In the book Free Book by Brian Tome, he discusses the principles of freedom which he has found in the Bible. He does not make an effort to stroke your ego, but plainly lays out some steps you need to take in order to experience freedom in Christ. One such process is confession. Honestly confessing to someone you have wronged, and somehow making restitution if necessary. Along with confession is asking for forgiveness. It is uncomfortable and, yes, embarrassing at times, but the reward is peace. Not peace as the world thinks of it, ie: absence of bad circumstances, but the peace that Christ affords. The peace of a clear conscience.
Another topic that Brian focuses on as a reason for the lack of freedom in our lives, is the existence of strongholds in our lives, fear being a major one. Many people tend to mask their fear and give it a different label such as being practical. An example he shares is one where his mother-in -law went on a missions trip to Russia, and a 30 year old friend of Brian's had his ticket to go, but when he listened to his friends and family, about why he should not go, he ended up buying in and not going. When Brian's mother-in-law returned and shared her experiences and victories, the friend expressed his wish that he had gone.
Strongholds keep us from being a blessing and receiving a blessing. There are six marks of strongholds he enumerates: 1) You have repeated, unwanted behavior. 2) You have memory gaps about childhood. 3) You have confusion about why you do something-like defend yourself in a certain way. 4) There is something about you nobody knows. 5) You have bitterness toward a person or type of person or 6) You blindly accept your limitations.
Christ has said that He brings abundant life, but if there is something preventing you from living an abundant life, you owe it to yourself to buy this book and find out some steps you can take to get to the place where you can accept it.
