Ah, Freedom.

Freedom is a majestic thing.

With it, we can have personal conversations with God and unlimited forgiveness for every mistake. We are given a joy and purpose beyond ourselves. We come alive in the freedom of Christ. This freedom empowers us to be who we are meant to be- not the nagging, tired, frustrated mama or the overlooked spouse; Not spiritually struggling or emotionally depressed. We weren’t created to be mediocre. We were meant to live life to the FULLEST.

What if you were made to be something bigger, something grander, than you ever fathomed?

…Can I tell you something I have learned the hard way?

God wants to give you the gift of feeling Light.

Easy.

Effortless.

FREE.

When God enters the scene, He wants everything in your life to change. Our human nature fights this and instead of embracing the newness he offers, we cling to the old. We don’t run to transformation- we avoid it.

” It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a FREE life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom.”

Galatians 5:13

Our selfishness can wreck the whole thing, doing only what we want to do. Once we accept Christ, we must hold a constant tension held between two truths:

Freedom to choose

yet

Choosing the best.

As our new found freedom opens a spectrum of options for us, we must choose to cling to what God wants for us! Freedom to choose and be anything, but compelled to choose and be the best. In our own strength we attempt to do this and fall embarrassingly short. We don’t ask the Holy Spirit to fill us and guide us, and the result is less than awesome.

Here is how freedom looks for most:

Callused mediocrity or judgmental legalism.

Mediocrity is easy to spot: We do the least requested. God asks us to “serve the poor,” so we give $2 to the homeless guy on the corner- just enough to relieve our guilt. God tells us to give financially to the church and we struggle to turn over a tenth of our paycheck, if that. God tells us to being on-guard against the things we let influence our life, and instead we drop our shields and invite in apathy. We chose the least offensive option, not the BEST one, causing our freedom to be crippled.

The flip-side is legalism: following the “rules” of the Bible without regard for the heart. It becomes about what we don’t do, rather than what we do. We paint God as a taskmaster wanting only our robotic obedience. Because this gives us a false sense of righteousness, we turn our gaze outward and begin to judge others for how they do or do not follow the same rules.

But God has a better way to live.

John 10:10 says:

“I came so they can have real and eternal life,

more and better life than they ever dreamed of!”

What if, instead of legalism or mediocrity, we possessed LIFE?

What if true freedom produced something in us that we can’t manufacture? One of the most powerful gifts from God is the freedom to be the BEST version of ourselves. That means rising and running full-force into who He created us to be: Free from condemnation, guilt and shame. Free to follow our calling in His power, not our own. Free to rest in Him when we find we are not enough.

Let’s come to life in our freedom! What is holding you back and weighing you down? Ask God to show you what you have been trying to accomplish on your own and then give it to Him. Ask Him to fill you up from head-to-toe with the Holy Spirit so you can feel the way He intended:

Light.

Easy.

Effortless.

FREE.

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