Sunday, September 6, 2009

Truly Free!

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."--Romans 8:2

People always comment about how the life of a Christian is too strict, too structured, too boring. I'm hear to tell you that the life of a Christian is the only true, free life! Before I gave my life to Christ, I was enslaved to sin. I was "addicted" to pride, "addicted" to keeping up with the Joneses, "addicted" to self fulfillment. People can be enslaved to any number of things whether alcohol, drugs, money, or anything I listed above. Those are the true slavery of today. With Christ, I am free from all of those, Praise Him!

You might say that I have too many "rules" to follow, but those "rules" are guidelines to a better life. Let's just think about a few of the "rules".

No pre-martial sex--By not having sex before marriage, you are keeping yourself from a number of hurts: the hurt of disease, the hurt of a broken heart, the hurt of an unplanned pregnancy, and the list goes on. By not having sex before marriage, you have a special gift to give to your spouse. It will not only create a special bond between the two of you, but it will free you from thinking about how you "rate" against other people your spouse had been with. It will free you from wondering if your spouse is thinking about a previous partner while you are together. It will free you to be completely open and honest together without any pre-conceived ideas of what it is supposed to be like.

Tithing--By giving a portion of what God has given me back to Him and His minstries, then I am reminded that all that I have is not of myself. I am blessed beyond what I have given back. God provides for me when I see no humanly way possible (because there is no humanly way possible!). I am free from worrying about how something is going to work out because God is in control. I am free from the stress of "making ends meet" because I know that God already has provided for all my needs (and sometimes my wants!).

Not "partying"--I was never a big partier to begin with, but now I don't feel the "need" to go have a drink to have fun. When people decide to get "drunk" thinking it's the only way to have fun, they are losing so much more. They are losing control of their own senses. Some people go so far as to not even remember what they had done because of too much drinking. I can have fun just fellowshiping with my friends and the best thing is that I will remember all of it later! Another great side-effect of not drinking is the money that is saved!

I could continue to go on and on about the freedom one recieves when they accept Christ as their Savior, but I think you get the idea. Life with Christ is the true freedom!