Read: Galatians 5:1-6,16-21

Freedom is dangerous in the hands of those who don’t know how to use it. This is why criminals are put behind bars and concrete barriers. Think about a campfire that is allowed to spread in a dry forest. It quickly becomes a raging inferno. Unchecked freedom can create mayhem.

This is best evident in the Christian life. Believers are free from the law’s curse, its penalty, and its guilt producing power. Fear, anxiety, and guilt are replaced by peace, forgiveness, and liberty. But this is where many often fail. We use freedom’s luxury to live selfishly, or we are careless with respect to the things that God actually entrusted to us. We slip into patterns of self-indulgent living, especially in affluent societies.

The proper use of freedom is “faith working through love” to serve one another (Gal. 5:6,13). When we rely on the Spirit and spend our energy on loving God and helping others, the destructive works of the flesh will be restrained by God (Gal. 5:16-21). Let us use our liberty to serve God and build up, and not to tear down.

Like a raging fire, freedom without limits is dangerous. But when controlled responsibly, it becomes a blessing to all. True freedom doesn’t give us the right to do what we please, but to do what pleases God.