Freedom #11 — Serving in Freedom

You were called to freedom, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-centered action, but through. love, serve one another. Galatians 5:13

It is good to be free. Many of us think highly enough of freedom to expend ourselves securing and preserving it for others as well as ourselves. Our desire is to help create and maintain a situation in which people can choose how they will organize themselves to pursue the future. However, what we do with freedom is more important than freedom itself. If we exploit the resources and time available to us to use people so we can secure more time and resources, we make two big mistakes: 1) we demonstrate how impoverished we truly are; for free people are certain their needs will be met by what they have; and 2) we place ourselves in a society in which we might be devoured by others who would use us to fill up their emptiness. Paul reminds us that Jesus came to secure and preserve freedom. He frees people from their self-centeredness by obtaining forgiveness and access to all the good God has to dispense. When we avail ourselves of his freedom, we can be certain he will meet our needs. Then we can move from the joy of our fullness/freedom to secure and preserve that same joy for the people with whom we work.

Gracious Redeemer, I still fight the inclination to grasp and to hoard, to worry and to hide. Help me to remember the freedom of your love so I love others as freely as you’ve loved me. Amen.