Reading through one of my favorite books in the Bible - Galatians! It's all about my favorite word - FREEDOM. True freedom isn't without boundaries, otherwise it becomes reckless and unsustainable. True freedom with appropriate boundaries becomes a liberation that can be both perpetually sustained while at the same time fully relished since it is not in jeopardy of facing personal extinction. Anyone can be reckless with freedom and steer their life into addictive behaviors & dependencies that make them enslaved. I call this kind of freedom, "freeDUMB". But sustainable freedom embraces self imposed limitations to protect against personal enslavement. Christ didn't come to set us free TO sin; He came to set us free FROM sin. He then gave us instructions about healthy limitations that would preserve that freedom so that we could maximize our full potential for His glory. For instance, I have the freedom in this world to smoke cigarettes, but the real danger of becoming addicted to nicotine can enslave me and destroy my health & finances. The result would be a loss of my freedom because I won't be able to control my "fix", as well as losing my health and finances. Freedom is a precious gift, but it is vulnerable to loss. The worst freedom I've ever experienced was when I did whatever I wanted to do because I could. On the other hand, the greatest freedom I've ever experienced happens each time I follow Christ's instructions in the Bible. It causes great celebration inside my entire being. It has no regrets. It adds to my health. It perpetually sustains my future freedom. I love freedom and I thank God for my freedom and for the fact that He loves my freedom too... so much that He not only died for it, but also gives me boundaries to sustain it.
"It is for freedom sake for which Christ has set us free." - Galatians 5:1
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