Living Free

Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don't ever become slaves of the Law again."
- Galatians 5:1 (CEV)

What does it mean for us to live free? It is clear that God desires it for us, but how do we do it? How do we hold on to our freedom and fight our tendency toward enslavement? Why do we so often choose a life slavery over the free life that we have in Christ?

God wants us to experience true freedom in this life. He wants for us to experience joy and freedom in Christ now. But very few who call themselves Christians are really living free. We are trapped by our own ideas of what a Christian should look lie. We are enslaved to what others think of us. We are bound by our culture. We are tangled in a web of rules we have created for ourselves.

"You were called to be free."
- Galatians 5:13a

I dare you to do it. Live free. Loose the chains of the law and live out of the overflow of your love for God and for others. I guarantee you that you will fail if you attempt to do this on your own. But connect yourself to Christ, walk with him in the details of the everyday, and you will succeed.

There is this old hymn that I love called "Make Me A Captive, Lord." It was written by George Matheson in 1890, but the words still speak to us today. I believe the first verse really captures what freedom in Christ ought to look like. Make these words into your prayer that you might live free now.

"Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free.
Force me to render up my sword, and I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life’s alarms when by myself I stand;
Imprison me within Thine arms, and strong shall be my hand."
- Make Me a Captive, Lord by George Matheson