Unbridled

“You are not held back, restricted and restrained by us 

but you are held back, restricted and restrained by your own affections.”

II Corinthians 6:12

The newspaper article was not impressive enough that I even remember the subject matter but what stood out was the use of a single word as the writer spoke of the unbridled optimism that existed in some area of business. It was the word unbridled that caught my attention, the reference being to the bridle that is used to restrain and control a horse. Probably a few of us have been told at different times that we need to bridle our tongues, a pretty clear reference to our need to restrain ourselves before we say something we’ll later regret. Or maybe you can remember hearing the statement “someone needs to bridle that young man” as someone is running wild and about to get into trouble.


And so a bridle is anything that holds us back or restrains us from going forward. Our fear of what other people might think is certainly one of them. Timothy was being held back in his flowing in the gifts of the Spirit when Paul admonished him that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Timothy’s fear was acting like a bridle, holding him back from launching out, holding him back from acting on what the Lord was telling him to do. Our task becomes to identify and weed out any priorities, affections, habits, areas of sin, or even relationships that are bridles in our walk with the Lord and in our living out God’s plans and purposes for our life. The horseman would search his barns when a horse needed to be bridled; now we have to search our hearts to get the bridles back in the barn.


But it’s the word unbridled that represents the place we want to get to. A faith that is unbridled by circumstances in our lives, or by the past, is the kind of faith that will see mountains move, miracles occur, and the promises of God come to pass. A courage that is unbridled by the opinions of others, or by the fear of failure, is the kind of courage that prays bold prayers and receives answers, that defeats Goliaths in our lives, that is willing to step out of the boat into uncharted waters, and that won’t take no for an answer. And a love that is unbridled by the fear of rejection, or by what the cost might be, is the kind of love that will meet the needs of hurting people, that will open hearts and that will change the world. Let’s make it our goal in the days ahead to discover where we are being held back and to make the transition from bridled to unbridled, released into a life of unbridled faith, hope and expectation!


God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church