Opportunity and Responsibility (Friday Devotional)

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

- Galatians 5:13-14

In the early years of my marriage, grocery shopping was one of my domestic responsibilities. So on a typical week, Lindsey and I would sit down together on Sunday or Monday night and figure out our meals for the week, and from there I’d put together the grocery list. But every now and then, we wouldn’t have time to meal plan together, and Lindsey would give me carte blanche: “get whatever you think sounds good.”

So I’d end up in the middle of HEB with a choice: would I shop for what Lindsey would like, or for what I wanted? If I shopped with her in mind, the grocery cart would be filled like you might expect: a box of pasta, a gallon of milk, a loaf of fresh bread, and lots of fresh produce…you know, the kind of food that bonafide grownups eat. My list, on the other hand, might as well have been written by an 8-year old: ice cream, chips, Dr Pepper, and frozen pizza. The decision of what to buy boiled down to how I viewed the freedom Lindsey had given me—was it an opportunity or a responsibility?

In Galatians, Paul writes a great deal about how the salvation which is ours in Christ sets us free. Having been enslaved by sin, the cross frees us to life in the Spirit. Having once been restricted by God’s Law (and, more specifically, by its legalistic interpreters), we now live under God’s grace. Paul is clear that when we say we are saved, that also means we are free.

But our freedom in Christ is not meant to be an excuse for selfishness, but an opportunity for service. Having been freed from sin’s slavery, we are called to nevertheless “become slaves to one another” in love, to deny ourselves as Christ commanded and willingly give of ourselves for the sake of others. Freedom is given by God for a distinct purpose: to love your neighbor as yourself.

In a society that values rugged individualism, freedom is a natural part of our vocabulary. But believers in Christ must understand what kind of freedom God has given us, a freedom that looks to serve others before gratifying yourself. “I can do whatever I want” is a child’s definition of freedom, not a Christian’s.

In a time when we need to look out for each other more than ever, we must understand freedom not as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but as a responsibility to serve. We must understand freedom in biblical terms instead of political terms, as a divine calling instead of a legal right. We must regard our freedom as a responsibility to others instead of using it as a shield against that responsibility. Because as I decided in the aisles of HEB, freedom can bring you quick gratification—but it’s far more powerful when you use it for love.