Called to liberty

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. - Galatians 5v13

I have referenced this passage so often that I feel like I have already covered it fully. This seems like the key verse on what Bible liberty is all about. There can be no doubt that we, as believers, have liberty. The law has lost all its constraints and restrictions. Freedom can be a scary thing though. Sometimes people don’t handle it well. Some people, and some churches, seem to thrive under restrictions and requirements. It is simple to tick boxes on a check list. God’s standard is much, much higher.

However, those who discover liberty can easily misuse it. Liberty becomes licence and licence can become licentiousness. This is not God’s will any more than some harsh legal code.

There is a simple balance for liberty. Don’t use your liberty as a chance to serve your fleshly desires. Our liberty is not for us to do whatever we want. On the contrary our liberty frees us to serve in another capacity. Our liberty allows us to serve each in love.

What does this mean in my daily living? It means when I get up in the morning I face the day, not with some checklist calling me to tick its boxes, but I wake up in love with the God who first loved me and as a result in love with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Love motives me to do everything I can for the one I love. Love means I don’t think about me at all. Love, not law, controls me. Loving service is easy and a joy. Legalistic service is hard and a burden.

Let us learn the joy of “through love serving each other.”