Paul says in Gal. 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Eugene Peterson writes how in Christ we are free to respond to God and grow and take a stand against the tides of our culture. We must be vigilant also that we don’t lose our freedom or let anyone bring us into slavery again. But what do we do with our freedom after we come to know the Lord and He sets us free? After the Israelites were set free from slavery to Pharoah, they had a slave mentality, and it took 40 years in the wilderness for them to learn to depend on God and to live free by faith. In some ways it would have been easier for them to return to Egypt where they had a daily work routine and a slave mentality rather than the new life of freedom as they walked in the wilderness with all its dangers, as well as excitement.
Paul also cautions us not to use our freedom as an opportunity to feed our selfish flesh nature and getting our own way all the time. He said, instead we are to love, and as an expression of love be servants of one another. When we don’t see others through the eyes of God’s love, we look at them as hindrances to getting our own way. Instead, as we walk in the Spirit, we will go the way of love, that flows out towards others and in the process, we come to know our true self.
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