Taught by Pastor Brandon Sereg, Lead Pastor of Vibrant Church in Davie, FL.
Watch This Message
The Message in One Sentence
You can be fully free — from the sin that keeps repeating, from the habit you already know has to go — but freedom does not come from trying harder in private. It comes from living in the truth and letting somebody actually know you.
Jesus Gave Us a Way to Measure It
Jesus told His disciples how you can tell whether you are actually following Him: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).
Notice the order. Abiding comes first, knowing comes second, freedom comes third. Most of us want the third without the first.
The Fight Paul Described
Paul wrote about a pattern anyone honest will recognize: when he wanted to do what was right, he inevitably did what was wrong. He loved God’s law with all his heart — and there was another power working against him (Romans 7).
If that is you, you are not disqualified. You are in the Bible.
Bigger on the Outside Than on the Inside
Here is where a lot of us live: working hard to maintain an image that is not even real. It is exhausting, because a facade takes constant maintenance and nobody gets to meet the actual you.
Jesus said of the religious leaders of His day that “everything they do is done for people to see” (Matthew 23:5). Clean on the outside, dead on the inside, and no one knows but you. If that is a description of your life, today is the day to be free.
The Mask: “I Know, But You Don’t Know”
Everyone has one. The real question is not whether you know the real you — it is whether anyone else does. Ask yourself honestly: am I the only one who knows?
Studies say only about two out of three people have a close friend, and for men it is closer to half — a friend close enough that you would tell them what is really going on. You are only as strong as the people who know you with the mask off.
David knew the cost of keeping it on: “When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away and I groaned all day long. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity” (Psalm 32:3-5).
Repentance Is the Kindest Word in the Bible
Repentance is naming the thing out loud, renouncing it, and changing direction. It sounds harsh until you realize what it actually means: you can change. You are not stuck with this. Freedom is available for you, for your family, for your children’s children.
And you need friends who will tell you the truth. “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses” (Proverbs 27:6). If you confess something serious and the response is “it’s not a big deal,” that person is not helping you. A real friend will call it what it is.
Your Next Step
The habit you need to break, the breakthrough you need — it exists in a relationship with God and a relationship with God’s people. Take the mask off with one person in a Connect Group and you will find out something surprising: they have issues too. Different ones, maybe, but everyone has one. You are not alone in yours.
Then keep going — through the Growth Track, onto a Dream Team — and stop being a spiritual consumer and start being a spiritual contributor. God put something in you that is unique to you. Join us Sundays at 10:00 and 11:30 AM in Davie, or watch online.
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