Free in Christ- free to live and free to love

It was the beginning of February; Alana turned the calendar to the new month and felt a tug in her heart. She had started January with lofty goals that she would not join gossip sessions at work, and she had already failed.

 Jade, a mother of 2, woke up feeling awful too. She had promised God and prayed that she would take the children to Sunday school each week in the new year. They had missed 2 Sundays in a row because of the flu and because they had family visiting. She hated giving excuses. She knew that her life had been touched and molded because of Sunday School, Youth group, and being regular to church. She heaved a sigh as she sat down with her Bible, to dig in.

Tina had vowed to hold her tongue but had lashed out at her alcoholic father when she heard him shouting at her dear Mum. Life is so hard she whispered in her heart as she wiped a tear. 

I had decided never to judge anyone. That was my ‘heart attitude’ to work on, for 2024. Yesterday I failed. I had judged the way someone used their time and money. God convicted me. I ran to him in prayer. 

Like Alana, Tina, Jade, and me, maybe you too feel let down and a failure as you think back on something you so wanted to do or wanted to avoid altogether in the new year. 

Regret, shame, and fear can be the words written in bold across our hearts at this time.

A time when we have failed, let ourselves down, or not kept a promise to God.

Romans 8:1 says that in Christ we have no condemnation.

Romans 8:1 NIV

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

Romans 5:8 explains why it is so – While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

And so dear friend, you and I do not live under the law but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

Can I ask you to stop right here and pull out your Bible to mark the verses, highlight them, meditate on them, and then, yes-declare them aloud and breathe in the meaning?

God’s word sets us free- we can sing the words of this hymn and mean every word. ‘My heart was free, I rose, went forth and followed Thee’.

What might be stopping you from living a life that is free to live and free to love?

Where are you holding back instead of walking free?

I know I can become silent and withdrawn when I fail. God does not want us to live a life of fear and regret.

Run to the Lord and talk to him.

Jeremiah 31:34 NIV

For I (the Lord) will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.

Soak yourself in the everlasting love of God. A love that draws you close. As I read and learned about the love of God, I took a piece of foil and started scrunching it in my hand. I soon had a small foil heart to remind me of God’s unfailing, everlasting love which draws me close. Maybe you would like to do that too. I love drawing my little grandson close to me to cuddle and kiss him. That is what God does for us.

Nobody on earth can love us the way God does. 

Jeremiah 31:3 NIV

I have loved you with an everlasting love

I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

God is not a miser. His love is lavish as 1 John 3:1 describes it.

1 John 3:1 NIV

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

What changes can we see when God’s love washes over us? How does a ‘free in Christ’ life look?

 Alana knew that with God she could start again. Now when the lunch room at work gets chatting about a coworker who had been through a divorce or about a Union meeting,  she quietly gets up and walks to her room, committing the situation to God.

Jade, Robert, and their twin girls have become members at a church nearby and Ruth and Rebecca love Sunday school and have memorized so many verses! Jade was a joyful Mum!

Tina met Dad over coffee and he had agreed to join the Alcoholics  Anonymous group at church. Each week after an AA session, Tina meets her parents with a home-cooked meal. She is so grateful for God’s grace and presence which she feels tangibly in her family and home now. The joy and peace which she had longed for was now a reality.

As for me, I have made a fresh start again with God. He has helped me to pray for people whom I judged or criticized before.

I have my foil heart, (which reminds me of God’s lavish love) on my study table- where have you placed yours? Let us live free in Christ as Christ’s followers around the world.