mean sin no longer defines or owns you.
For the religious, freedom looks different but is no less necessary. Legalism promises control and security through rule keeping or following traditions, but it cannot produce life. The religious leaders Jesus addressed believed their heritage, obedience, and being perfect guaranteed freedom, yet Jesus tells them they are still enslaved (John 8:33–34).
When faith becomes about performance and production rather than relationship, it quietly morphs into a form of bondage.
Jesus offers freedom to both the rebellious and the religious by centering everything on Himself. Freedom is not found in doing more or rebelling harder. It is found in belonging to the Son, who brings us into the family of God (John 8:35). In Jesus, we are no longer slaves trying to earn freedom. We are children who live from it.
True freedom is not the ability to do whatever we want. It is the ability to live as we were created to live. That freedom begins and continues by clinging to Jesus, trusting His Word, and allowing His truth to reshape our lives (John 8:31–32).
