When we think of freedom, we often think of the freedom TO do something. In a legal sense, we think of the freedoms to speak, to publish, to bear arms, to worship as we want, and to not incriminate ourselves. In a personal sense, we think of individual liberties, the freedom to do whatever we want and the freedom to pursue our lives however we want.
Notice the phrase throughout all these choices: freedom TO.
This paradigm is why it's so puzzling when we read the Bible and hear about freedom. When we accept Christ and God's ways, we think of that choice as actually limiting our freedoms. We wonder how we can have the freedom TO pursue our lives as we wish if God puts rules upon us. We can even go down the wrong path of thinking that God's forgiveness allows us the freedom TO fall into old habits and do whatever we want.
Our paradigm is wrong. Christ's freedom gives us freedom FROM and freedom FOR. Here are some examples.
We have freedom FROM sin and death, and freedom FOR experiencing righteousness and eternal life. (Romans 8:2, 6:18, 6:22)
We have freedom FROM the yoke of slavery, and freedom FOR lovingly serving one another. (Galatians 5:1,13)
We have freedom FROM indulging ourselves, and freedom FOR living as servants of God. (1 Peter 2:16)
We have freedom FROM worry, and freedom FOR peace of mind. (Philippians 4:6-7)
We have freedom FROM aimlessness, and freedom FOR purpose and good works. (Galatians 6:10)
We have freedom FROM hatred, and freedom FOR love. (1 John 4:20)
We have freedom FROM lies, and freedom FOR truth, as Jesus is the truth that sets us free. (John 8:32)
Let us establish new paradigms of thinking to see how Christ frees us FROM our pasts and frees us FOR our wonderful futures under his care.
If you find this devotional useful, please share it, like it, or comment. The social media algorithm will then show you more of my posts. I post on Facebook according to this calendar: Monday quote, Tuesday reel (every other week), Wednesday devotional, Friday seven-day practical faith blog. I post to my podcast blog and freewheeling blog on random days.
Comments