Tag: Christian living

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Philippians 2:14-15

“Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.”

Verse 14 may be the Bible verse I quote the most when talking to my children. It flows right off the tongue… “Do everything without complaining or arguing!” Isn’t it convenient how we often use the Bible as a defense mechanism designed to make others suit our own purposes? The Bible is great for correction, but maybe there should be a rule that you can only quote verses to others that you have fully mastered yourself. But I digress…

Turning the mirror back on myself, I want to soak in all the wisdom these verses have to offer me. At our church, we often say, “Everything means everything…” so in these verses I can’t turn the “everything” into “some things.” Do everything without complaining or arguing. Why? So that no one can criticize you. Wow. Imagine living a life in which no one can think of anything bad to say. That is the Spirit-led life.

Notice the contrast described in verse 15: innocent, bright-shining examples versus crooked and perverse people. My heart breaks that this is so far from the current state of the American church. Christians, instead of being known as examples of excellence and love, are often known for forcing their morals down other people’s throats. Is that really how we want to play this? Using the Bible and Jesus like I started off this post, bashing other people for stuff we aren’t so great at?

To humbly accept the path laid out for us and in doing so shining a light so bright the world notices. As a body. Not just me, all by myself, but all of us together. Sit with him today and let him remove the chains that trap you in complaints, arguing and pushing others to do things you yourself still fail at. Perhaps it is in that place that we can begin to understand freedom and become bringers of peace.

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Day 5 – 21 Days to Freedom

Galatians 5:11-12 (NLT)

“Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!”

Sometimes the Bible is inappropriate. Imagine sitting in church and the pastor says, “If you think that circumcision gets you closer to God, you should go all the way and chop your penis right off!” Oh yes, Paul did just say that. And you might be wondering how we got on this subject in the first place. Weren’t we on a nice track talking about emotional freedom and the Holy Spirit?

We’re still on track, and the message behind all the penis talk is simple: Go all in or don’t bother trying. As we see from verse 11, Paul and the other leaders of the early church were risking their lives on a daily basis. You don’t get much more “all in” than that kind of dedication. Paul gets frustrated with their petty and foolish thinking about rituals in order to get right with God. He challenges them on their hearts — if you really believed that circumcision was getting you closer to God then why wouldn’t you at least be wholehearted about it?

Here’s your freedom for today: emotional and spiritual freedom is found in living by the Spirit, not by doing a bunch of earthly steps to “prove” your devotion.

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Here’s your freedom for today: emotional and spiritual freedom is found in living by the Spirit, not by doing a bunch of earthly steps to “prove” your devotion. Anything you do out of pure conviction from the Spirit will be wholehearted. And it is when our hearts are whole that we find true freedom. What are you going after with your whole heart today?

It is when our hearts are whole that we find true freedom.

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Day 3 – 21 Days to Freedom

Galatians 5:5-6 (NLT)

“But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.”

When we get rid of the extra rules we’ve added on to our “good Christian” lives (see yesterday’s post), we enter into a new kind of living. Instead of rules we have a soft, moldable heart in which the Spirit can dwell. Basically the best thing to do to get close to God is turn into a mushy mess.

If rules can’t save us, and in fact make our lives so much worse, then we have to turn to something else to make our messed up lives right. The word “righteousness” means “to be made morally right or justified.” God has promised to make us right (so why do we keep trying so hard to do it ourselves??). The only actions that will ever matter are the ones we are invited by God to do. The prompting of the Spirit is the only motivation worth acting on. This is the “faith expressing itself in love” in verse 6. Literally nothing else matters.

Here’s your freedom for today: living in the Spirit gives us the emotional freedom to let God do the transforming.

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Here’s your freedom for today: living in the Spirit gives us the emotional freedom to let God do the transforming. All those things we grasp at to “fix” ourselves will never work. Circumcision didn’t work for the Jews, and dressing up for church won’t work for us. As we wait for God to deliver on his promise to make us right again, we can let go of all of our striving. So go ahead, pick something to let go of today. Find freedom in getting rid of at least one rule you are living by to try to be “good enough.” Feel free to post a comment to tell us what you are shaking off today so we can all be encouraged!

Find freedom in getting rid of at least one rule you are living by to try to be “good enough.”

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