GALATIANS 5:1, 13-14 – For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
THEME OF THE DAY. THE GREATEST FORM OF SPIRITUAL BONDAGE. I know today’s nugget theme lends itself to a subjective response. Though Christians are in the family of God and live out this relationship in the community of God, His church, we are individuals. This means we do have “tailor-made” areas of weakness. Some of us struggle in areas of sinfulness that others do not. However, I would maintain there is one area of spiritual bondage common to all of us. I would also claim it is the greatest form of spiritual bondage we will ever experience. It is ugly. It is painful. It is a joy stealer. It causes severe relational damage. It isolates people. It produces hard hearts. It creates inner turmoil. It prevents contentment, satisfaction, and a heart at rest. It fuels stale marriages. It distances parents from children and vice-versa. It fosters disunity in families and churches. It is the sin of selfishness and it is the greatest form of bondage for two reasons.
First, selfishness is the root cause of all sin because it violates our created purpose which is to live for the most selfless Being ever to exist – God. What really caused Adam and Eve to bring sin into the world? Selfishness. They listened to the devil and placed personal desires (the core definition of selfishness) ahead of obedience to the Selfless One. They became clouded in their reasoning and forgot their true happiness was found in selfless living for God, not selfish living for themselves.
The next reason why selfishness is the greatest form of spiritual bondage is due to its contradiction to the life Christ gives His people. In fact, the Christian who has experienced the liberating power of the love of God in Christ will find themselves in conflict with selfishness. It will cause “friction” in their hearts. They will fight against it through the new principle of selflessness planted in them through the power of the Gospel. They will grow to hate this “invader” in their hearts. Selfishness will not be fed but starved by the Spirit presenting to the child of God what Christ did in them as described by the Apostle Paul in today’s scripture. Paul emphasizes that Christians are set free by Christ, no longer to live for themselves, but for others. And that living is to fulfill the whole law of God – love, but not the love of self. Selfishness is so ugly because it is consumed with self-love; a direct contradiction to the liberating power of Christ that frees us from self-love and selfishness.
So, are we enjoying this liberating work of Christ freeing us from the bondage of selfishness? We may. It depends on where our focus is being directed – the selflessness of Christ in us or the selfishness that still seeks to have its way in us. The choice is ours!
PRAYER: “Father, teach me to walk in the freedom of Your Son by living a selfless life, not selfish life.”
QUOTE: “The greatest robber of our joy, peace, and enjoyment of the Lord is the theft of selfishness”