Live Free!

I love freedom! That is why I run my own business instead of working for an employer. Freedom to use my time according to what works best for my life with my husband and family is one of the perks of running my own business. I don't know too many people who don't love freedom, so I'm guessing that you love freedom too.

All that being said, freedom can often be attained through submitting to some sort of structure. Speaking for myself, if I do not plan out my week, I find that I waste so much time and then I feel frustrated and many of my needs go unmet. That does not feel like freedom. I love how God shows us in His Word what freedom actually is and how to attain it.

God brought to my mind a couple things about freedom that I hope to share with you in this little email.

"Freedom" without any structure or definition actually turns into a different kind of "prison". Similarly, when we continue to engage in sin, it actually enslaves us instead of making us free.

First, let's define "sin". Sin is an archery term which means "to miss the mark" and this word is used in God's Word regarding our tendency to engage in behaviors that do not live up to God's standards. We know, also from Scripture, that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," and that is why Jesus Christ came to earth to pay the price, make the sacrifice of His own life, for our sin.

When a person places his or her faith in Jesus Christ as the ultimate and only sacrifice that can wash away their sin, they become spiritually free, no longer enslaved to giving in to every whim and desire of his or her flesh.

Sin enslaves. It gives us the temporary illusion of freedom, but it leads to pain and destruction. Living in a state of enslavement to sin harms our mental, physical, and spiritual health. Instead of looking to earthly pleasures for "freedom", true fulfillment comes when we look to Jesus Christ to free us from our sin and to help us walk in the beauty, joy, and freedom of God's will.

In Galatians 5:1, The Apostle Paul wrote, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."

The person who has placed their faith in Jesus Christ now actually has a choice to stop living a sinful lifestyle. They are no longer a slave to their flesh.

In John 8:31-32 we read, "So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

It is important to note that true freedom does not give you a covering to continue on in a lifestyle of habitual sin. Peter said it this way in 1 Peter 2:16 - "Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond slaves of God."

To be a bond slave of God means that we align ourselves with what God says is good, true, and helpful. God knows us better than we know ourselves because He made us! God knows what will erode our soul and destroy our being and God knows what will grow our soul and enrich our spirit.

In 1 Corinthians 6:12 it says, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything."

If you find yourself being mastered by something (other than God), you are not going to experience true freedom, peace, and joy. The Good news is that Jesus Christ sent His Holy Spirit to us to help us overcome our flesh, but it is a lifelong process (called sanctification). We are justified in a moment, the moment we place our faith in Jesus Christ, but sanctification takes our entire lifetime here on planet earth.

I certainly have to make it a daily practice to ask God for more of His Holy Spirit's power to sanctify me and to cause me to WANT to align myself with God's will and not my own will. Some days I fail miserably, but I am never without hope because I'm counting on the precious promise from God's Word that God will Himself do the sanctifying I need.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

God will indeed do the heavy lifting for us if we will ask Him for help. "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1:6.

Want to live free? Continually ask God to free you more and more from your fleshly desires and to align your path with God's will. He will answer "yes" to this prayer and over time, you will reap great joy and fulfillment as you grow in God's freedom.