As we head into the Fourth of July, we are asking a question that goes deeper than fireworks and cookouts: are you really free? This week on the It’s Life Podcast, Pastor Zach sits down with Pastor John Dickerson and his wife Joy, who serve at our York River campus in Williamsburg, for one of the most honest and important conversations we have had on this podcast yet.
John and Joy open up about their own story of bondage and freedom in a way that takes real courage to share. Early in their marriage, John confessed to Joy a long-standing addiction to pornography that she had no idea about. It was not an easy moment. Joy is quick to say that her forgiveness was not instant or effortless. It was a choice, made again and again, even when she did not feel like forgiving. And over time, as they fought through it together, John found a freedom he had been searching for since before they were even married. God has kept him free for over 26 years.
Their story opens the door to a bigger conversation about the many ways people can be bound and not even recognize it. Sexual sin, guilt, anger, worry, unforgiveness, grumbling, materialism. The list is longer than most of us want to admit. And one of the most sobering points in the episode is this: many people have been set free by Christ but are still living within the limits of old chains, like a full-grown elephant that no longer needs to be shackled but stays in the same small circle anyway because the pain trained it to.
So how do you step into real freedom? The team walks through three practical steps summed up in three words: confess, commune, and cut. Confess it to God and to the right people, because whatever you keep covered, God will uncover, and whatever you bring into the light, he will cover with grace. Commune with other believers who will hold you accountable, speak truth into your life, and walk alongside you when the struggle is real. And cut it out decisively, replacing what you remove with something better, because a vacuum will always try to fill itself with something.
The conversation also walks through a powerful acronym for how to flee temptation: fear God, leave no opportunity for the flesh, expose the lies of Satan, and escape through obedience. Each step is grounded in scripture and in the kind of hard-won wisdom that only comes from actually living it out.
True freedom is not about doing whatever you want. It is about having the power, through the Holy Spirit and under the lordship of Christ, to do what God wants. And that kind of freedom is available to everyone listening. If something in this episode is speaking to you, text the word FREE to 40371 and someone from our team will follow up with next steps, whether that is a conversation with a pastor or getting connected to Christian counseling.
Freedom does not start someday. It starts today.