Baggage Claim — Carry On - Tuesday
Today’s Verse
Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (NIV)
It wasn’t until college that I realized I struggled with anxiety. I never experienced significant social anxiety and had never had anything I’d call a panic attack—so I wasn’t anxious, right? I don’t remember the exact moment the realization hit, just this deeper understanding that the unsettledness within me had a name (and a root).
I began to connect the dots that I had spent years internalizing pain already covered by the blood of Christ, and I’d listened to Satan’s lies. That wall of lies crumpled under the truth of Scripture when I committed my life to Him. In its place, though, was this feeling of intense vulnerability before the Lord and a good handful of new questions I hadn’t expected. If I’m not supposed to be anxious about anything, what am I supposed to do instead? If trust is the opposite of anxiety, what does it look like to trust the Lord? How do I live like Christ? What does it mean to walk in freedom?
I’m sure we could spend all kinds of time unpacking these, but for now, I want to focus on that last question: What does it mean to walk in freedom?
Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” This passage is pretty clear about two things: Jesus Christ is the reason we have freedom available to us, and if we let ourselves, we can slip right back into the bondage of sin.
Walking in freedom seems like a bit of an abstract concept, but Paul’s letter to the Galatians breaks it down pretty simply. Take a look at Galatians 2:21, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” We don’t need to push aside God’s grace in favor of paying a debt Jesus already settled. Walking in freedom is simply living like you know your sins are paid for. And that’s not saying you keep on sinning because you “can” (see Galatians 5:16-26). No, it takes recognizing the heinous nature of sin (and, really, how sin separates us from our Creator) to shine real light on the precious gift of salvation. Christ has set us free so that we may live in relationship with our Creator.
REFLECTION
It takes letting the Holy Spirit peel back the layers of “protection” we’ve built around our hearts (that is, hard heartedness) to fully lean into and experience the joy that comes from living in the freedom of Christ. What might you need to hand back over to God today?
