CHAINS OF OPPRESSION AND THE COST OF FREEDOM

I fell again—again and again,

Crawling back to the altar in pain.

I wept, I fasted, I prayed, I bled,

Yet the chains remained; they tightened instead.

I longed for freedom, I craved release,

But the war inside never ceased.

I cried out, "Jesus, take this away!"

Yet in the next moment, I fell astray.

I knew the truth, yet in that space,

The truth dissolved without a trace.

The whispers called, the shadows grew,

And I did what I swore I'd never do.

I heard a voice, strong yet grieved,

"My child, why won’t you just believe?

You do what’s right, yet still do wrong,

Why let the darkness linger so long?"

"I stand outside, waiting for you,

But I can't force my way through.

You must let me in, surrender it all,

Trust me, together we’ll break the fall."

"Cut it off, the things that bind,

They poison your soul, they shackle your mind.

I made you holy, I made you mine,

But why do I find dirt inside?"

He loves me still, though I betray,

And yet He calls me every day.

Not with anger, not with shame,

But with love that knows my name.

So here I stand, no strength left,

A shattered soul, a heart bereft.

Yet in my weakness, He is strong,

With Him, I'll rise, I’ll carry on.

Mathew 5:29-30

If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.