Standing In Freedom

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

— Galatians 5:1 NIV

I remember when the simplicity of this verse was confusing to me.

Freedom for freedom?

I couldn’t wrap my mind around that gift being so good—so generous. So I changed the outcome. To me, God had given me freedom so I could serve him. He freed me so I could love him back. He freed me so I could work in his kingdom. Freedom for freedom seemed unrelatable to me.

We all have our version of this verse, changing the word after “for” with whatever we think positions us to deserve God’s grace. I think we have such a hard time receiving God’s free gift of grace that we feel compelled to do something that, at least in a small way, justifies the great sacrifice Jesus made for our soul.

While God desires our partnership with him to work in his kingdom, that desire is not the same as his desire for our freedom. He set us free out of the goodness of his love so that we could simply stand in freedom.

Paul seemed concerned that the Galatian church had fallen away from the freedom they had received in Christ. He wrote this verse to them because he wanted them to be operating in the spirit of adoption, not the yoke of slavery.

Ironically, we tend to turn our freedom back into slavery when we believe that our freedom is not enough for God. God’s love is steadfast, faithful, and unconditional. There is nothing we can do to earn more or less of his love, but there are things can do to either receive or push away his love. When we fall into a lie like this, we reject the love of God and live a life of striving for freedom.

Part of the power of abiding is sitting in God’s presence, with the word before us and allowing the Holy Spirit to point out all the lies we have been believing. It can be challenging to do this, but freedom is always worth the cost. In the secret place, throughout our day, and in the mundane moments of our lives, God is ready to lead us into greater freedom.

It comes when we surrender the lies and burdens we carry that stand in the way of us receiving God’s grace. I invite you to spend a few moments asking these questions in prayer.

1. How have I tried to earn the freedom you freely give?

2. What lies am I believing about you, myself, and our relationship that you want to remove?

3. What truth are you speaking over me to replace the lies I have believed?

Write it down somewhere and share it with us if you have a testimony!

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