To continue from yesterday (#13) and to talk about freedom again, just listen to what Paul writes in Galatians 5:13: “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” This is an important principle of faith that we must understand: we are not free from … but free to …
We are free to make different choices. Exactly as Paul writes here: our freedom is meant to be used to serve one another in love. In the same way that Christ loved His disciples, we can begin to learn how to love one another (according to John 13:34). A refrain from an Afrikaans song suddenly comes to mind: “No pretence … no control.” True love looks like how it is described in 1 Corinthians 13: patient, kind; not jealous; not self-centred; not easily angered or touchy. Love teaches us to forgive.
There is no greater freedom imaginable than the person who lives with the freedom of love.
Immediately, I recall a recent incident: while we were sitting in the garden, a man passed by, walking alongside his bicycle. Why is he not riding it? my father asked. The chain is broken. But let me help you, my father said. A guest was visiting us. He was immediately annoyed: This man will just become a nuisance, he complained. A while later, my father rejoined us. Still, the guest complained: Tomorrow or the next day, this man will bother you again. Then I’ll help him again, if I can.
John writes: “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:15). Whatever is in your heart will rule your life. Indeed, this is true.
PRAYER: You make it possible for me to become who and what I should be. Thank You for that.
ART: Pastures in Spring, Christian Rohlfs
MUSIC:
For the weekend, we watch the beautiful duet by Lauren Daigle and Loren Allred with “Thank God I Do” and “You Say” as part of AGT 2024.