APRIL 10
TRUE FREEDOM FOUND IN LOVE
Galatians 5:13-14
13 For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (WEB)
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. In John 8:36 Jesus tells us if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So there is no question that freedom is a huge part of the Kingdom of God. Wherever the Lord is, people are free.
My question today is... What does true freedom mean? Freedom to be self-centered? Freedom to hurt others? God forbid! True freedom is found in love! When we walk in the freedom that God has for us, we can be secure enough to lay down our own rights and begin to serve each other in love.
The more that we are conformed into the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29), the freer we will become. The freer we become, the more we will know that the secret to true fulfillment is not focusing on our own needs, but on the needs of others... Just like our elder brother does.
If we use our new found freedom to hurt others or to become more self-obsessed, we are not as free as we may think we are. My prayer today is that we would all see the glorious freedom that we have in Christ now, and that freedom would cause us to extend that freedom to others and begin to fulfill the great commandment to love one another as we love ourselves.
Philippians 2:1-4
1 If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion,2 make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; 4 each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. (WEB)
13 For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (WEB)
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. In John 8:36 Jesus tells us if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So there is no question that freedom is a huge part of the Kingdom of God. Wherever the Lord is, people are free.
My question today is... What does true freedom mean? Freedom to be self-centered? Freedom to hurt others? God forbid! True freedom is found in love! When we walk in the freedom that God has for us, we can be secure enough to lay down our own rights and begin to serve each other in love.
The more that we are conformed into the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29), the freer we will become. The freer we become, the more we will know that the secret to true fulfillment is not focusing on our own needs, but on the needs of others... Just like our elder brother does.
If we use our new found freedom to hurt others or to become more self-obsessed, we are not as free as we may think we are. My prayer today is that we would all see the glorious freedom that we have in Christ now, and that freedom would cause us to extend that freedom to others and begin to fulfill the great commandment to love one another as we love ourselves.
Philippians 2:1-4
1 If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion,2 make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; 4 each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. (WEB)