You Have Freedom: Now What?!

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1).”

Christ died on the Cross to set us free from the slavery to sin. By death He trampled death and to those in the tomb He granted life. He raised the dead to the new life of Heaven, and He offers each of us, personally, this same reality.

We were not saved by the Cross and washed in the Blood of the Lamb in order to be a slave to a new taskmaster. It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Freedom which enables us to choose the good when we see it.

Freedom has come to mean the ability to do whatever we want. This is NOT freedom. This is another form of slavery to sin. Because, sometimes, what we want is very bad for us. No, freedom is the ability to do what we ought to do. Freedom is the ability to choose the good.

The highest good is God. He is the goal of our lives, because Heaven is our desired destination. He wants to bring us there. He prepares a place for us there. And He promises us that even now, on this earth, He is with us. This is supremely the case in the Sacraments of the Church, especially the Most Holy Eucharist.

So, what do we do with this gift? What do we do when we recognize that we have been freed from the yoke of slavery to sin? What do we do when we acknowledge that we received this great gift without cost? The answer is simple: we are to give without cost.

Christ set us free for our own salvation. He desires, first and foremost, to save you. He firstly wishes to save you, rather than use you. Though, as you have been saved by Christ, you are called to share Christ and be Christ to a broken world. Then, secondarily, in freedom, we cooperate with His grace and we are used by Him.

When you see suffering and pain in others, how do you respond? How should you respond? How do you wish you could respond? Pray and cooperate with grace. Choose the good. In Christ, we can do all things.

You have been given freedom. How will you use that freedom?