Practice Freedom

"Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ's hard-won gift of freedom is squandered. I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law. I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love." Galatians 5:1-3.

I have had some wonderful opportunities recently to trust Christ and the freedom He has given me abundantly. Through the closing of the organization I have worked for the past 17 years. Through the pregnancy of my 17-year old daughter. Through being a single mother of four. Through financial challenges. I have had the many opportunities as you can imagine to: Practice trusting. Practice praising. Practice joy in the midst of difficult circumstances. Practice humility. Practice being carried through the trials of this life. Practice reminding myself of things like "Perfect love drives out fear" and "Jesus promises to sustain me." Practice forgiveness. Practice surrender.

How do you practice freedom as faith expressed in love?