May 1

“So deeply ingrained in the church is the idea that the Christian life is a kind of bondage, that whenever a child of God finds himself walking at liberty, he begins to think there must be something wrong in his experience.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough, 5/1

In Hannah’s Daily Secrets of the Christian Life she talks about being “gentle and humble of heart.” Blackaby talks about serving people out of love for God.  All three of these devotionals are speaking of the same thing--to be freed from Self. The only way we can be gentle and humble of heart is to be so in love with God that Self no longer matters to us.  The only reason Self has to matter in our old lives is so that we can survive in this world.  But once we become new creatures we no longer need our old Selves.  Yet, too many of us continue to entertain and in some way give importance to Self.  This is dangerous because we can easily begin to think we are still that old Self.  This affects how we serve people.  As Christians we know we are to help people, but if Self is in on it we will soon begin to expect something in return for our effort.  Or we may get caught up in trying to earn God’s favor.  All these things encourage pride in us.  True liberty means we are free to love God and to walk in the way He has prepared for us, trusting His love to take care of our needs.  We are then freed to help others without regard for ourselves.  This is freedom in Christ.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”  2 Corinthians 3:17