“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But don’t use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” Galatians 5:13
The other day I’ll admit that I was running late and didn’t read my Bible first thing when I woke up. As I turned on the radio, though, this verse was being spoken over the airwaves. And I felt like it was a message from the Lord!
I had been thinking of my friends who are on strict diets. They are indeed losing weight, but I know that they aren’t free to eat just anything that sounds good to them. No taste of cake at a birthday party, no pizza a friend is serving for dinner…in fact, they have to say no to most things that the average person can eat on occasion.
For me, I’m hoping to make a permanent lifestyle change. I’m not sure I could do these hardcore diets long-term. I’m glad that I have some freedom to choose what to eat and don’t have to stick only to certain foods or pay for meal plans/logs, etc.
As I was going through my day, though, I’ll be honest and say that I was experiencing a severe craving for chocolate. Was I hungry? Not at all. But did I WANT it? Absolutely! However, the above verse kept coming to my head: “Don’t use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature” replayed over and over again.
I am free to eat anything, BUT I’m not to use that freedom to indulge myself. Rather, I am to serve others in love. That includes my husband who wants to see me succeed, my kids who deserve to have a healthy mom who can keep up with them, and the readers of this blog or others that I’m encouraging to come alongside me in this journey to lose weight!
We are called to be free. We are called to exercise freedom. But, we’re not called to use that freedom to indulge ourselves. May we think about that the next time we think we MUST have something that isn’t good for us. Let’s pray that God would help us!
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for speaking to us right where we’re at. God, thank You for Your Word. Thank You that it brings life! We are grateful for our freedom. We are thankful that You died on the cross to set us free from slavery to sin. We are so blessed that You have given us a new start! Help us not use our freedom to indulge our sinful nature, but rather let us serve one another in love as You have asked. May we be able to say no to things that aren’t good for us and take pleasure in You and Your love for us instead. In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!
VALGOOD 