What freedom inspires us to do
Freedom is worth celebrating!
Many people talk about freedom around Memorial Day and other holidays, but it’s far more relevant than just a few times a year.
Freedom isn’t just an abstract idea to talk about, but it’s a spiritual truth God wants to teach us.
Everyone benefits from learning how to make the most of our freedom. One of the best ways to use it is not to keep what’s good for ourselves, but share what’s good with more people.
We can celebrate freedom by serving God and serving others.
3 Ways Freedom Inspires Us To Serve
1. Freedom shows us who God is.
Before we serve God by serving others, we need to know God. The best picture of what God is like is found by looking at Jesus (Colossians 1:15). Since Jesus beat sin and gives us freedom from it, we can more clearly understand who God is and what He wants for us.
Sin enslaves us and destroys us, but through Jesus we are freed from the chains of addictions, broken relationships, and being stuck in our mistakes. We don’t have to stay in the patterns that hurt us or hinder our relationship with God (Isaiah 59:2). Freedom means that sins no longer define us; Jesus does.
2. Freedom teaches us to put others first.
Our lives are meant for a purpose bigger than ourselves. If we’re only thinking about what’s good for ourselves but never consider others, we’re missing out on something great.
The freedom Jesus gives is not a right to do what we want; it’s the opportunity to do what He wants (1 Peter 2:16). Serving doesn’t save us, but we are saved to serve.
Freedom works best when it’s used with humility (Galatians 5:13). Humility isn’t thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less and about others more (Philippians 2:3). Jesus showed us that a full life is found when we learn to give our own lives away (Mark 8:35). Serving is a practical way to give away our time and effort for the good of people like Jesus did (Mark 10:43-45).
3. Freedom is an opportunity to love.
Love is made possible because of freedom we receive from God. If we weren’t freed from our sins, we wouldn’t be able to choose to love God and love people (Romans 6:6-14). We get to experience the grace of love that isn’t demanded, but freely given. God has freely given us His love and we can freely give our love to others.
When we interact with someone in humility and love, we are helping to express the message of freedom that comes from knowing Jesus (Galatians 5:13-14).
When we look at Jesus’ example, serving people is always connected to loving people (John 13:1-17). He cares about us enough to be in a relationship with us, patiently forgive us, and help us one step at a time. He never gives up on us, even when we make lots of mistakes. It’s a relationship soaked in love.
Serving others isn’t just about fulfilling tasks, but about connecting with people.
Serving others isn’t just about fulfilling tasks, but about connecting with people. As we serve in love, we are freed from the enslavement of selfishness and we are filled with joy that goes beyond our circumstances. That kind of joy is worth sharing.
Want to experience the joy of serving and connecting with people? Visit www.newspring.cc/serve to get started.