“It is for freedom that
Christ has set you free.
Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened by the yoke of slavery."
Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
“It is for freedom. .
. “A We hear in the legal world that every action has a motive behind it.
When a person is tried for a crime, the plaintiff’s counsel receives
information as to the defendant’s motive-the reason that caused the person to
transgress the law. God’s motive for His granting us salvation is His desire to
free us from the consequence of our sins.
“. . . Christ has set
you free. . .”Jesus erases the black marks of our sins. He cleanses us and
makes us whole. We learn to function
without the weight of our sins on our hearts.
“Stand firm. . .”
Paul tells the believers of Galatia and his future readers to Stand firm-not to
not be afraid, not to hang back.
“. . . do not let
yourselves. . .” We sometimes allow ourselves to let things get us down.
Recently, I sat in a committee meeting at our church. A retired minister
related a story about something that happened to him when he was in the active
ministry. The take-away from his story is that he made a choice to not be
offended by a person’s words. When we face others, we have a choice—to react or
not react to the circumstances. We have a Lord that loves us so much that he
can handle anything evil. Rather than fuming about issues, we all need to
intentionally turn them over to the Lord.
“. . . be burdened by
the yoke of slavery.” When we are held in bondage to sin we become bent
over with the weight we carry. We become
burdened with trying to surmise who knows what we did. Also, we worry if our
friends will think kindly of us. y