Ultimate Freedom

For you have been called to live in freedom - not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13 (NLT)

After scraping an inch of ice off my car earlier and driving back home, I began praising and thanking God. Tears of joy ran down my cheeks and I began laughing a deep belly laugh. It was the joy of the Lord overtaking me, and it's an amazing feeling that I hope everyone gets to experience over and over in their lives.

Once I got home and sat my stuff down, I decided that I needed to open my Bible and see what word God would give to me tonight. I began reading in Galatians chapter 5, and the above verse really stuck out to me.

Americans know what the term "freedom" means. We pride ourselves on being the most free country in the world, and while I am afraid that we are losing some of that freedom, we still have much more of it than most other countries do. We boast about our founding fathers and how they fought for the rights that we have today. But what about the freedom that Paul speaks of in Galatians? Is this freedom all about stars and stripes, or is there something different and exciting about this kind of freedom?

Paul speaks of the freedom that was given to us one day as an innocent man - the Son Of God hung on a tree for our sins. At that moment, the old laws had been replaced by a newfound grace and forgiveness that none had experienced before. It is that same grace and forgiveness that we possess today as believers in Jesus Christ.

So what does this freedom entitle us to? Well Paul decides to start off by telling us what it DOESN'T entitle us to. He says that this is not freedom to satisfy our sinful nature. Sorry folks, but Jesus didn't die so that we all could have a license to sin. The freedom given is a freedom to serve one another in love. Notice the keyword SERVE in that sentence. In a world that is self centered and all about fulfilling our own fleshly wants and desires, Paul is saying that we have freedom to think outside of ourselves and serve other people. Show love to them. Let them know how much we care. I don't know about you, but often times I forget what a privilege it is to be able to serve others and to show them the love of Jesus. Loving our neighbors as ourselves is the very thing that Jesus said sums up all of the laws. So essentially this newfound freedom we have been given is a freedom to fulfill the laws and at the same time have a positive impact on others around us.

I'm proud to be free to serve God, serve others, and show love to all that I come in contact with. Let's celebrate this freedom together and go out there and do something with it. Blessings to all of you on this Sunday evening.