You might say, “What does God’s freedom look like?’ If
you are free in Christ you are not bound by people’s opinion or approval of
you; you follow Christ not man’s desires for you; you are not bound by guilt
and condemnation; and you are not bound by religion.
You have been free to have a personal, intimate walk
with Christ. You are able to say, “No” to others easily if you feel God is
leading you elsewhere or you don’t have peace in a situation. God may be
calling you to rest and be renewed with Him instead of going to that church
function or get-together with friends or family. You have appropriate
boundaries with others, including your family. You don’t feel you should be,
ought to be, or could be doing anything. Instead, you are led by the Spirit of
God to direct you to do something. You are less concerned about people pleasing
and more concerned about pleasing God. You no longer try and fulfill the needs
and expectations of others, but instead focus on fulfilling God’s plans for
your life.
Not everyone will be happy or pleased when you begin
walking in freedom. Some people will try and hold on to controlling,
manipulating and guiling you in to their plans. When you begin to flow in the
Holy Spirit’s will for life, don’t be
surprised if people in your life get upset that you are not doing what they
want. People, situations, and circumstances will try and keep you bound, but
who can contain the work and flow of the Holy Spirit? The Spirit goes and does
what it wants. If you are a follower of Christ and not people, you will have to
let some people down. That may difficult for you if you are accustomed to
people pleasing and needing the approval of man. Whose approval are you really
needing anyways? Hopefully, your answer is God.
You will have an abundance of peace and joy when you
begin to live in freedom. You are no longer bound to religious duties and
dead-religion, but you are transformed by the living God. You walk in God’s
flow and in His ways. You are no longer looking to pleasing man or fulfilling
religious duties, but you look to Jesus who leads and guides you.
Break out of your old ways and be completely
transformed to live a life of true freedom. If you are free in Christ, you are
free to love, to worship and to serve Him. Freedom means you are no longer
bound by people approval and addiction; religion not relationship with Christ;
guilt and condemnation; fear of disapproval; and fear of man. You are free to
be who Christ made you to be, free to follow Christ and His desires and plans
for your life. Freedom does not mean we can do anything we so desire, but it
means we can follow Christ and what He wants from us. If we follow man, we
surely will be misled. Don’t follow man, and don’t follow religion. There is no
freedom in being bound by religion. Religion follows after a set of rules,
duties and regulations but following after Christ brings life. In our Western
culture, we have many religions and many different sects of Christianity, all
can be confusing. We don’t have to be confused, let’s keep it simple, follow
Christ not religion or man. Even if your family is from a certain religion or
sect of Christianity that follows rules and duties, you can be free and follow
just Christ. What freedom that brings.
Christ
has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone
put a harness of slavery on you.
I
am empathetic about this. The moment any one of you submits to a circumcision
or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ’s hard-won gift of
freedom is squandered. I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the
advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligation of the slave life of
the law.
Galatians
5:1-3, the Message Bible
You,
my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the
sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
Galatians,
5:13, NIV
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