“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, in the the liberty that Christ has set you free, and do not be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1

This sounds an amazing state to be in and a wonderful way to live. Yet so many of us find ourselves burdened with all kind of difficulties and the pressures of life are relentless. One day passes by another and we do the same old routines again and again. Is this the liberty we are promised by Christ? What am I doing wrong? Do I start doing things less well, or not at all? I cannot answer those questions here, but many of our Christian sisters who have gone before, have been in much more stressful situations than us, and stress is not reserved for modern life.

How did those who worked in fields day after day, for no reward, just keep going? How did those who endured warfare, watching loved ones killed, surviving by the skin of their teeth, remain whole people? Those who went to lands where they were not known, and laboured of souls with very little seeming fruit, what was their motivation for endurance? Women who have suffered abuse and have experienced their person being destroyed through dreadful acts, how do they recover with dignity?

The answer is the same for us all. No matter what our physical, mental or economic state, for the Christian, we are free people…. We may be in bonds of one sort or another, but if Christ has set us free from the chains of sin that hold every human fast, we really are free….

The outer person can be in prison, but the inner soul is as free as a bird… No one can take that away from the Christian believer. Women in difficulty know this, and this is the source of the power they display as they cope with their life situations. It is the same for us. Only Christ will do…

So, if I am a free women, I must think and speak and live like the free soul that I am. It is possible to live free even in dark days. The Apostle Paul encourages us. It is deliberate- a standing firm, and not giving in to myself of anyone else. I am not meant to be burdened down with responsibilities, and there is strength and peace to cope. The feeling of being swamped can just drag us down into the depths, but He will keep us and lift us out of any boggy hole we have got into. The pain of loss and disease can almost crush us, be we are assured that his strength is made perfect in our weakness and he will bring us through, stronger and wiser.

JESUS has set you free, so that you will live a life of LIBERTY and no one can put you in chains again. Do not let them… It easy to follow the way of sin and follow the crowd, and find ourselves fitting in, but the free woman has total liberty to think and say and do the right thing. Just imagine that… the joy that we feel in our hearts and souls, is the fruit of that freedom… Let is stand and walk and talk in the perfect liberty of Gods word and the perfect example of our Lord Jesus Christ.