Award-winning rapper Lecrae has shared a snippet from his new book "Unashamed" on his Facebook page, revealing that he actually stole a Bible from his church just days after he became a Christian.
"I had finally been set free, but I was about to find out if I could live free. A person can be removed from slavery in an instant, but it takes a lifetime for slavery to be removed from a person," he writes.
Lecrae admits he was on a spiritual "high" when he stole the Bible, which was placed in the church's "lost and found" box. "Someone else had lost it, but I found it before they did," he says.
At 19 years old, Lecrae remembers feeling extremely satisfied after reading the Bible because he finally discovered what he had been searching for his whole life—God. "The meaning and purpose I'd wanted was there now, and the worry that used to consume me was gone," he says.
"Joy replaced anxiety, and I found a new energy for learning and growing. I had found the truth about life and God and myself."
Despite the glorious feeling, Lecrae says he realised then that there were some problems he had to deal with. The first was legalism, or the desire to prove to others just how much he had changed for the better, and how "holy" he had become.
"You make extreme modifications to your behaviour. You don't want to leave doubts in anyone's mind that you're really a changed person, that you're really 'on fire,' that you're really 'sold out,'" he says.
Lecrae adds that there's nothing wrong about people wanting to change for the better. In fact, the desire to change is admirable. However, Lecrae reminds Christians to be mindful of their change because there are some people who make the mistake of focusing on proving their own self righteousness rather than resting in God's grace.
