Wholly Free in Christ
Monday’s Verse:
From Galatians 5:13 ESV
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
Two truths about the Christian life seem paradoxical to the world but harmonious to us: we are wholly free in Christ, and we are bound to one another in love. In Jesus, there is absolutely nothing we have to do to earn God’s favor. His love is a gift, not a matter of merit. In Christ, we are free—righteously, jubilantly, gloriously free.
And yet, Saint Paul warns, Christian liberty is never exercised for our own sake. It’s liberty for service: freedom to lay down our lives for others, to defend the vulnerable, to ask not only “Am I allowed to do this?” but “Should I do this for my neighbor?” Our rights are real, and our choices are many. But we live with the knowledge that Christ, though He had the right to do anything, chose to deny Himself for us while we were still slaves to sin.
In a culture that says freedom is about doing whatever we want, may we remember that the Scriptures set us free to love. Christian freedom faces toward the cross. It builds toward the generous, self-sacrificing love of Christ our Savior. What we say, what we do, how we vote: In Christ, we learn to love, and our love demonstrates how to exercise our freedoms.
Set free in Christ, let us go and love like Him.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Dear Lord, thank You for setting us free in Christ. Help us to live wisely with the freedom we have been given. Teach us to walk in obedience to Your Word and love for our neighbors. May our lives bring glory to You as we follow in the footsteps of Christ, who laid down His life for us. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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