"But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Working out at the gym, I sat down at one of the machines to lift weights. As I peered out the large, glass window directly in front of me, I saw a gentleman in a black jogging outfit walk past me. As he walked to his car, he carried a large, black duffel bag slung over his left shoulder. What caught my eye was what was written on the bag. In big, white letters it spelled “emotional baggage.” I chuckled to myself as I continued my workout, but then I immediately became deeply saddened.
Before I knew Christ, I carried a similar bag. It may not have been a physical bag carrying dirty gym clothes, and it may not have been slung over my left shoulder, but it was present in my life, nonetheless. It weighed me down daily. But I didn’t have the tools or skills to fix it. But once I began an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, I slowly began to work on resolving that emotional baggage. In fact, in a moment of prayer, I felt the Lord asking me to give over my heavy bags of emotional wounds and pain that I'd been carrying around for years. Once I symbolically gave over these bags in my mind to Jesus, a weight was lifted off my shoulders.
One of the main problems of the Corinthian Church was their seeming spiritual superiority over each other. Some issues surrounding the church during that time were a lack of corporal discipline, condoning sexual sin, and suing each other in court. Paul reminds them in this verse of the magnitude of what Jesus did on the cross. No longer could the Corinthian Church—or anyone else—rely on the Law. Now, anyone, no matter what they had done, was under the law of grace.
The law of grace became the standard once Jesus died on the cross. People observed the Law in the Old Testament, and consequently, people used the moral high ground that came from people who followed the Law versus those who didn’t. It was a weapon against those who failed the Law. But that moral high ground was removed with Jesus’ crucifixion. When Christ died on the cross, even the most depraved individual could turn their face to the Lord and have victory. Paul is declaring the basic understanding of grace: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!" (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
Because of what Jesus did on the cross, I no longer carry around heavy emotional baggage. When I choose to give over my hurt to the Lord and trust him that he will heal my broken heart and pain, I can live in freedom. When we don't give over our hurt, or our unprocessed wounds and pain, we stuff all those feelings into a big, black duffel bag, which we carry around in our hearts for many years until it becomes too heavy to carry alone. When I choose to turn to the Lord, the weight of that emotional baggage is immediately emptied. No longer do I have to live weighed down in the muck and mire of sin, betrayal, and shame. Instead, I can live every day lifting only physical weights at the gym rather than carrying spiritual weights of sin and shame. In Christ, my black duffel bag of emotional baggage is empty! Hallelujah!
Father, thank you for taking my emotional baggage. Thank you that I no longer must bear the weight of sin, guilt, and shame. Thank you for sending your Son to remove this baggage from my life so I can live every day in the freedom afforded to me through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Help those who are holding on to their emotional wounds or trying to mend their broken hearts. Help them give over their pain and hurt to you. Be faithful to bind their broken hearts and bind those wounds. Amen.
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/francescoch
Related Resource: Instead of Doing More This Summer, Maybe You Need to Do Less
If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, depleted, or just quietly wondering where God is in the middle of a very full life — this episode is for you. And honestly? It might be for me too, because I'm recording this in one of those seasons myself.
Today we're doing something a little different. Instead of going deep in a passage, we're talking about what to do when deep feels like too much — when you need less, not more. Specifically, I'm walking you through one of my favorite practices for weary seasons: handwriting scripture.
Not typing it. Not scrolling past it. Actually writing it out, slowly, in your own hand — because something happens in your brain when you do that. The words land differently. They go deeper. And over time, they become part of that personal library of God's voice that the Holy Spirit can pull from when you need it most. That's what Psalm 119:11 means when it says I have hidden your word in my heart — it's scripture moving into your long-term memory, where it lives and stays even when you haven't opened your Bible in weeks.
I'm sharing the five verses I wrote out for myself today — and why each one hit me fresh even though I've known some of them for years. This episode is part of our How to Study the Bible Podcast, a show that brings life back to reading the Bible and helps you understand even the hardest parts of Scripture. If this episode helps you know and love God more, be sure to follow the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
Originally published Monday, 24 March 2025.
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