For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
— GALATIANS 5:13 —
Thomas Busch: European Bible Training Center | Germany
Who doesn’t love the idea of being really free? Free of all responsibilities, appointments, and oversights. When young people live alone for the first time after school and studies they feel this supposed freedom. No parents watching over them. No explicit standards for classroom attendance. Everything is more or less free. So they think. How often do they get on the wrong track so quickly in this great freedom and lock themselves up without notice. They become captives of their own selfish needs and desires. How wonderful is it to meet other people with this God-given love and bless one another? Everything is about their fun and their fulfillment in their lives. Unfortunately, they often notice too late that such a selfish life is not real freedom and they end up in emptiness. This temptation is not just experienced by young people; it is a snare in every stage of life. But there is good news—God offers true freedom, in Christ. Jesus Christ saved us utterly from the slavery of the sin and the law. He made us born again through His death at the cross on Golgotha and His resurrection from the dead. In saving us, He has given us freedom. We may enjoy this freedom and use it for a glorious purpose. We may love one another and glorify the Lord Jesus. We truly are freed to love. How wonderful is it to meet other people with this God-given love and bless one another? The love that leaves all boundaries behind and reaches out to those people who are not sympathetic toward us—this love is not human; it is divine. Yes, this is real freedom. Use your freedom to serve one another through love.