A Child of the Great I Am

I came across one of my old newsletters, and this one in particular really jumped out at me. I wrote this almost a year ago...which made me sad. Sad because it took little introspection to realize I'm still living in that sad shadow of a slave. I pray it would cause you to take a second and ask yourself," Am I living as the child He intended, or the slave?"

Tim Keller has done a great study on the book of Galatians. Each week my team and I read through the study through winces and cringing. It tends to cut straight to the heart of the matter, bypassing the pleasantries and getting right at it…just hurts so good. Before I begin each week, I take a deep breath and pray God’s grace to grow and be challenged. All that to say, it’s good stuff…

So, a couple of weeks ago brought us to Galatians 5:1-15. Paul is re-introducing the truths of our freedom found in Christ. He’s confronting the problems coming from those misusing that freedom. That understanding our freedom; the gift of Christ on the Cross, and the love He poured on us, that is what propels us to obey. This lead us to ask ourselves the question, “Am I living as a Son of slave?” So, take a deep breath, and meditate on the differences. Are you living as a Son or as a slave? (Here we go…)

Slave: Compulsive obedience. Obeys God and moral codes out of fear of rejection- a compulsive, driven moralism.
Child: Obeys out of joy in your Father and out of gratitude for the certainty of his love.
Slave: Hiding. Lots of strategies to hide our inner and outer failings from one another and ourselves. Lots of gossip, blame shifting, defensiveness…
Child: Open and transparent. Freedom from having to put up a front. Able to appreciate people who are different and hurting.
Slave: Isolation. Feeling that no one understands, that no one cares. An unwillingness to trust or intense, idolatrous trust of someone who inevitably disappoints.
Child: Because of openness and transparency and a lack of self-absorbed self-pity, a growing circle of friends with whom you are neither too independent nor over dependent.
Slave: Controlled by people’s opinion. Expectations and approval of others become the real moral standard
Child: Integrity and courage regardless of who is watching. “The only person whose opinion counts is my Father’s!”