The Truth Will Set You Free

Jessica met with several mothers at a school in Peru to share about Jesus. They started with a simple conversation about the value of women. It was in this classroom where several mothers with broken hearts decided to surrender their lives to Christ. This is the story of Antonella, a woman of few words who had a lot to say.

During every single meeting, Antonella would listen attentively to everything that was being discussed but she spoke very little. It seemed like she had wanted to say something several times but instead, she held back and remained silent. After several meetings, Jessica read the following verse.

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:32

Jessica explained that Jesus had brought freedom to our lives and something in Antonella changed. All of a sudden she spoke up and said she had to confess something.

“I need to explain why I haven’t been able to attend the parent-teacher conferences at school. I know I’m always absent and many of you think that I don’t show up because I’m not interested, but that’s not the real reason. A few years ago when my husband and I separated, I was left with no money to feed my children so I had to work a lot. Since I was hardly ever home, I didn’t notice when my son started taking drugs, and because of the drugs he was taking he also started stealing. At 22, he ended up being sentenced to 10 years in prison and now he’s 25.”

There was a heavy silence in the room and all the other mothers were completely shocked at hearing this. No one knew that Antonella had a son in prison. She always made excuses as to why she couldn’t attend the parent-teacher conferences but in reality, she was visiting her son and was never able to make it.

With a heavy heart, Antonella continued confessing.

“I thought this was all my fault because I feel like I neglected my son and if I hadn’t abandoned him maybe he wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.”

Her voice broke and she started crying.

 “The truth is, I know it’s not all my fault. I know his father is also to blame because he completely abandoned us and I had to work all day. I was barely home and I didn’t realize what was happening to my son before it was too late but now I just want my son to be free.”

In the end, Antonella is a mother who, like many, only wanted the best for her son but faced a situation that was too much for her to handle alone. During this meeting, she was able to see that the only way to truly feel free was to confess the truth at the feet of Christ and that’s how she decided to follow Jesus.