Learning to Release What Slows a Man Down
The Weight We Get Used To
We don’t always realize how heavy something is until we’ve been carrying it for a long time. When it comes to what God has said in His Word, sometimes we compromise. That’s just the truth of it. We think we’ll eventually commit wholeheartedly to letting that thing go, but only when it’s convenient. As time passes, we just don’t quite get around to it. Instead, we become comfortable with it. A while ago it convicted us, but now it feels normal.
Hebrews 12:1 (NLT) says, “let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” We can’t run the race God has set before us while holding onto things He has already told us to let go of. Yet many of us have gotten so used to the weight that we no longer realize how much it’s slowing us down.
What We Don’t Notice About Sin
Sin doesn’t just show up as something obvious—it often shows up as something familiar. Something we’ve learned to live with. But over time, it steals our momentum and stamina, and does so in all areas of our lives—spiritually, mentally, physically, and even emotionally. 1 Corinthians 14:33 (NLT) reminds us, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.” A man has to recognize that when life feels constantly out of order, the internal may need some attention. He may be holding onto things God never called us to carry. That disorder isn’t coming from God—it’s coming from what we won’t release.
Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. That alone tells us how destructive sin really is. Heavenly Father didn’t create us for something that slowly pulls the life out of us. If we keep indulging it, sin begins to behave like gravity. Even when we want to rise, old patterns, old ways of thinking, and old reactions weigh us down like boulders.
Jesus made it clear in John 10:10 (NLT), “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” We have to understand that not everything pulling on us is harmless. Some things are designed to keep us from ever stepping into the life God intended.
Letting Go Is a Decision, Not a Feeling
We often wait to feel ready before we let go, but surrender doesn’t start with emotion—it starts with obedience. True repentance is not just feeling bad about sin; it’s changing direction. It’s choosing differently even when the pull is still there. We don’t overcome sin by tolerating it—we overcome it by surrendering it to God and walking away from it, again and again if we have to.
So the real question isn’t whether God is able to free us. He is. The question is whether we are willing to let go of what’s been holding us back. A man can’t move forward while still gripping what God told him to release. The truth is, God isn’t trying to take life from us. Through Jesus Christ, He’s giving us the abundant life He always intended us to have.
Freedom begins the moment we stop negotiating with what God already told us to release. ■
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
“Are You Ready to Let Go?”, written for Springfield Fellowship © 2026. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.