LEARNING DAILY

 

Galatians 5:13, For you dear friends, have been called to live in freedom – not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love.

 

We must never forget those who have died for the freedoms we enjoy today. We must never forget that getting and maintaining our freedoms was costly as men and women gave their lives to do so. For most families and kids, the day represents a day of firing up the grill, open swimming pools, a long weekend for travel, the beginning of summer vacation. The time of remembering those who fought and died for those things to happen have become a time of quick remembrance and our freedoms taken for granted. It has been a long time since this nation has fought in war that had true meaning regarding our freedoms.

 

In 2022, we are fighting a different type of warfare to protect our freedoms. It is an internal warfare, one of words and ideology. In this war, the battles are being fought to either preserve or take away the freedoms people have. Is the Constitution and its Amendments still relevant or is it outdated? Do guns kill people or do the people using them doing so? What about the rights of a woman when it comes to terminating a pregnancy; what about the rights of that baby being terminated? The list of “freedoms” that we want to control goes on and on. You are smart enough to know what I am talking about. The freedoms so many died to protect are being challenged today and it frightens me to think where this country is headed.

 

The Son of God came to this earth to teach about the Father and to provide the way to eternal life in His kingdom. He died on a cross to give freedom to those who would believe in Him; this is freedom from the slavery to sin and the dominion of Satan. This freedom is through the Holy Spirit’s presence in Believer’s lives and being obedient to the Word of God.

 

Freedom has a different meaning when talking about the freedom Christ gives to us. It is not a freedom to do whatever we want; it certainly is not the freedom to indulge the desires of the flesh. Spiritual freedom must never be used as a cover-up or to do evil, to do what feels good. True Christian freedom gives the freedom to serve God and to serve others. It is not about trying to justify ourselves to God through our good works or seeking our own glory. No, it is about Christ, what He did for us and doing what we can to show His love and helping others with that same love.

 

Whether you know it or not, we are at war. It is a spiritual war over where each of us will spend eternity. Satan never gives up. His method of warfare is deception and he never gives up trying to deceive people, even Believers. He continually tries to get us to sin against God and keep those who do not believe from accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. The enemy continues to get Believers to think their freedom in Christ means they can do anything they want because of God’s grace. Everyday the struggle is over who we are going to follow that day, over the choices we make regarding those things God told us in His Word we are not free to do. Just like the thoughts about the Constitution being outdated, the enemy tries to get us to believe about the Bible. It is not outdated and is as true today as it was when it was written.

Never forget those who have died to protect the freedoms we have; be aware of those today who would take them away for their own political gain. Never forget that our Savior died so we could have spiritual freedom to serve Him and serve others with a Christlike love. Because He loved you and me enough to hang on a cross in our place, we can love others because of our faith in Him. Jesus Christ cannot just be our Savior; He must become our Lord as well. Get into God’s Word and let it overwhelm you with faith and love; imitate Him and be an encouragement to others as we wage this daily war against the flesh and the world around us.