Together - Daily DevotionalSample

Serve One Another in Love

Reading: Gal.5:13-26

Key Verse: “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” v.13

Paul rails against dutiful observance to the religious law with its rules and regulations – do this, don’t do that.  Inevitably, people fail to obey all the laws demands and then are guilty and can become consumed with condemnation, overcome with hypocrisy or reject it entirely. Jesus Christ has set us free from religious observance and its cycle of guilt because His grace and not our performance makes us righteous before God.

But how should we use this freedom? Can I now indulge my sensual desires in drunkenness, debauchery and defamation without feeling guilty about my actions? Someone has described freedom as not the power to do what I want but the ability to do what I ought. Before I accepted Christ I did things I did not want to do because I was motivated by the sinful nature within me. Now Jesus has destroyed that power I am free to follow the influence of the Spirit of God.

My first response is to no longer live an independent life of self promotion and self satisfaction but to serve others like Jesus (Mark 10:45). Notice this is not serving others out of a sense of religious duty but from a heart of love.

Prayer: I thank You Jesus that You have set me free to be the person I ought to be by serving others in love