Category: 21 Days to Freedom

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Day 1 – 21 Days to Freedom

The Christian life is all about freedom — not just for eternity but for right here and now. Emotional hurt, addictions, and chaos can get in our way when we are trying to spiritually grow. In this blog, I am always trying to ask myself what each passage has to say about the character of God and the freedom he offers.

We’ll focus on Galatians 5 over the next 21 days, but on day 1 I am giving you a special challenge. Right now take time to read the whole letter from a guy named Paul to the early church in Galatia — it’s not too long and it will help you connect with the big picture of his point. Jot down your thoughts in a notebook or journal. What is Paul’s main reason for writing the letter? What does this letter tell us about who God is? What questions do you have about what’s in there? (Leave a comment to ask!) After you’ve gone through it and written down your own thoughts, you can read some other commentary here.

Here’s your freedom for today: God has given you his thoughts to read and explore.

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Here’s your freedom for today: God has given you his thoughts to read and explore. Does the Bible tell us everything? Nope. But it tells us exactly what God wanted to reveal about himself, his message, and his mission. (Hint: it’s about freedom…) Why not take this year to commit to reading the Bible every day? Just hop on FreedomForToday.com every day — I’ll do the legwork and make it as easy as I can for you to connect with God on a daily basis. If you need reminders, subscribe to the daily email or Like the page on Facebook. Invite a friend and do it together. God wants to reveal more of himself to you this year — will you show up?

Why not take this year to commit to reading the Bible every day? Just hop on FreedomForToday.com every day — I’ll do the legwork and make it as easy as I can for you to connect with God on a daily basis.

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Day 2 – 21 Days to Freedom

Galatians 5:1-4 (NLT)

“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.”

I use the word “freedom” a lot — in the workshops that I offer and on this blog. I am continually searching for ways that we can understand what it truly means to live a free life in Christ. Galatians is all about a mindset shift, from the old way of thinking about the law to a new understanding of God’s heart as made more clear by Jesus. Grace had been there all along, but God’s people needed proof that their own self-reliance would never actually work. The law (and their failure to keep it perfectly) was a demonstration of our need for God.

Few people today are trying to live by the Old Testament laws to get in right standing before God. But the Christian sub-culture does have its own set of new laws: wear nice clothes to church, make your children walk in a straight line, read your Bible everyday just to check it off the list, be polite to all your neighbors (even when you gossip about them the minute they walk away). When we try to live this way, we become caught up in an image of perfection that once again ties us back into slavery.

Here’s your freedom for today: being a “good Christian” won’t get God’s grace for you.

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Here’s your freedom for today: being a “good Christian” won’t get God’s grace for you. It is his choice to give you grace that gives you grace today. When we get caught up in the religiosity of “good Christian” rules, we are emotionally weighed down. So many people I have worked with in counseling struggle with not feeling “good enough.” My response: “Great news! You’re NOT good enough!” And you never will be. It’s time to stop trying. Let God’s grace free you today so that you can live a less pressured life that simply seeks the heart of God one moment at a time.

It’s time to stop trying.

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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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Day 4 – 21 Days to Freedom

Galatians 5:7-10 (NLT)

“You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth?  It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.”

Have you ever been doing pretty well in life, going along just fine until you suddenly get thrown off course? Maybe you thought, “I was doing so well! What happened??” If the Galatians were with us today they would feel your pain. They had received the good news about Jesus being the pathway to God and were off and running strong. But then they got distracted — swept up by fear and old ways of thinking. “What if we are supposed to keep following the law? What if Jesus is just part of the answer?”

Anytime we find ourselves with a Jesus plus _____________ scenario we are off track. For us, it might be Jesus plus self-reliance, or Jesus plus my bank account, or Jesus plus what others think of me. How quickly that wrong thinking disrupts our whole lives. And this passage assures us that our non-free thinking is not from God — he is the one who set us free in the first place!

Here’s your freedom for today: God is paying attention to you, making sure that you stay in the middle of his grace.

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Here’s your freedom for today: God is paying attention to you, making sure that you stay in the middle of his grace. The people and things that add to false thinking in your life are not on God’s favorites list… He wants you to be free and frankly he’s kind of mad at whatever robs you from living a free life. But notice that phrase, “he will keep you…” He is willing and able to protect your mind from the slavery to the “shoulds” and the “musts.” We just need to ask and trust that he will guide us in his grace as we turn to him daily.

God is willing and able to protect your mind from the slavery to the “shoulds” and the “musts.”

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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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