Galatians 2:1-14
Isaiah 61:1
Philippians 2:1-11

One afternoon while my husband and I were dating he made reference to a line from a movie that I had never heard before. He immediately started asking me how I had never seen this movie, as it’s a classic, and told me that before we get married we had to watch it.

Just a few weeks before we walked down the aisle I found myself diving into the story of Sir William Wallace, a 13^th century Scottish Warrior, fighting for his country’s freedom.

I was captivated throughout the entire movie. William Wallace had watched terrible things happen to his country once King Edward invaded after Alexander the III passed, leaving no heir. William’s mission was to fight for Scotland’s freedom, making sure they were not molded into mini-me’s by the English government. They were, after all, a completely different country and they should’ve been able to act like it.

There is an extremely famous scene towards the end of the movie where William is saddled up on a horse in the middle of the battle field. His speech charges the citizens of Scotland, imploring them to keep their freedom. The end of the speech goes like this:

“Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you’ll live — at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”

This charge that William gives can be translated into a multitude of areas in our lives, but in particular, I’d like to channel it towards the Gospel today. You see, Christ has set each and every one of us free by way of dying on the cross. He came so that those who believe in Him shall have eternal life.

No one can take this freedom that God has given us; it is what is so beautiful about this gift.

But what we do with this gift of freedom is crucial. I’m not sure about you, but I’ve spent many moments nitpicking others actions as a believer. It’s sad really, because while I should’ve been cheering them on, and fighting alongside of them towards victory and freedom, I was part of the problem that held them back. I showed more hatred than love, and in turn only hurt myself more in the long run.

Why is it so easy to tell others what they’re doing wrong and how they aren’t meeting our standards when those standards never existed in the first place?

This struggle? It dates all the way back to the early church. Peter and Paul and the other disciples had all been grounded in the same truth that freedom in Christ was for them all. They were no longer bound by the law of Moses or by circumcision or by doing “all the things” to attain righteousness. Freedom was theirs, righteousness was theirs, simply because of Jesus and His sacrifice.

But pride was sneaking in. Peter was all for living as Christ had set him free when he was hanging out with Paul, but when he wasn’t, he fell back into living with legalism….and condemning those who weren’t following the letter of the law.
Peter had the chance to help others see that righteousness through the law wasn’t possible.
He had the opportunity to love deeply.
But he chose condemnation and judgment instead.
And Paul rightly confronted him about it!

Galatians tells us exactly why Peter (or Cephas) fell back into his old ways of condemning those who wouldn’t follow his rules…it was fear.

We are called to love, and to love in abundance, while always having our actions point back to the Gospel.

Yes, it’s easier to fear. It’s easier to judge.
I wish I could tell you that this practice is easy, but it requires work.

It’s not my job to control others, and to make them act and process the same way that I do, that’s why God created each and every single one of us as individuals.
If we’re trying to mold each other into OUR own image, didn’t we miss the mark somewhere?

Our goal of love and humility should be more along the same lines of what Paul wrote to the church of Philippi. In my Bible, the top of chapter two says “Be Like Christ.” I think that this is a perfect title for us as Christians who are walking in this freedom, while also trying to make disciples.

Philippians 2:3-4 states:
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,
but in humility count others
more significant than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests,
but also to the interests of others.” 

When we count others as more significant than ourselves it leaves us tender-hearted before The Father and changes our posture from being on the defense, to allowing us to be His workmanship.

My sweet sisters. Let’s come alongside one another, lifting each other up for the sake of the Gospel. This gift that we’ve been freely given should be shared!

If you haven’t tasted this freedom before I encourage you to seek after it. Dive into scripture. Find a mentor to walk alongside of you. Send us an e-mail and ask the hard questions. We’re here for you, and we can’t wait to walk alongside this life-giving journey with you!

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