True Freedom

"For you are called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

I have been meditating on these words of Paul's, which are found in the Fifth Chapter of his letter to the Galatians.

What do his words mean?

First, I am not to abuse my freedom.
Yes, I am in His Kingdom and nothing can change that fact, but I need to live accordingly.
To do otherwise is to become "subject again to a yoke of slavery."

Those yokes come in many forms.
One of them for me is the yoke of admiration.

People look up to me.
Some even attempt to put me up on a pedestal, as if I can do no wrong!
I tell them to stick around for a short while and they will witness me falling off said pedestal!
Guaranteed.


It is tempting to accept such attention.The ego loves it.
The ego is the flesh.


The only way to battle such temptation is to keep one's eyes on the One Who sits on the Throne.
To receive and cultivate the mind of Christ and ask for His heart to become your heart makes that yoke of admiration less attractive.
It is my desire that people would see Him in me and not even notice the One whom He indwells.
Well, at least, not too much.

To allow oneself to be elevated is to rob God of His due.
He alone deserves the honor.

The second thing about this freedom is that I am not to keep it to myself, but to us it to love others.
Truthfully, if we really grasp what we have been given, we will not be able to keep quiet!
I know I can't!

As I was thinking on this an idea came to me.
To share this freedom with one is to share it with many.  For all they know will then be touched.
One person, one home, one street, one neighborhood and on to the ends of the earth!

And to touch another life is to touch Him.

In the Gospel of Matthew, the Twenty-fifth Chapter, fortieth verse, we read Jesus' Words,

"And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'"

Whenever I read of an account of a woman ministering to Jesus, I think of what a joy it must be to do so.
Well, according to Him, I am free to do just that as often and as many times as I like!

Another thought on this freedom has occurred to me.
Because I am His I am free to be me, fully.
No posing, no people-pleasing; I am free to be comfortable in my own skin wherever I am.

For many years that was a foreign thought to me.
I felt far from comfortable with myself and thus was very ill at ease around others.
I was always in the self-protection mode with tall walls in place.
Walls so high that I couldn't see over them myself!

Encountering the Love of God began a change, a very radical change in me.
Bit by bit Papa's love and acceptance coaxed me out from behind those walls and set me free.

That is the freedom that I love to share!