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LOVE FOR ALL – WEEK 39
Galatians 5:1, 13-15
FREE! FREE! FREE!
Did your heart just skip a beat, or did you think “Free what? What am I getting for free?? I’m so excited!”
It’s real – we get excited at the prospect of “free samples” at Sam’s Club or Costco. We fill out the credit card application just to get the “free” t-shirt. We listen to the presentation for the prospect of a “free” vacation. We oogle over the “free” kitten or puppy that someone is giving away. It’s exciting and seems harmless at the time.
The thing is, none of it is really “free” – it all comes with a price. The free samples taste good in the moment, and suddenly you’re buying something that you didn’t plan on that impacts this week’s budget. The free t-shirt may be fun at the time, but now you’re saddled with credit card debt after thinking it won’t hurt to use it ‘once or twice’. And the “free vacation” or “free pet” – you know both come with a whole list of additional expenses that you didn’t consider in the moment. None of these things are truly free.
And the one “Free” that we should be the most excited about? Well, that seems to be the one we set aside and forget about, instead chaining ourselves back up in these other distractions. What am I talking about? Paul spells it out for us in this week’s verses from his letter to the Galatians:
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”
Galatians 5:1, 13-15
FREE! It is for FREEDOM that Christ set us FREE! He didn’t suffer for us, die and rise again – paying the ultimate price for our sins – so that we stay in the tomb or stay in our chains of slavery to sin. He paid the price, the full cost, of the tremendous debt of our sin, so that you and I would not have to – so that we could be set FREE to LIVE in FREEDOM. And that freedom includes serving one another in love, loving our neighbors, and connecting others with this One true source of freedom.
That should make your heart leap for joy. That truth should have us living truly changed and different than what we often see around us.
But sometimes we lose sight of our freedom won by Christ. This reminds me of Paul’s words in Romans (chapter 7 verse 19): “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” We get stuck, and need a reminder – a good loving truth reminder. (Or sometimes a good “wake up!” smack in the face.) This is where we need each other the most – especially in the Body of Christ. Loving accountability, truth-telling, and pointing each other back to Jesus – our power source of freedom.
Live Free
Just as we discovered in last week’s devotion, sometimes we just plain need a reminder. So here it is. LIVE FREE. Live in the freedom won for you. And obviously, not just because I’m telling you to… but because ‘you were called to freedom’, and because it’s already there for you, already been won for you. Cast off the chains of the things in your life holding you down, and instead reach for Jesus and the freedom He has called you to.
As you consider this scripture and reflect this week, respond to the following questions:
1. Are you living out your call to freedom in Christ right now? If yes, how are you doing? If no, what’s holding you back?
2. What are some of the “chains” you are aware of in your life right now? What steps do you need to take to break them? Make a plan of action to start today.