USA (MNN) — How would you define your identity as a Christian? Set Free Ministries’ Pete Noor says too many Christians are frustrated because they define who they are by what they do. That’s why Set Free is making a free guide available through Mission Network News this month.
Don Shaafsma, one of Set Free’s counselors, says the principles contained in the “33 Affirmations” study changed his life.
“It’s not about your performance, it’s about His. He’s the one who did the work, He’s the one who changed my life, He’s the one who put His life inside of me. I can now go live from that life.”
Free from performance
Prior to working through this free guide, Schaafsma says, his life was all about performance.
(Representative Photo by Nathan Cowley from Pexels)
“I had been chasing my tail for a good part of my life, and I had all the badges to prove it: Sunday School teacher, deacon, elder, head of the Visitation Committee, Evangelism Explosion teacher, etc.,” Shaafsma shares.
“I was miserable.”
Then, he encountered someone from Set Free and began working through the same principles contained in the “33 Affirmations” study. He’s now dedicated to helping others find the same freedom.
“This is Christ who is at work in me, both to will and to do His good pleasure. It isn’t about my efforts or my abilities, it’s about His,” says Schaafsma.
“When you discover that you really can draw from Christ, and live from His life instead of the destruction that’s going on around us, it’s an amazing freedom that comes as a result.”
Free guide helps believers find truth
The experience of Schaafsma and others motivated Set Free leaders to offer this resource as a free guide.
“When Jesus said, ‘The truth will set you free’, He meant it,” says Set Free’s Pete Noor.
“We have to understand that when God tells us something, that’s truth. And, when we believe thoughts that tell us differently [and] we believe a lie, we’ve actually sinned against God.”
(Image and header image obtained via Set Free Ministries on Facebook)
Too many believers today are following the “Performance-Based Acceptance” model instead of following Scripture, Noor adds. That model says “the better you do, the more honor you’re going to receive,” he explains.
“So, it’s constant work…it’s a never-ending battle to feel [that] you have to do more and you’re never doing enough, and you’re a failure.”
Instead, Noor encourages believers to find truth about their identity in Scripture. Set Free’s free guide can help you do just that. It’s a series of worksheets developed by Gordon Griffin.
“He took the “Who I Am In Christ” statements from Neil T. Anderson and made a deeper study into each of those statements,” says Noor.
You can download the “33 Affirmations” study here.
“People lose hope because they’re trying so hard…that wasn’t Christ’s message: ‘try harder’. It was, ‘Trust Me’; it was, ‘Rest in Me’.”
In some cases, these truths aren’t just life-changing. They’re lifesaving.
“We had a young man walk in to Set Free and actually had a rope burn around his neck. He had tried to hang himself that morning,” Noor shares.
“Don ended up working with him and, by the end of the day, he walked out with a smile on his face.”
