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Hello ,
If you are like most other people you at times long for more freedom in your life. I'm going to briefly address how identifying falsehoods and embracing truth can bring that about.
- Sheldon Swartz
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The Connection between Freedom and Truth
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 "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
- Jesus (John 8:32)
Take the symptom of anxiety, for instance. Much of it is rooted in one or several falsities that we are stuck in believing.
As a simple example, I get anxious when I think of the possibilities of something bad happening to my children or grandchildren. It doesn't work to tell myself that they will be safe, or if they are careful they will be safe, or that if their parents or I protect them they will be safe. It doesn't help because it isn't true.
Ultimately I don't have control over whether they suffer in undesired ways. So . . . I will just have to live with my anxiety and hope for
the best, right?
But that isn't good enough! I want to be free! I enjoy myself and life and love others the best when I am not anxious. . . so where's the freeing truth?
Well, what are the falsehoods I may be believing that cause anxiety? Here's a few possibilities:
1. "My children/grandchildren must not suffer serious harm."
2. "I shouldn't have to feel pain."
3. "I can't handle bad things happening to people I love."
4. "I can't be happy if life doesn't go the way I want it to."
Obviously if I believe any of these I am going to be anxious any time I think about what could happen to my loved ones.
What are the truths that, if accepted as true and embraced, release me to live? Here are some possibilities:
1. "I live in a fallen world where undesirable. things happen to the people in it, and I am one of those people. I accept that. I will not insist that I or those I love be exceptions."
2. "No matter what happens to me or those I love, the core of my well-being cannot be shaken, since I am in Christ and He in me."
3. "When people I love get hurt it is ok for me to hurt, however much I hurt. I do not need to control the level of my pain. There is room for all that is there."
4. "The only way I can experientially know that in fact my security is unshakable is if everything else shakes. I will accept the shaking as God's invitation to trust more fully what cannot be shaken, using those "shakeups" to more fully wed me to Him as the Lover of my soul, and freeing me to love."
Have a little fun with this! When something is upsetting, give yourself room to be upset, but also ask yourself what you may be believing that makes it so upsetting. And be open to some surprises!
"Lord Jesus, you are Truth with a capital T. I do know that I want to be free, free to live, free to love. I can't do that if I am holding onto lies, just because they seem to be true or just because I am scared to let go. Would you increase my desire for true freedom and make me more aware of what is false and what is true, so that I can abandon myself to the truth? Thank you. Amen. So be it"
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Sheldon Swartz, M.A, LMFT works with individuals, couples, and families to identify the ways of life and death in their lives and help uncover the motivation to choose that which leads to life, whether it be through counseling or spiritual direction.
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