Tuesday, July 8th
Read: Galatians 5:1
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.
Sometimes we can feel trapped, as if we have no control over our lives or ourselves. Sometimes it feels like we don’t have any choices, like we are being pressured into everything and being beaten down; a slave to a world.
Read the verse again and think about the previous paragraph. How does the verse answer to these statements?
How does this verse affect a feeling of being trapped?
Does it make the trapped feeling go away?
What does this verse offer to someone who is a slave to the world? Anything, nothing?
I remember reading once about a group of freed slaves who voluntarily stayed with their old masters. They lived in the same slave houses, worked the same tasks and kept their slave names. Some walked in short, clumsy steps, as if shackles were still bound to their feet. They were free, but they didn’t live like it.
This can happen to us when we decide to follow Jesus. Sometimes we can act like we are still slaves when we are actually free. Maybe there’s bad stuff that’s happened to you in the past that catches up with you, and brings you down. Maybe there’s a sin that you just can’t seem to get rid of. Maybe the enemy is lying to you, or trying to scare you to weaken your faith. This can cause you to live in perpetual servitude to sin.
What sorts of sin can stick with you, even after you decide to follow Jesus? Maybe before you were saved you swore, and you think it is too hard to quit using those words. It feels like an instinct to you; that is the type of sin that can make us feel like a slave to the world. How do you live a Holy life if you have that sort of baggage that drags you down?
This is the thing—Christ didn’t set us free so we can continue to live like a slave! We don’t have to stay trapped in past hurts and bad habits, struggling under the enemy’s attacks.
Through Christ anything is possible and if you put faith in him he will release you from your shackles. Those shackles can be almost anything, maybe something you didn’t even realize you had. You have to keep faith in Jesus though, some things take time and it can be discouraging. In order to break from those shackles though you have to accept your freedom and live it. If you want to live out your freedom in Christ then there are some things you can do. First, pray for strength and support. Second, talk to some godly leaders who can keep you away from the sin that enslaves you. Third, keep reading your Bible to remind yourself of what Christ has done. Stand strong against the spirit of slavery. You don’t answer to the world, you don’t answer to your own body and you definitely don’t answer to the devil. You are free and you answer only to Jesus Christ who is the Lord of all.
Process:
– Are there any areas of your life where you feel trapped? How could you be giving away your freedom? How do you plan to stand strong against the spirit of slavery?