Yesterday: Boundaries are meant to give us freedom, not tie us down. It’s all about how we view God.
We Christians always give the greatest advice. Like when someone is struggling with an addiction, what is usually our response? “Why don’t you just quit?” - Oh… great. Thank you, I never thought of that one! A distant mentor of mine (someone that has influenced me a lot but I have never met him) Matt Chandler of The Village Church in Texas made an analogy once that has always stuck with me.
If an alcoholic decides he’s going to just quit drinking and on Monday doesn’t touch the bottle. But everything in his soul is craving alcohol, he can’t work, he can’t sleep, he can’t focus, he can’t relate to his wife, he can’t play with his children because everything in him is screaming for alcohol… Is he free? No!!! Just because he didn’t have a drink of alcohol on Monday doesn’t make him free.
Blind obedience isn’t always the answer. Your check list of rules, may have no other purpose than to fuel your own self-righteousness.
Mere obedience gets you no where. Jesus (Matt 23) called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs because they looked great on the outside but they were dead on the inside. He also said in Matthew 5:20 that if your righteousness doesn’t exceed that of the Pharisees then how can you ever expect to get to Heaven?
Here’s how: Galatians 5:1 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Don’t get me wrong… there are still boundaries we are expected and commanded to follow. But we aren’t slaves to the law. We are no longer tied down by the law but are freed in Christ. So… Is God tying you down or setting you free?
Now… obedience isn’t a requirement of God, it’s a response to God.
The only thing that gives freedom is surrender to God, seeking his will and the power to carry that out. Excellent job with the Alcoholism analogy. There is freedom to be had, but it must come from God to truly be freedom. It’s not about the absence of evil, but the presence of good.
You write with such passion, and you give real-life examples that anyone could relate to, regardless of religious affiliation. I wish I could hear you give a sermon in person.
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