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How to Use Your Freedom

Here’s your weekly word of biblical encouragement from Bibles.net! Enjoy this short video devotional or read its contents below, adapted from a message by Pastor Britt Merrick.

The video above will clarify how God wants you to steward the freedom he has given you in Christ. 

Verse 13, “Use your freedom to serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13 NLT). You are free. Now serve somebody. There’s a paradox. The word “serve” is just a nice word for “become a slave to.” You’re free—now be a slave to other people. You’re free before God—serve other people in a selfless way. That’s a paradox. 

Perhaps one of the ways that we begin to make sense of that paradox is when we look at the person of Christ who is the Lord of all the universe but who humbled himself to become the slave of all even dying upon the cross. Philippians chapter 2 says, “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges, and he took the humble position of a slave” (Philippians 2:6-7 NLT). 

There we have the Christian ideal of voluntary enslavement. 

You see, our freedom is based on the person of Christ—the beloved Son—who is never self-seeking but is self-sacrificing. Christian freedom denotes the ability to sacrifice oneself for others not to seek more for oneself. 

And so we have this juxtaposition of verse 13, “Don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another” (Galatians 5:13 NLT). 

Credits

Britt Merrick

The Bibles.net Weekly Word gives you weekly encouragement through a carefully chosen portion of a Bible-based message preached by a faithful Bible teacher. This content was adapted from the message, “The Gospel Creates Love” on Galatians 5:13-15, by permission of Reality Church in Carpinteria, CA, and Pastor Britt Merrick.

Learn More About Britt Merrick

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