Liberty part 1
I quote this memory quite a bit, so I thought this would be a good time and place to really dig into it. Give it a few days. Some time to breathe. Ready? Let's go. "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Corinthians 3:17). And just so we're totally and completely on the same page about what we're talking about, "Liberty" is number 1657 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "freedom (legitimate or licentious, chiefly moral or ceremonial)." There it is. Freedom. And as often as we might hear this in religious circles, freedom (or grace) does NOT mean you have a license to sin. I heard one preacher say it like this, "People have been sinning without license for a long time." Its not freedom TO sin, is what I'm trying to say. Its freedom FROM sin. Let's be real. Sin is bondage. Look at Galatians 5:1, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Liberty is freedom FROM bondage. It is freedom FROM sin. And freedom TO love. I think Galatians 5:13 is actually my key verse for this Rant series, so let's read it. "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." And its like this: All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. You CAN do anything, but that doesn't mean you SHOULD. I'm over 21, that means I can legally drink. But it doesn't mean I legally HAVE to drink. And I choose not to. Because I've never found that anything good comes from it. Not a judgment, or a condemnation of anyone, just a personal choice. Earned through hard experience, by the way. Sometimes you have to do things wrong before you can do them right. You can't learn from your mistakes if you never make any (or if you're unable to admit that you make any). So while I'm well within my rights to pick up that bottle... I've made the decision that there's nothing in it for me. Rather than using my liberty, my freedom, as an occasion to the flesh... I'm choosing to serve others. By love. I'm choosing to use my freedom for others, not myself. The difference between being self-centered and being Christ-cented (or people-centered). Doing things FOR people because I'm free FROM doing things FOR myself. And I'm not saying you shouldn't take care of yourself, physically, and mentally, and emotionally. I'm saying, if I look after you and you look after me, neither one of us will have to worry about ourselves. And I know its hard to see past yourself sometimes, but it really is the only way to live this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God. This life of love. We live it by letting Jesus live it in us, and through us, and as us. And, again, that's not bondage. That's simply LOVE flowing in us, and through us, and as us. Doing things because they are in your heart to do them. Letting love guide the way. Its not freedom FROM the straight and narrow path that leads to life, its freedom TO walk that more excellent way in faith! Its freedom to do whatever we want, and the faith to understand that what we really want is to love. To be loved, and to love!