"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free ..." - Galatians 5:1
We are free people. We can choose freely. We go to the shopping center and buy anything we want. But it is not the freedom which Paul writes about. True freedom is freedom from sins. We are free when we make decisions and choices according to the will of God. This kind of freedom is not an easy thing. We are to learn how to be free. We are to learn from the wise and religious people. We can also learn how to live in freedom from the Scriptures.
But first of all, we are to follow Jesus and imitate him. Only with Jesus, and thanks to him we can be really free people. There are so many people, organizations, even governments and companies which want to take power and decide for us. In mass-media, TV internet, radio, there are evil powers which make us their slaves. We are free to choose the moral teaching of Jesus or their evil teaching. We are sometimes confused what and which path to choose. It is actually very easy to become slaves of electronics, food, cars, perfumes, etc.
However, we as Christians want to be close to Christ and his wonderful kindness (5:4). We would like to keep faith in Christ and let the Holy Spirit lead us. We decide to be followers of Christ Jesus (5:6).
With Jesus, we are able to love our brothers and sisters wholeheartedly. Yes, we are cautious and careful. We say sorry if we make wrong decisions. Even if we get into slavery, we come back to the Son of God. We confess our sins and start again. Thus, we are no longer slaves of sins but free children of the loving Father in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
Reflection on Galatians 5:1-6 by Fr. Józef Trzebuniak, SVD.
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