Finding Joy in Christ, Week 2

We trudge on this week in Philippians with our theme for this series: Finding Joy in Christ.

 

Now finding joy in Christ, what does that mean? We walked through this theme at youth group last week but y'all on the outskirts still haven't heard the "what" or "why" behind this theme.

Well, we will find in this book-- by the way, you will make your best discoveries about this book when YOU read the book on YOUR own. Four chapters, easy peasy!-- that Paul is writing a letter of excitement and encouragement to his faithful friends in the faith from Philippi despite the fact that Paul is writing this heartfelt letter from jail at Rome.

So, God has a sense of humor in that he has me teach about the things I need to learn more about. Finding joy in Christ when life is tiring and rough and challenging and unfair? Heck yes I need to learn more about that! So while reading Philippians we are looking at how Paul could see God working through the difficult situations he faced, and what it would mean for us to find authentic joy in Christ that would keep us grounded in our faith when difficult situations come.

"12And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. 14And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.

15It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. 19For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.

20For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. 21For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 22But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. 23I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

25Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. 26And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.

27Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. 28Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. 29For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. 30We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it."

Now, does Paul have a death wish that in verse 21 he says, "For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better" ? Well look at it this way: the only person that can say that "dying is gain" as other versions put it, is the person that lives their life for Jesus Christ.

Why? Because if someone asked you, what are you living for? What in your life makes you the most alive? And you think and think and try not to sound ridiculous by putting something like "food" before you put "your family"; but maybe you put music, or sports, or drawing, or reading. Well, then death does not gain you anything. Death means an end to those things. But if your life is lived for Christ, if a life lived for Christ makes you feel the most alive, then dying is gain, dying is even better because you die and you meet face to face the One you have lived your life for!

Which leads into Paul's idea of living as "citizens of heaven". Now how do you do that without having ever set foot in heaven? "27...conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News."

Maybe living as "citizens of heaven" has nothing to do with physically residing in heaven, maybe it has to do with how we conduct ourselves.

For those of you that are Seattleites, that's the city you're reppin', you wear those high socks with the image of the skyline on it, and you take pride in where you live. You conduct yourselves in a certain way as Seattleites. We have raincoats and rainboots and we drink coffee and we have our favored sports teams (cough Huskies, Seahawks) and we act a certain way, that's how we conduct ourselves.  Now if your family were to up and move to Wyoming, how would you conduct yourselves? Like a Seattleite! You would throw fits over the lack of coffee shops and over the hot weather and you would still act the same as you did in Seattle for the most part.

Now, what would it mean while you're living here on Earth to conduct yourselves like you are citizens of heaven? That's what we're looking at here. We have a higher calling on us then just living like Seattleites, we are to live like citizens of heaven! Say what??

So, we are called to conduct ourselves "in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ." Different parts of the Bible say it differently, in 2 Corinthians 6 verse 3 & 4 Paul says it like this: "3We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. 4In everything we do, we show we are true ministers of God."

Let's stop here to regroup. In all of this are you thinking, "Well, okay, but how does that help me in finding my joy in Christ? Sure Paul found it, but thinking about the way I conduct myself actually puts a lot of stress on me."

Trust me, I cannot preach a "try harder, do more, work harder" sermon because that is not what I believe gets us anywhere good in our walk with God.

Having said that, if my present circumstances were hard and I was searching desperately for this joy in Christ, I think by remembering that I am a citizen of heaven, I can call on God, the President of my hometown in heaven, to help me to see how He can use me where I am at. Though I might not find joy in my suffering, through looking to God for His plan and not my plan, I may find joy in what God tells me. That He is using my bad day to relate to you guys, to relate to this teaching, to realize my need for Him.

Paul apparently did not just sit and prison and ask God to release Him immediately. Apparently Paul trusted that God was working that out, "For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better." Paul trusted that God was either making his way out of prison or that God was leading Paul on home to Paul's true home. Apparently Paul trusted God with his circumstance and asked, "God, how can you use me where I'm at?"

In verse 29 it says, "For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him."

Paul suffered much as a Christ-follower and the hard truth that he's relating here is so will we. But hey! If my options are to suffer without Christ, to suffer for myself, or to suffer with Christ, for Christ, I'm choosing the second option! Let their be a goal in my suffering, let God make something good come out of my suffering, let God use me in my suffering, but please when I struggle, when life is hard, when I am at a low point, I don't want it to be for nothing!

I find joy in my trials, like it talks about in the book of James, when my trials lead me to Christ. Today I had a hard day that at it's height had me spilling salsa all over myself and my car. When I stopped my big crocodile tears guess what I did? I prayed. Because God cares about my hard day and my raw feelings and my stained pants. And guess what God did? He put godly people in my life that supported me and prayed for me and encouraged me when I needed encouragement.

While I teach this series I am learning it for myself, how to find joy in Christ. So as we go through it together, tell us how you're learning, what God is teaching you through hard circumstances, and what you are going to do to make sure that your suffering is not in vain, but rather that it would lead to a joy that God gives to those that trust in Him.

Finding Joy in Christ, Part 1

I have youth that live far enough away that their excuse for missing youth group is viable. It is by the request of some of those youth that I will post a version of my youth group sermon weekly. (I can't recreate word for word what the Spirit will change, but I believe you can get something out of what is written here). But read the fine print! This does not replace your need for a Christian atmosphere where you can be a part of something larger. You still need this. Sermons do not equal church or community!

That being said, reading out of the book of Philippians, the theme for this series is:

 

We'll start by reading the text. Tonight we'll cover Philippians, chapter 1, verses 1 through 14.

"1Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
³ I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, ⁵ for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 

⁶ being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; ⁷ just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 

 ⁸ For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. ⁹ And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, ¹¹ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

¹² But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, ¹³ so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; ¹⁴ and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear."

Amen. Let's backtrack now. Have you ever received a letter? Not a note in class, not an invitation through the mail, but a handwritten letter that was written solely so someone could communicate with you?

I have a dear friend that moved to Scotland after we graduated from college together last June. She is also an English major so she writes to me regularly.

Now when I get one of her letters, I am SO excited. I mean, I love this girl to pieces and she sat down and took the time to write to me. I show whoever is in my house, I tell whoever is texting me at that moment that I just got a letter! I will precede to read the letter under my breath and laugh aloud at her jokes and if anyone within earshot asks, "What's so funny?" I begin to read them this letter, though I'm sure it can't matter as much to them as it does to me.

I am to my letter from my friend what Paul is to his letter to his church in Philippi. He loves his church in Phillip. Paul is in jail and upon receiving any gift, any financial help, any visitors, any letters from the Philippian church he planted, he rejoices. I'm sure talks to everyone, every cellmate, every guard in the jail about how much he loves his Philippian brothers and sisters.

And yet, Paul is jail. Paul is in jail for proclaiming the truth about Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross. More specifically, Paul is in jail in Rome for said crime, and here he is writing a letter to his faithful church in Philippi that he may never see again, depending on how his death sentence turns out.

Finding joy in Christ.

Paul had it! Darn right Paul had it. You can read it all throughout this opening passage, how much Paul prays for this church and how strongly he believes that God will be faithful to finish the work that God started when Paul brought the Good News of the Gospel to the Philippians.

 ^"6being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; ⁷ just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace."

Paul had confidence. Was it in himself? Or in the Philippians ability to live righteous and holy lives after God? Paul had confidence in Christ. In Christ's faithfulness to complete the work that He started in this church body.

And Paul went even further to say that it is right for him to believe this over the church of Philippi. The translation of this word "right" from the Greek means Paul's thoughts toward them were perfect in accordance to God's will.

We can feel this right heart towards the Philippians as we read on.

 ⁸ For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. ⁹ And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, ¹¹ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

The Greek word for "approve" here has the same meaning as someone testing gold for its purity or someone inspecting an ox for their usefulness. It is literally giving something the thumbs up, the go ahead. Paul is telling his church that he puts all his faith in God for to be careful of what they approve in life (partying? lying? hating?) that they may be sincere and without offense until the day Christ returns.

There is sound wisdom for us in what Paul prays over the Philippians.

The Greek word for "sincere" here literally means "judged by sunlight". When you are at the Thriftstore and you find a shirt that you want and it's marked way down, sometimes just to check you hold it up to the light to make sure that it isn't stained in a way you didn't see at first. This is what it means to be judged by sunlight. So Paul is praying social discernment over this Christ-centered community, so that they can be found sincere and without offence in how they loved God's people. (Will we find joy in Christ as readily if we have no discernment for how to love His people? Probably not.)

¹² But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, ¹³ so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; ¹⁴ and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear."

This is our stopping point and consequentially our first "ah-hah" moment in discovering how Paul found joy in Christ despite his present circumstances.

Have you ever asked yourself the question: Why did God put me here? Honestly! The question comes in varying forms but if you've taken the time to ponder I'm sure you've come across it:

• Why did God put me in this family?
• Why did God put me in this school?
• Why did God put me with the classmates He did? With the teachers He did? With the principal He did?

Paul could have, and perhaps did ask himself early on in his first imprisonment (this was his second), why did God let me go to jail for Him?

Did you know Paul's imprisonment got him access to Roman soldiers that he otherwise would not have had? Did you know that the Praetorian guard consisted of several thousands of highly trained soldiers of the Roman Empire?

Prison + Paul = 1,000's of Roman military = maybe even the royal house?

Have you ever given it a thought that MAYBE the God of the universe placed you where you're at for a reason? I am in no way saying that it is okay to put up with an abusive environment at home or anywhere else, what I am just though is if God could use Paul in a Christian-hostile prison, do you think MAYBE God could use you in the family you're in? in the school you're in? with the classmates you're with? with the teachers you have? with the principal you have?

I think Paul began asking the right questions. Instead of why God, why me? I believe he asked, full of faith, God why did you put me in this prison with these jailmates with these guards? In other words: God, how can you use me where I am currently at?

Yes, we are on the trek to discover how Paul found joy in Christ, and here's my first week's tip: Ask God that very same question and you may find a similar excitement in the unknown that Paul found.

God, how can you use me where I am currently at?

What I Learned from the Hell Run

The Hell Run. Primarily a chance to have a laugh with friends, secondarily a 3-mile run that forces you to scale walls, army-crawl beneath barbed wire, slide on mud slides into mud-water, and oh and did I mention mud? Lots and lots and lots of mud.

 

 

So a few of my friends from my sister church all signed up (thank you Bmac!) for this run at 11 a.m. on our Saturdays off.

 

 

 

We all set off on the run together and by the first obstacle we had all taken to the paces we would keep, some (cough, Bmac) blazing in front, some (who shall not be named) kept the slower, steadier pace in back.

 

It was about half way through the race when the actual running portion of the race began to ware on me and my running-mate and good friend, Krystal. Our shoes were heavy with water from the river and our legs were feeling the hurtles we had just passed.

 

Not so coincidentally, Skatechurch, our sponsor, had printed on the back of our shirts: "The gates of hell shall not prevail against us." And as we were on this Hell Run, Krystal brought up the irony. Which got us thinking about Scripture. Which got us ping-ponging Scriptural references to running the race and persevering.

 

Krystal: "Run the race that is set before you..."

Me: "Do not grow weary while doing good..."

 

Krystal: "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..."

 

Me: "For live is to live for Christ, to die is gain..."

 

Krystal: "For those who wait on the Lord shall mount up on wings like eagles, shall run and not grow weary, shall walk and not faint."

 

Me: "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

Krystal: "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

 

And on we went until we hurtled over, under, or through our next obstacle.

 

This is my favorite part of having one of my closest friends also be my comrade in God's army, that while we're out in the world, doing what we love and we find ourselves exhausted, what comes to our minds is Life, is Truth, is God's strength. We wouldn't get any sort of Christian-of-the-Year award for reciting bits and pieces of Scripture on this run, we had no incentive besides the truth behind those words; that they have been our strength while God has to built us up and mold us.

 

 

 

Needless to say we finished the race, caked in mud from mud-encrusted head to mud-soaked shoe. We never once left the other, and we finished the race well. And very much like another race we currently run, I know that with God as our strength and with fellow comrades encouraging us on our race, we will finish well.

"1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

-Hebrews 12: 1-3

God-Worthy Glory

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."

-1 Corinthians 12:13

"To God be the glory!!"

We Christians are very comfortable giving God the glory when we do something right. After we give money to the homeless: To God be the glory. When we lead someone to Christ: To God be the glory.

We forget, though, that we are living, breathing examples of the living God. Our lives are forever changed by the healing power and saving grace of Jesus Christ. 

When we gossip, steal, cuss someone out for cutting us off, all while driving around with a Jesus fish on the bumper of our cars, we are giving God the glory of our actions.

What kind of glory are you giving God?

When we gossip: To God... be the glory?

When we decide to be rude to someone: To God be the glory?

"But some will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder."

-James 2:18, 19

Have you ever heard of the saying, "they will know we are Christians by our love?" Sadly, I don't think a lot of Christians understand this very important aspect of their walk with Christ.

Our lives are not only forever changed by the healing power and saving grace of Jesus Christ-- our lives should look like it, too.

"In everything, set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness, and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us."

-Titus 2:7,8

How many times have I met a Christian who slanders everyone behind their backs? Or a Christ follower who praises God on Sunday, and cusses someone out on Monday with the same lips?

It's time that Christians start to give the correct glory to God; it's time for our attitudes, mannerisms, personality, mentality, spirituality to be in total oneness with Jesus Christ.

Let's not be ashamed of the Gospel anymore.

"Remind people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to always be gentle toward everyone. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 

This is a trustworthy saying. And I want to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable to everyone."

-Titus 3:1-8

Obedience over Sacrifice

"...bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ..."

-2 Corinthians 10:5

Our human nature loves control. God wants us to use that control to force our mind into obedience.

"Whenever we deliberately disobey the Spirit, in anything we do, we are basically stiff-arming the Living, Loving God."

Colin came home from a Spirit-filled night at our church with this tough nugget of wisdom. Sometimes, if not all the time, we forget that that gentle prodding in the right direction is actually our Savior, a Spirit who has emotions... And the greatest emotion He has for us is love.

Here's the important question... Are we unwittingly stiff-arming our loving Savior?

We need to realize when we are being controlled by our human nature, and we need to be discipline enough to recognize when God wants us to listen to Him.

Sometimes it looks like completely sacrificing your pet sin, but we have to remember that "obedience is more acceptable than sacrifice."(1 Samuel 15:22) Are you fervently obeying the will of God, fully in-tune to His quiet voice so that whenever He says move, you move? Or whenever He says not to move, you stay still?

Or are you futilely sacrificing everything, quitting "cold turkey" whenever you get caught dabbling in sin?

Colin and I had a tough start to our relationship. It was all about the physical, and not at all about the emotional, spiritual, or other more important things.

Somewhere at our six-month mark, we began to feel like God was telling us to break up. At the time, however, we felt it was our own idea, and that we had a choice whether or not to do it. Whether or not to "sacrifice" our relationship on the alter of our Lord, so to speak.

One morning, about one year into our dating relationship, it became very clear to me that God was asking me to obey Him, not sacrifice on my own accord. And to not give up Colin would be to disobey my Father in heaven. 

God said to me, "I want all of you. And since Colin was so much a part of you, you had to give him up in order to completely be a part of me."

Obviously, the Lord is good and brought us back together, but not before we realized that God was number one and WOULD NOT have any idols before him. Colin and I stopped kissing and embarked on a spiritual journey together, following Jesus and Him only. And praise God, we got married at the end of it all.

There is no way of knowing what kind of relationship Colin and I would have now if we had not obeyed God first and foremost back then. But I do know this, if I hadn't of gone through that process, Colin would be my number one, not Jesus, and my heart would be in a whole mess of trouble.

Your obedience to the will of God definitely won't be the same as ours. I'm not saying you need to stop kissing your boyfriend/girlfriend and everything will be better. God is in charge of all that.

What I am saying, though, is it is worth it in the long run to listen and obey the voice of the Lord. 

What is the last thing He told you to do?

"But the determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature." -Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest

Ode to Rowing

As some of you may know, I spent the greater part of two years in college rowing in a collegiate rowing program that pushed me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I attribute a good deal of the character I have today to the years I spent rowing on a team that put emphasis on God, teamwork, and peeling blisters off your hands and icing strained muscles all for the sake of the girl in front of you and the girl behind you.

 

 

What does my experience in rowing have to do with Jesus? Everything.

 



Not only was SPU a Christian college, but my rowing coach was a godly man that prayed with us every morning, read Scripture to us every day, and hung every medal we earned on a cross in the shell house, to give the glory where it was due.

 

This morning as I was logging into my laptop I misspelled my password and my password hint was a question I asked myself everyday when I rowed: Who do you row for?

In rowing we had riggers that would hang across the hull right at your feet, and this was where in a rough day in the middle of the winter season in my novice year that a friend handed me a tape and a sharpie. She told me to write what would inspire me and stick it on my rigger where I would see it every day, every stroke. This was what I wrote: Who do you row for?

In rowing, like in life when you are not feeling it: when your body aches, when you are emotionally spent, and when you are stressed beyond belief, it's not enough to live life for you, to row for you. Because if you were rowing for yourself, you might stop when your begin quads start to burn, when panic rises up in you and you question if you can even get through the second half of the race or the practice.

No, it had to be all for Jesus or not at all.

So here's the question of the day: Who do you row for?

Or for the rest of us, who do you live for?

We may not have riggers at our feet in life but we do have space on our dashboards and on our backpacks and on our desks at work and on our laptops. I want the question asked of me half way through my day when I am growing tired and wanting to be home or away from people: I live for Jesus. I am not living for myself today, I'm living for Jesus, and I want to be his hands and feet and I want Him to work in me today.

So go ahead, ask me when you see me! But for you, figure out what it will take for you to be reminded and encouraged: you live for Jesus. He is the way, the truth, the life. There is hope and joy and peace in Him forever and forever.

Amen.

Freedom

"1Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

13For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another...

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against these there is no law."

-Galatians 5:1,13,22

Freedom. Like William Wallace in Braveheart cried over his people, ""Fight and you may die. Run and you will live at least awhile. And dying in your bed many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here as young men and tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom!"

So why is freedom in this text from Galatians highlighted here? 

Well we have here freedom from something and freedom for something. 

"1Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage..."

So we are to stand fast, to stand grounded in the liberty which CHRIST, who gave us this liberty, has made us free. So what is this saying? Stay free. From what? From bondage.

For the Galatians as it can often be for us this bondage is being a slave once again to the Law, to legalism, to earning God's love and grace and favor. 

Do you know what Paul says earlier in Galatians about the Law? He says: 

"24 Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it has protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 25 And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian." 

-Galatians 3:24-25 NLT

So the freedom Christ gave us is freedom from any further bondage to the law. To needing to abide by the Old Testament laws to be made right with God. 

Now through Christ we have been made right with God! That is freedom. 

So we know what this freedom was against, freedom from bondage, now what do we do with this freedom? What is it for?

13For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another...

So freedom from the law doesn't mean doing whatever our flesh desires, but this freedom does what? It gives us the freedom through LOVE to serve one another. 

Wow. So we were given freedom to love one another. Freedom to serve one another in love. So it's not to serve ourselves? No, no it says right here this freedom isn't for our flesh and it isn't for just us. It's for us to use in love. 

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against these there is no law."

-Galatians 5:1,13,22

Love is first and all-encompassing in the listing of the fruit of the Spirit. And what does it say at the end there? Against these there is no law. 

The fruit of living and walking in the Spirit, which Paul talks about two verses later, is so loving, so free that there is no law against them. There is no limit on the use and practice of any and all of these. Good thing too or Jesus would have been in trouble! 

So why do I take time this morning to go through these verses? 

Because if I don't remind myself daily that I am free, free from bondage and free to love, then I begin to live like I am still in chains. Whether that's being enslaved to legalism, to what my flesh desires, to a gloomy look on life, it's easy to slip back into those chains if you're not reminded, if we're not reminded: we are free. 

So walk in the freedom that Christ purchased for you now, this morning, today.