Galatians 5:13-14

Galatians 5:13-14 – You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in Love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.” God has called you to be free and through Christ Jesus we can have that freedom, but be careful. Just because we are free to do what we want does not mean we should. “Everything is permissible for me,” Paul says, “but not everything is beneficial.” We need to be careful to only do what is a benefit to us and those around us.

Do not use your freedom to indulge in the sinful nature. We will always have our sinful nature while we are in this world. It will always be craving the things that are contrary to the Word of God. If we choose to indulge or give into the cravings of the sinful nature they will get stronger.

Let me give you an example: Have you ever gone without eating for a time? Say you missed lunch, not because you are fasting, but just because you were busy. Time flew by and before you knew it dinner time was approaching. You are starting to get hungry, but not overwhelmingly so. You decide to have a snack. Before the snack you were fine, but afterwards you realize just how hungry you are and now you feel like you are starving.

When you give your flesh a taste of what it wants the desire for more increases exponentially. So be careful not to indulge your sinful nature; instead serve others in Love. When you are serving in Love, the desires of the flesh tend to fade away.  If you try to avoid sinning by obeying the law you will fail, but if you just Love people you will end up obeying the law because your desire to treat them well will supersede your desire to sin.