For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free

Wednesday, May 15, 2013                   Galatians 5:1

For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free

I believe the greatest gift we can give God is to accept our acceptance. God wants us to wrap our arms around ourselves, and love ourselves as He loves us. When I truly embrace myself as the beloved child of God everything changes, I “become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is the truth that Jesus said would set me free and Jesus gave his life for me so that I can live in his freedom. (John 8:32; Galatians 5:1)

Living in the freedom of Christ allows me to love and accept myself as I am; where I am. Living in the freedom of Christ allows me to be pleased with myself just as I am, because God my Father is pleased with me. (Remember, the Father of our Lord Christ Jesus is very fond of you!)

This freedom in Christ is not a license to keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace. (Romans 6:1) This freedom in Christ empowers us to do and say what Jesus would do or say, because Christ lives in us. (Philippians 4:13; Colossians 3:11b) Therefore we don’t have to lie to each other. Remember, the Lord hates lies, but he delights in those who tell the truth. (Colossians 3:9; Proverbs 12:22)

In my meditation, Performance-Based-Acceptance, I noted that “almost every career is governed by statistics.” I suspect just about every conversation between colleagues includes a reference to how well you are doing in terms of these statistics. Invariably, pastors will compare with their colleagues how well they are doing in terms of worship attendance or new members added to the church rolls. Most of these comparisons are substantially embellished. Freedom in Christ means you don’t have to lie; you don’t have to embellish your performance. Freedom in Christ means you are free to live in the truth of who you are, where you are, how you are.

When we succumb to temptation and embellish the truth, when we lie about who we are, where we are and how we are, we do fall short of God’s hope for us. Remember, God delights in those who tell the truth. (Proverbs 12:22) When we do yield to temptation we want to remember “if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9). Then we can stand up and go forth as the beloved of God, empowered to stand firm in the freedom Christ has won for us. Remember, “Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us” (Colossians 3:11b).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  In addition to this BLOG they are distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com. The Kindle version will follow soon.

·        The second edition First Think – Then Pray has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.