In Tuesday's post we talked about changing our mindsets about Christianity. We no longer view Christianity as a list of things we can not do. Instead we recognize that our faith and relationship with Jesus Christ have given us FREEDOM that we never had.
So what does the bible say? Good question. The bible says that whatever you give in to OWNS you. If you give in to disobeying God and doing things that you KNOW are wrong, sin owns you and the Devil is yo Daddy! Ok, so maybe it does not say the Devil is your Daddy but that's what it means in Romans 6:15-18. However it is Jesus Christ who set us free from the vice grip sin had on us. Why did God set us free? Gal. 5:1 says that Christ set us FREE to be FREE, lol, I love that one. Meaning that Jesus set us free so we would have the power to choose to live free. Hmm, mmm, mmm, now that's good (sorry but when scriptures get good, I start talking to myself). We don't have to prove ourselves to the unbelievers, in fact the minute that we try to play by their rules is the minute we take our freedom crumple it up in a ball and aim for the nearest trash can. (That's in Gal. 5:2-3).
Here is something you really need to know. Just because we are free to choose to do what we want does not mean that our choices will not have consequences. If you look at my beloved message bible translation of Romans 6:16-17 it says that certain acts of freedom can destroy your freedom. Ok so here is what that means. God set us free from having to make bad choices but if you make a bad choice, the bad choice is.... (you guessed it) yo Daddy and you are no longer free. If you take your precious freedom and hop into bed with Hakeem or Meaghan because Hakeem and Meaghan are fine, you will be a slave to lust (passionate physical yearning). The bible uses the term "slave" but here is a modern day way you can think about it: You will become addicted to whatever you dabble in and if you dabble in sin you will be looking and acting like the local corner crackhead and God himself will need to stage an intervention and slap you in rehab just to get you back right again. Are you getting the picture?
Tell me that sinner's don't bare a striking emotional resemblance to crackheads. A sinner never gets enough of doing stuff that is making them miserable and is killing them. I used to be a clubhopper. If you know ANYthing about the club, you know that while the building is not sinful, the stuff that goes on inside is ridiculous and a young Christian like me had no business being involved in that foolishness. My point is this though, I became this person who needed to party like all the time. It was never enough, I was never satisfied. I always needed a martini and a mini skirt to feel like I was doing something with my life. And when the night was over, the lights came on and the music stopped I honestly felt empty and lonely (and my hair smelled like smoke). But I kept doing it and kept doing it because as long as I was in that moment, I didn't feel the emptiness. And so there you have it, I was an entertainment addict and the lifestyle of socializing owned me and wore me completely out much like a crackhead. However, because I was and am a Christian I remembered who my real Father was and decided to limp my way back home and see if I couldn't get some help. Clearly I was helped but I can never get back the time I wasted and there were significant consequences for my triflin behavior.
For many many young people we get caught up trying to fit in. We want so bad to prove that we are just like our friends. Truthfully it is hard to keep people as friends if you are NOT just like them. But you need to understand 2 things that we have been over. First, if your friends could choose they would choose to be different. Part of the reason they don't know they have a choice is because you, the representative of Christ is too busy trying to be like them. Second and most importantly, we are not like them, we are free. Don't throw your freedom away just to prove to a bunch of people getting pimped by the Devil that you are like them... That doesn't even make any sense.
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