John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

We live in scary times because of all the uncertainty that we're experiencing. We try to live our lives as normally as we can, but currently, there seem to be so many setbacks that none of us can find a "normal" routine. As creatures of habit, who have mostly relied upon things being stable, we find this deeply troubling and worrisome. As our worries increase, so do our fears, and as our fears increase, our freedom diminishes. Fear is the opposite of freedom. Why? Because fear imprisons us.

Freedom, however, is not the right to do what we want and act recklessly — that's actually foolishness. Freedom is the God-given ability that human beings have to do the right thing at the right time, but not to do what we want just because we desire it. Sadly, so many people mistake selfishness for freedom and confuse their rights with their faith. Christ used His faith and freedom to save the world, which involved sacrifice, humility, and love. So shouldn't we as Christians be willing to show and do the same?

God was not obligated to send Jesus into the world to become the cure for our sins, but His love for us compelled Him.

Jesus was not constrained to give up His life to grant us forgiveness, but our freedom required Him to die as a sacrifice for our sins.

We don't have to care for one another, but our faith expects it, so we, who call ourselves "Christian", should be at the forefront of doing what we can for others, not just for ourselves. If we are more concerned about our individual rights than the common good, then we need to get back to the cross and look up at Jesus and ask ourselves this: what rights did He give up to fix our wrongs?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, release us from fear by showing us the freedom that love provides. In Your holy name, we humbly pray. Amen.

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About the author:

John Stuart <traqair@aol.com>
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
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