Everyone always talks about freedom around the fourth of July. But where can we find real freedom? Today, let’s look at what real freedom looks like and where we can always find it.
Yesterday, I received a group text from a minister which read; “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Walk by the Spirit, whose fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5)
Although I often take my freedom for granted, my interior world seems far from free. Matthew 26:41 says, “the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” I find myself battling my flesh daily and struggling with anxious thoughts.
I want to eat less, worry less, spend less. But instead, I eat more, worry more, and spend more. If I am truly walking by the Spirit, where is that self-control Paul talks about?
What does it look like to walk by the Spirit?
The other day, I realized my battle is not only with food and spending, but also with being tied to my “to-do” list.
Think about the things you battle with. Where do you spend your money and your time? Are you incessantly shopping for things you may or may not need? Do you eat out of boredom or because you are stressed out? Is there some sort of unhealthy gratification you get when you make that purchase or eat that cupcake?
For me, they leave me feeling empty, guilty and ashamed.
Pay attention to what you give your attention and money to.
Take my to-do list for instance. Each day, I list out the things I need to do for the next day. And I have to admit, when I take my ink pen and cross that item off my list, marking it done, I get a little rush. However, before I get to the end of the list, more items are being added. Sometimes I think, “if I could just get to the end of this list, the freedom I would feel.” But, I never get to the end.
Freedom does not come at the end of a list, the end of the day, or even the end of your career! Freedom does not show up when your bank account reaches some magic number. No! Freedom can come right here, right now.
Freedom and where to find it
In Romans 6:16-18, Paul says, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
Now, I’m not saying that spending, eating or working your to-do list is sinful. Or that those things keep you from a relationship with God. In fact, Paul tells us later in Chapter 8, that “nothing can separate us from the love of God.” What I will say, is that it quite possibly could be distracting you. I know it is distracting me. But that freedom you are searching for comes from obedience to Christ.
Jesus tells us in John 8:34-36; “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Any freedom we have comes from God.
Grasping ‘how wide and deep” the love God has for us is, helps us to understand the freedom that comes with that love. It is not a love full of rules and regulations. It is love so sacrificial God was willing to give His own Son for us. That love is available for me and you! It is love we cannot begin to repay. But we can embrace it. That is freedom!
Let us pray:
Father God, how is it You would love me? Thank you teaching us about real freedom. Thank you for loving us so much, you sent your own Son to set us free. Help me to embrace that freedom and your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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