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Freedom to Serve

All over the world, hate demonstrations abound. Protesters are chanting ugly words. Opportunists are inciting division. Hurting people are being manipulated. All these events are carried on in the name of freedom. But, freedom from what? Freedom for what?

The Bible says, "For you have been called to live in freedom--not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but 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 5:13-14).

God's way of doing things is to provide us the FREEDOM to serve one another in love. As we watch death, hate, violence and rage on the news, we must remember that the freedom we are given is not to take sides, but to serve one another in love.

Ask the questions: How can I serve in love? Where can God's love shine through? How can my freedom touch a hurting world? What prayer can I offer that will serve up love in the midst of chaos?

In the workplace, opinions are often shared freely. Let the opportunity to serve in love be a common response. Care about the person sharing and care about the pain they may be experiencing under the surface of their words.

"In our gut, we might find it easy to take a side and plant our feet there, calling it solidarity or being missional or naming it justice or right or wrong," writes Deidra Riggs, managing editor at The High Calling. This was written after traveling with a group to Ferguson, Missouri where a young man lost his life and a town erupted into violence. "And we set out to prove our point and to prove the other side wrong. It is our default, my default--this building of walls and drawing of lines to keep each other at a distance . . . "

On a Sunday morning while Deidra's group was still in Ferguson, they visited a local church together. Still feeling the effects of the bondage and hopelessness of the local situation, she describes the contrast that happened that day:

"Our little group of five was desperately in need of relief. I felt fragile and hopeless and helpless and sad and stripped right down to my nakedness and the raw beat of my incessant humanity. I made my way to the very front row because I didn't want to get lost in the shuffle and miss it, should the Holy Spirit decide to show up with a cool glass of water. But I underestimated. Because the power of the Holy Spirit swept through that place and it filled up every corner, and it felt like the second chapter of Acts, and it took the Holy Spirit of God to remind me there is no side--no solid ground to stand on--except where Jesus is the cornerstone."

Yes, Jesus is our cornerstone, our solid ground and our reason for living. The One who said, "Whom the Son sets free is free indeed." He is the One who showed us how to embrace our freedom and how to use that freedom to serve.

Ellene Meece lives in Meeker, Colorado and works with her husband in their natural resource company while running her own online store, Grandma's Treasures Online.

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