For Freedom, Part One

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."

~Galatians 5:1

I think one of Satan's favorite lies is to tell us that we aren't really free.

And before you file that away into a little compartment of your mind labeled "True: But Aimed For Others To Hear," please allow me to share with you why I think it's something we all need to realize for ourselves.

I read Galatians 5 a couple months ago, and despite the fact that I'd read it many times before, something about the opening verse jumped out at me.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Its one of those verses that are quoted so often, I was almost tired of it. And I certainly didn't allow it enough time to mess with me...

Until now.

Up to this moment, I'd thought of it as one of those feel-good verses that almost seem to pop straight from the pages of your upturned Bible onto a plaque over your mantelpiece. But reading it with fresh eyes I thought that maybe, just maybe, Paul was actually writing this for a reason.

Around the same time God began using this verse to challenge me, we sang a new worship song at church on Sunday morning. The song was about freedom, and the worship pastor who had written the song shared some of his heart after we sang. He said,

"People sometimes tease me and ask, 'Why do you write so many songs about freedom?!' And I always tell them, 'I'll stop writing songs about freedom when I see that God's people are free."

Something about what this worship pastor said has stuck with me for months.

It's easy for us to say we walk in freedom, but do we really? I walk in a great deal more freedom than I once did, but do I live free?

Not always.

It was for freedom that Christ has set us free.

It may just be me, but I think Paul is saying something here. And I don't think it's solely directed to those "outside the faith." It's for Christ's bride, too. For us. Why did Paul find it necessary to include this sentence?

If we were honest, we would say it's because although God's church loves to say that Christ has set us free, we often don't live that way. It's not exactly conscious - no one in their right mind would willingly choose captivity - but we often find the familiarity of our prisons safer than the uncertainty of the road we're asked to follow. Remaining in our brokenness is easier than pursuing the One who allows us to be truly free.