August 26, 2015 – Galatians 5:13-14

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14Freedom always comes at a cost.  Our spiritual freedom comes through the sacrifice of blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Our physical freedom comes at the cost of the blood of soldiers who fight for that freedom.We are warned not to use our spiritual freedom in Christ to choose a sinful life, but to use our freedom to serve others.  Once we learn to have the attitude of a servant-heart, we are ready to experience true freedom from stress and anxiety.Love your neighbor as yourself…We tend to paint ourselves as saints and our neighbors as less than perfect.  Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.  Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well.  You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had... Philippians 2:3-5Our purpose in life is to serve God.  We can only do this if we pursue righteousness in every part of our lives. But keep away from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace, in company with others who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22Speak good words…worthless speech does not please God.  No one can influence someone else who expresses other than faithfulness, peace and joy.This is how the Lord responds: “If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. If you speak good words rather than worthless ones,  you will be my spokesman. You must influence them; do not let them influence you!  Jeremiah 15:19