Choices

Galatians 5:13 NIV

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.

-I am free……. Free to what?

Free to choose. Studies claim a human makes 35,000 choices every day.

What influences all of those choices that I am free to make?

Do I allow my flesh to influence my choices or do I deny my flesh?

"Do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Rather…… that tells me it's always one or the other that I'm doing with every choice I am free to make.

I'm either indulging my flesh.

Or.

I'm serving another humbly in love.

I can make a very long list of ways I can indulge the flesh sex, substance, food, spending, gossip, slander, judgement, anger, resentment, etc……

Some of the indulgences of flesh are clearly not loving to others. But what about the ones that seem to have no direct impact on anyone else? Everything I do and say impacts and influences the people God's placed in my life.

I lead by example, but do I follow in obedience to Christ's leading?

Romans 14:18-21 NIV

because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

-What I do. What I say. How I spend. How I live. It all matters if I say I belong to Christ and claim to be His image bearer.

*Father God, I praise you and thank you for giving me the freedom to choose. I thank you for the example of Jesus and the living word that through the Holy Spirit guides me in the choices that glorify and reflect Him. Lord, forgive me for the many choices I make every single day that indulge my flesh and are influenced by the world and its culture of excess. Help me to surrender more of my will to you and your perfect will, so that I may serve others in love in action and example. It's in Jesus name I pray, amen.

Shane Gehlert