Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World
Day 216 – True Freedom
Scripture focus: Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. Galatians 5:13 (b) The Message
In yesterday’s devotional, I suggested that perhaps one of the reasons it is tough to evaluate whether we are truly free or not is because sometimes there’s such a huge delay in revelation. Michael’s VBS buddy assumes that he’s only free if he’s getting to choose what he wants to do. That’s a problem. Sometimes choosing what we want to do in the moment actually hinders our freedom in the future. Confusing? I think of this as the principle of unintended consequences. If I think about this too much, it freaks me out!
For example - I absolutely love my life and my life’s work and my faith community. When we were first married my husband pronounced that we were going to church; I could have resisted his suggestion. I could have made – quite eloquently – a strong case against church attendance. He certainly didn’t slip that clause in the pre-nuptial agreement. Or what about when I realized that I was woefully ignorant in the area of faith? I could have chosen to try to hide this truth from my beloved. Fear of failure and a desire to look smart are powerful motivators. I could have decided to stick with my strong suit, and not venture into the unknown arena of church life. I was perfectly free to make those choices. Pete couldn’t have stopped me. If I had stubbornly resisted his suggestion – which I wasn’t all that keen on – what kind of life would I have today? It would certainly look different.
For me, freedom is revealed as we make distinctive choices between “do(ing) whatever you want to do” and “serve(ing) one another in love”. I didn’t want to go to church and feel weird because I didn’t know if the gospel of Matthew was in the Old or New Testament. I didn’t feel comfortable with the lingo of folks who had grown up in the church. I wanted to sleep in on Sundays, play a little tennis, and take an afternoon nap. I wanted to do a little work, so that my work week wouldn’t start out so hectic. I wanted to watch Breakfast at Wimbledon. But I made a different choice. Why did I choose differently? I love my husband. And for some inexplicable reason, he thought we needed to go to church - every single Sunday – without exception. He thought we should keep the nursery one Sunday a month, and agree to teach a bible study class. He thought we should make new friends (pretty much a requirement if we were going to do all this other stuff). I guess you could say my husband is in large part responsible for the fact that I absolutely love my life and my life’s work and my friends (old and new). I could have resisted and in the moment – felt very free. Instead, my love for my husband limited my freedom to do what I wanted – and helped me avoid a passel of unintended consequences.
We went to two weddings in one day a few weeks ago. Why? Because thirty years ago my husband made me go to church. In one wedding, the groom was the second born son of one of our first new sets of friends – we were newlyweds together in that class I didn’t want to attend. The second wedding, we attended because the bride was the daughter of another set of friends who we met the exact same way. We have had the grand privilege of not only loving our couple friends – but their children as well. Choosing to do whatever we want to do rarely leads us to opportunities to love and be loved. Making decisions from the perspective of serving others – that’s true freedom – and the good life. May your day be crammed full of opportunities to serve others – and may you choose wisely.
Recommended reading: In the morning read 2 Chronicles 33, 34; In the evening read Psalm 24, Proverbs 20
In yesterday’s devotional, I suggested that perhaps one of the reasons it is tough to evaluate whether we are truly free or not is because sometimes there’s such a huge delay in revelation. Michael’s VBS buddy assumes that he’s only free if he’s getting to choose what he wants to do. That’s a problem. Sometimes choosing what we want to do in the moment actually hinders our freedom in the future. Confusing? I think of this as the principle of unintended consequences. If I think about this too much, it freaks me out!
For example - I absolutely love my life and my life’s work and my faith community. When we were first married my husband pronounced that we were going to church; I could have resisted his suggestion. I could have made – quite eloquently – a strong case against church attendance. He certainly didn’t slip that clause in the pre-nuptial agreement. Or what about when I realized that I was woefully ignorant in the area of faith? I could have chosen to try to hide this truth from my beloved. Fear of failure and a desire to look smart are powerful motivators. I could have decided to stick with my strong suit, and not venture into the unknown arena of church life. I was perfectly free to make those choices. Pete couldn’t have stopped me. If I had stubbornly resisted his suggestion – which I wasn’t all that keen on – what kind of life would I have today? It would certainly look different.
For me, freedom is revealed as we make distinctive choices between “do(ing) whatever you want to do” and “serve(ing) one another in love”. I didn’t want to go to church and feel weird because I didn’t know if the gospel of Matthew was in the Old or New Testament. I didn’t feel comfortable with the lingo of folks who had grown up in the church. I wanted to sleep in on Sundays, play a little tennis, and take an afternoon nap. I wanted to do a little work, so that my work week wouldn’t start out so hectic. I wanted to watch Breakfast at Wimbledon. But I made a different choice. Why did I choose differently? I love my husband. And for some inexplicable reason, he thought we needed to go to church - every single Sunday – without exception. He thought we should keep the nursery one Sunday a month, and agree to teach a bible study class. He thought we should make new friends (pretty much a requirement if we were going to do all this other stuff). I guess you could say my husband is in large part responsible for the fact that I absolutely love my life and my life’s work and my friends (old and new). I could have resisted and in the moment – felt very free. Instead, my love for my husband limited my freedom to do what I wanted – and helped me avoid a passel of unintended consequences.
We went to two weddings in one day a few weeks ago. Why? Because thirty years ago my husband made me go to church. In one wedding, the groom was the second born son of one of our first new sets of friends – we were newlyweds together in that class I didn’t want to attend. The second wedding, we attended because the bride was the daughter of another set of friends who we met the exact same way. We have had the grand privilege of not only loving our couple friends – but their children as well. Choosing to do whatever we want to do rarely leads us to opportunities to love and be loved. Making decisions from the perspective of serving others – that’s true freedom – and the good life. May your day be crammed full of opportunities to serve others – and may you choose wisely.
Recommended reading: In the morning read 2 Chronicles 33, 34; In the evening read Psalm 24, Proverbs 20
Copyright
2008 Northstar Community
2008 Northstar Community
No comments:
Post a Comment