10 Powerful Declarations to Transform Your Life.

A declaration is a formal statement or announcement, designed to remind yourself and others around you who you are and what defines you. As Christians, we have been given promise after promise in Scripture, but many times these promises can be lost in the noise of everyday life. The following 10 declarations are designed for you to audibly declare out loud, reminding yourself of God’s promises and proclaiming to yourself and the world that the truth of God’s Word powerfully applies in your life. Here are 10 powerful declarations in the pages that follow that can define and transform your life. Proclaim them regularly, speak them out loud, declare them again and again until its truths seep into your mind and change you from the inside out.

Before you proclaim these declarations, the most important decision you can ever make is to trust Jesus with your life: Dear Jesus, I acknowledge that You have not always been first in my life. My sin has separated me from God. Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God. I believe that You died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins, and I believe that You rose from the dead on the third day. I am a sinner and I need forgiveness and I know that I cannot save myself. I invite You into my life, I ask You to forgive my sins, to make me right with God and to secure my eternal destiny in heaven. I place the full weight of my trust in what You did on the cross for me, and I commit my life to follow You. I thank You for this precious gift of salvation and for the Holy Spirit that now lives inside of me! Amen.

Declaration of Hope 

Speak this declaration to proclaim that your hope is in Jesus alone, and because Jesus rose from the dead, all things are possible, including your freedom!

I am a person of hope. My past will not enslave me anymore. My present addiction will not be my future legacy. I have the presence and the power of God within me through the Holy Spirit, the same power that conquered death and raised Jesus from the grave. Jesus came to set me free, and I am free indeed.

So I will fight for hope until it fills my soul and lights the way to freedom. I will take my eyes off my problems and addictions and place them on Jesus, the rescuer of my soul. I will thank God in advance for the freedom He is creating in me. I am free, because I have hope in Jesus. Amen.

Declaration of Surrender 

Speak this declaration to proclaim your dependence on God for your freedom and victory in life.

I am a person of surrender. I am not strong enough or powerful enough to free myself from the chains that enslave me. I need a divine power, the power that lives in me only through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. God will never fill me with His power until I am emptied of myself. So face on the carpet and both hands up, I surrender today. God, take my day and use it for Your glory. Guide me where Your Spirit leads. My life isn’t about me any more, it’s about what You choose to do through me. God I humble myself and thank You for the power of the Holy Spirit that sets me and keeps me free. Amen.

Declaration of a Child 

Speak this declaration out loud to remind yourself of the loving relationship you have with your Heavenly Father.

I am the child of my loving, perfect Heavenly Father. My Father doesn’t love me because I am good; He loves me simply because I am His. My Father is for me. There is nothing I can do to make Him love me any more, and there is nothing I can mess up that would make Him love me any less.

My Father is almighty. No matter how big my problems are, my Father is bigger. He is tender, kind and caring towards me, hurting when I hurt. I don’t have to pretend with God. I can be myself because my Father is home to me. I don’t want my Father’s blessings, I want my Father for He is enough. My Father rejoices over me and loves me more than I’ll ever know.

Declaration of Scripture 

Speak this over yourself to remind yourself of the power of Scripture in your spiritual growth and development. This declaration is a great way to set your mind to dive into Scripture on a daily basis.

I am a person of Scripture. God’s Word to me is the power to renew my mind and change the way I think. When I change the way I think, I will change the way I live. My mind is the primary battleground for my freedom, and I will wield Scripture as God’s weapon to transform my thoughts and secure my freedom.

I will read, study, meditate and memorize Scripture so that God’s Word can do its powerful work in me. I will saturate myself with Scripture until God’s thoughts become my thoughts and God’s priorities become my priorities. I will hold to Scripture because it is the truth, and the truth will set me free.

Declaration of Forgiveness 

Forgiveness is difficult for many people, but it is not impossible. Leverage this declaration and proclaim it to yourself to empower you to release your hurt through forgiveness.

I am a person of forgiveness. I am overwhelmed by how much Jesus has forgiven me, empowering me to forgive others. I will choose to release the hurts that have been done to me through forgiveness, releasing the poison of bitterness from my life and leaving room for God’s wrath. I trust that God will avenge me. The people who have hurt me don’t owe me anything anymore. I am free.

I choose to forgive myself and see myself through God’s eyes. I am loved, I am valued, I am forgiven. I put the past behind me and look forward to the future God has for me. I forgive others when they sin against me, I am forgiven by God, therefore I am free.

Declaration of Together

Life is not meant to be lived alone. Many of our issues and struggles come simply because we are trying to live life on our own when God designed us to do life together. Use this declaration to remind yourself of the power of together.

We are family. I will not sit on the sidelines but will roll up my sleeves and do life together, because I need you and you need me. I am not strong enough on my own to find freedom, so I will ask you for help to carry my burdens.

Even with my flaws, I know that I am embraced by my family, and I will always embrace others, mess and all. I will never give up on you because Jesus never gives up on me. I will never fight with you. I will always fight for you. I will do life together. I will fight for together. I fight for family, and we are family.

Declaration of Worship

Worship plays a vital role in the life and freedom of a believer. Proclaim this declaration to yourself as one who will fully engage in worship to strengthen your soul.

I am a worshiper. Singing is a gift from God Himself to connect me with my soul. My soul is not strong enough on its own to empower my freedom, so I willingly and strategically engage in worship to strengthen my soul and secure my freedom.

I am a worshiper. I worship God in spirit and in truth. I engage both my mind and my emotions, conforming my worship to the standard of Scripture. I do not seek merely an emotional experience, I seek to be in the presence of my Heavenly Father. I will discipline myself to worship regularly to lift my spirits, strengthen my soul, and secure my freedom. I am a worshiper, and I worship because I am free in Jesus.

Declaration of Wisdom

Everyone needs guardrails in their lives, self-imposed barriers designed to keep you from serious harm and consequences. Utilize this declaration as motivation to establish guardrails in your own life.

I am a person of wisdom. I am wise enough to know that I am not smart enough or strong enough on my own to protect my freedom without guardrails. I will not be enticed to see how close I can go to the edge of the cliff without falling off, to see how close I can come to losing my freedom without actually losing it.

I am a person of wisdom because I have guardrails in my life. Although they might seem unnecessary to others, these guardrails are how I protect my freedom. So I willingly and wisely establish guardrails in my life because my freedom is worth it. I am a person of wisdom because I have guardrails in my life.

Declaration of Repentance 

Everyone stumbles and falls. The key to a life of freedom is learning how to fail forward. Use this declaration when you fail to keep you moving in the right direction. 

What I have done does not define me. My past does not chain me. My resilience to press forward into freedom is far greater than the gravitational pull towards bondage that seeks to ensnare me. I have failed, but I am not a failure. I am a child of God, and I am created to be free.

I have failed and I own my failures, but they do not own me. I have others in my life walking with me towards freedom, and I am wiser than before. I have asked God and others for forgiveness and I have received God’s grace. I am failing forward into freedom because I will not stop until I am free.

Declaration of Freedom 

Jesus Himself promises that if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed! Proclaim this declaration to remind yourself of the power of Christ’s freedom in your life.

I am free. Jesus himself has set me free, and I am free indeed. My past no longer defines me, my present no longer enslaves me, and my future is bright because Jesus has set me free.

I will never fully arrive at freedom this side of heaven because I am a sinner and live in a broken and fallen world. But I live confidently because through Jesus I am arriving into freedom. Every day is one step closer to freedom, and so I live like I am free. I am a person of joy. I am a person of hope. I am a person that gives back to others to help them experience the freedom I now have. God is using me to change the world, for I am free!

Declarations have meaning. Declarations have power. Speak these declarations out loud over and over until the truths from those declarations seep into your mind and transform your thoughts and your life. The primary battleground for your freedom is your mind. If you can change the way you think, you can change the way you live. These declarations can be a powerful weapon for your freedom. Declare hope, surrender, Scripture, together, forgiveness, together, worship, wisdom, repentance and freedom over yourself today!

By Dr. Josh Daffern/Beliefnet