Called to freedom

Rev. Valerie Robideaux

“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.” Galatians 5:13-15

Working on a college campus, I am surrounded by students discovering their freedom. Freedom to think, freedom to believe, freedom to succeed, freedom to fail, freedom to go to Wal-Mart at 2am, freedom to skip class or attend class. Released from the chains of the parental phrase “well, under my roof…” college students bask in the sunshine of newly found freedom.

I don’t know about you, but I like my freedom. I too like to do what I want when I want. I like being the parent who gets to determine the rules for “under my roof.” I like to decide how I spend money, how I schedule my day, how I worship, how I eat, how I go about my vocation, etc.

Paul’s words in Galatians convict me, though. Even though I experience many freedoms on a daily basis, the kind of freedom Paul describes is vastly different. The freedoms I enjoy and take great pleasure in are freedoms from authority, an opportunity to express my autonomy, a submission only to my own will and desire.

Freedom found in Christ, the freedom we are called to first requires submission. It requires an emptying of my will and desire in order to have the freedom to love God and others more fully.

How does this freedom in Christ instruct my everyday freedoms I so enjoy?

Scot McKnight states, “God grants us the freedom to do what God made us to do. What God made us to do was to love others. Anytime we use the freedom to harm or dishonor others, we deny ourselves true freedom.” (Jesus Creed, 116).

How might my everyday choices harm or dishonor others?