Keeping a Christian Perspective on Liberty

“But for the grace of God, There go I.” This saying has always meant a lot to me and it helps to keep me grounded. Whenever I see someone struggling with addictions to alcohol, drugs, sex or money it breaks my heart for them. You see, I too have been an addict. Mine was food. I once ate a side of beef in about ten weeks. For many years I would drink a case of soda every day. And do you know what drove it? I had a misunderstanding of what it meant to be free.

For many years, I lived in fear. My biggest fear was that I wasn’t getting enough out of life. The Devil dangled the same lies in front of me that he did Adam and Eve. “Why aren’t you living the good life? You know you deserve more. Ignore that little voice that’s telling you no.” His lies never change. But don’t listen to him. There is a type of freedom that isn’t free and it’s rooted in fear. The fear of missing out can make “freedom” the biggest prison of all. Many pursue the wrong freedoms all the way to the grave. I almost did and have the scars to prove it.

The Christian life is full of freedoms. It is also full of limits. This isn’t popular theology nowadays, but it is true. However much the Devil tempts you to ‘live large’ please understand that he only wants you to end up in a prison whose bars were shaped by your so-called freedoms.

God will set limits and boundaries on our behavior. He will often tell us NO! He will also give us marching orders and tell us what we need to do. In other words, He will be a good, good father. The world will tell you that he is being punitive and mean but the limits of God have a far greater payoff than any freedoms offered by the Devil. The boundaries set by God enhance life in a way that the world doesn’t understand. Every time that the Holy Ghost says NO, there is a greater yes in the future. As a child of God, I am living a victorious, joyous life. No longer do I worry about missing out. I never felt more peace than when I surrendered my will and learned to embrace the confines of God’s will. Our liberty is great, but it must be subject to his will and plans.

Pastor Ed Brewer