Jesus' Mission Statement

Go to any business, school, or place where people gather to conduct business, and you will see a Mission Statement prominently posted for everyone to see. This statement shares with the customer or client- what the focus and intent of the business is. It's usually pretty easy to assess if the business is living up to their statement by the way they interact with you. In Luke 4: 18, we hear Jesus recite His mission statement to us. He says "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind. To set free those who are downtrodden."
This mission statement is intense and dramatic. Who would make these kind of claims unless they were truly able to deliver them? The truth is that Jesus can deliver on His claims. When it comes to the pain of disordered eating- He goes right after it in His mission. When He says that He is sent to release captives, He's talking about those of us who are held captive to the bondage of food, overeating, dieting relentlessly, starving ourselves, purging, and hating the very body we've been blessed with. He set the captive free by retraining our minds to hear His truth, not the lies of the world. When He says that He restores sight to the blind, He's talking about those of us who don't really see ourselves in the mirror, but a distorted reflection of flesh and hatred. He gives us His eyes to view our true self, and to see areas of our life that need cleansing and healing- without the punishing taunt of guilt and failure. When He says that he sets free those who are downtrodden, He's talking about all of us who have dieted ourselves crazy, with the same disappointing results! He's talking about the cycles of throwing up that you want to stop, but can't seem to.
Jesus wouldn't have shared this mission statement over His life if He wasn't fully able to deliver on it. He does set free. He does restore sight. He does lift and retrain the downtrodden! He has a plan for your life that doesn't include the misery of disordered eating. You can count on His words and truth. His mission statement won't fail or forsake you.