Gal 5:1(msg) Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.
When most people think of freedom they think of the good ol’ USA! and all that comes with our rights as being a citizen here. This is the extent that our minds have been trained. We have the freedom of speech, the freedom to bare arms, the freedom of religion, ect. Those are great and wonderful privileges to have, but have you really thought about what does personal freedom look like?
FREEDOM: personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery
Do you sometimes feel like you are a slave to your job? your life? your drama? your mind? emotions? that you can’t get free to find peace and happiness? Personal freedom doesn’t come with a location, finances or even in people! You have to choose freedom. When you choose to accept Christ, to live for him, and by his standards, you gain FREEDOM.
Now please don’t tell me, you go to church and therefore, I’m a Christian! but I still have all these issues! First off let me define “being a Christian”.It is NOT going to church, it is NOT simply praying, it is NOT saying your a Christian. It is being a CHRIST FOLLOWER. When Christ was here and walking in this earth, the ones who followed him(like literally followed him) were called Christ followers. The ones who lived by what he taught after his death were called Christ followers, translated into Christians in English. Therefore, the question is DO YOU actively FOLLOW Christ? The principles and guidelines set in His word? Do you even know what they are? You see there is a clear line and distinction between saying things, knowing things and doing things.
Gal 5:4-6(msg) When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.
Now that following Christ or being a Christian is clarified, where’s the personal freedom?! Again it’s a choice! His word gives us tools to that. He tells so many things about how to be free from anger, bondage, fear and how to have joy, be strong, be rich, and all the things that come with following Him. But are you choosing to do them? Do you know what they are? Well, I didn’t . I didn’t know how to fill the void inside me. I didn’t know how to love me(truly love myself), how to have a happy marriage, how to have a peaceful home, and be free to be me! I didn’t know! because I didn’t read and choose to do it. SO this series is for you, if you are ready to choose freedom!
Gal 5:13-15(msg) It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?