What is True Freedom?

What is obedience? What is freedom? These questions may seem like easy questions to answer. But dig down into them and you will find they are at the center of nearly every choice we make.

Oswald Chambers is quoted as saying, “If a child gives in to selfishness, he will find it to be the most enslaving tyranny on earth. …yield for one second to anything in the nature of lust, and although you may hate yourself for having yielded, you become enslaved to that thing.” He was basically restating what the Bible says in the verse above. “Offer yourselves to sin, and it is your last free act.”

Obedience is defined as “dutiful or submissive compliance to the commands of one in authority.” That might sound harsh to some. However, keep in mind that biblical obedience is obedience born out of more than just duty. Obedience is born out of love! Love for the Father and a humble submission to what Christ has done for us. Obedience alone, following the “rules” of Christianity, is not what the Christian life is about.

Living to obey rules won’t get you far. Living to love the Lord our God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your mind, in loving obedience, will bring you freedom like you have never experienced. It is a promise the Lord makes to His people – and that includes you!

Give thanks to the Lord that He provides us with structure to thrive as His people:

Dear God, You know our love and obedience is not perfect. We recognize that we will make mistakes. Please help the desire of our hearts to be moved towards an ever-increasing obedience because of our love for You, as You do Your good work in us and through us, so that we can find true freedom in You. Amen.

This devotion provided by Chad Johnson of Compassion International, Scrum Master and Child Advocate