It is for freedom He set us free.

"For freedom Christ has set us free." -Galatians 5:1

i heard a song about this verse a week or two ago.
i began to think.
lyrics began to come back to me from all sorts of songs written about freedom in Jesus.
"you're free to dance, forget about your two left feet...cause I've given you my love and it's made you free" [ginny owens] and "For all the sin that lives in me, it took a nail to set me free" [jennifer knapp] and so on.

i find that many times i have every line memorized, or could quote you that verse, or repeat a common "churchy" statement, but my heart is far from experiencing and knowing what my mind is so quick to churn out.

so this is my flaw.
well, one of the many.

i don't truly know freedom in Christ Jesus. for the majority of my life, i've lived such a burdensome walk with Him, and i've decided that i don't think that's what He desires. i've always just assumed that i'm one of those people that's naturally hard on myself, but i've come o think that i'm one of those people who doesn't fully understand His grace.

"But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace." -Romans 11:6

i believe that Christianity isn't a religion, but a relationship, but do i LIVE and breathe that out? i find myself making it more about Christianity period than about following Christ.

a good friend of mine told me that Jesus didn't die on that tree so that i would be perfect. as straightforward and easy to comprehend as that is for most, i can't seem to get past the fact that God's standard for me is perfection seeing that He is a perfect God. however, i'm beautifully reminded that He died on that tree so that through all the messes i make, i can still be seen as perfect.

without knowing it, by not choosing this freedom that's mine, i've taken on legalism. i've burdened myself with things Christ didn't want me to worry about. i wonder if i prayed enough, or if i shouldn't have done that, or should've said that.
how stupid.
what a lie i've believed.
"Our pride sometimes causes us to make unnecessary crosses for ourselves" (elisabeth elliot). Romans 11:20b says, "So do not become proud, but stand in awe."
i need to be awestruck by my Master, not struck down by the rulebook.
to live by the law and works is to say that we, as His brides, aren't worth half the blood that He's spilt (jennifer knapp).


"The spiritual life is first of all a LIFE! It is not merely something to be known and studied. It is to be lived." (thomas merton)
so LIVE.
and live FREELY.
forget all the do's and don'ts.
follow Christ.
enjoy the LIFE He has given you.
you are free.
start acting like it.


fyi: all quotes given from my beautiful friend, kaci ballard :) thanks, g.