Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.” Galatians 5:1
“For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
One of my spiritual mentors used to regularly ask, “Where have you felt freedom lately?” Just as where the Spirit is, there is freedom, the converse is also true: where freedom is, the Spirit is. So if you are asking, “Where is the Lord in my life?” the place to look first is the place where you have felt great freedom.
In recent weeks, it became clear to me that I needed to make a move. I have been working part-time for a friend of mine, as an office manager and bookkeeper for her family’s business. While the job provided much- needed income for a season, I had other opportunities that fit better with my gifts and long-term goals, work I was already doing the other thirty hours a week. It was time to give notice.
After prayer, talking with wise friends who knew me and feeling God’s push to make this move, I quit the job. Immediately, I felt great freedom. I wasn’t scared about the loss of income—I knew I had better opportunities elsewhere, that God was leading me.
Would you use the word freedom to describe any part of your life, especially your spiritual life? It’s human nature to try to make our faith about rules. Galatians 5:1 is not about actual slavery or even a job that no longer fits. Paul is warning the early church—and us—against legalism, against thinking we can be saved by following the law. You’ve been set free to live a free life. That doesn’t mean you don’t have any responsibilities, but that you are free to follow Jesus wherever He leads you.
Faith Step: Where have you felt freedom lately? What if that’s where God is?