It’s a new year and many of us are thinking about making a fresh start in some aspect of our lives – to experience freedom from unwanted behaviors or emotions. Maybe you’re resolving to stop biting your nails or to start exercising more. Or, maybe you’re hoping this will be the year when you stop raising your voice to your children or when you stick to the promise you made to your husband to never go on a secret shopping binge again. Perhaps you’re praying for God to deliver you from habits or thoughts that make you sometimes question your commitment to Christ.

What if it turns out you actually do have the freedom you’re craving, but you just haven’t experienced it fully yet? According to Jesus…

“You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32, NIV)

When I was embarrassingly confronted by friends about my not-as-secret-as-I-thought binge-eating, I wondered why the truth I knew about Jesus hadn’t set me free. I’d prayed that God would help be “be good.” I’d asked for miraculous deliverance, and I still quite regularly ate until I was ill, often “borrowing” my roommate’s groceries in the middle of the night.

My involvement with a Bible-centered counseling ministry exposed me to some key truths I had not previously taken to heart, as well as made me realize I had some beliefs I thought were true but were actually erroneous assumptions I’d made based on experiences I’d had instead of based on what God lovingly says in His Word.

When, over the course of a couple of years, I exchanged my preconceived notions for God’s truth, the result was dramatic: total freedom from binge-eating (for 38 years now). This was a freedom every doctor and therapist I knew had said was not possible.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36, NIV)

Here are some of the key truths that had always been true for me as a believer in Christ but did not come alive for me until I let go of my faulty belief system that was keeping me enslaved to an embarrassing “coping mechanism”:

I thought God was disgusted with me and impatiently waiting for me to shape up and fly right, BUT God had already demonstrated his unconditional love for me and was not condemning me. (Romans 5:8; 8:1)

I thought I was supposed to try harder and exercise more will power, BUT God wanted me to rely on His power and the indwelling Spirit of Christ. (Zechariah 4:6; Galatians 5:16)

I thought there was no other way for me to cope with my alarming emotions, BUT God wanted me to go to him with my every concern, no matter how intense my feelings were, even if I felt angry with Him. (Psalm 62:8; Hebrews 4:15-16; 1 Peter 5:7; see examples in Psalm 51, 55, and 73)

I thought God was not going to help me until I helped myself, BUT God wanted me to give him the load and acknowledge my need to live in reliance upon His grace, love, and power. (Matthew 11:28-29; John 15:5; Galatians 2:20; Titus 2:11-12)

I thought I had no control over my behavior; it felt as though I just had to binge-eat, BUT God made it clear He had given me freedom from the power of sin and He’d given me the ability to choose to rely on Him. (Romans 6:17-18; Ephesians 4:22-24; Philippians 2:13)

As this new year begins, if you’re looking for a fresh start, ask the Lord to reveal to you what you actually believe and whether that’s really the truth, His truth, that sets you free!