One of the names of God is Jehovah-Ra’ah, which is Hebrew for “The Lord is my Shepherd.” If there is one thing that God knows how to do is to lead His people through difficult seasons of life. One thing that a shepherd does is look after his sheep. When one sheep goes off the property, they do everything that they can to bring them back. In the gospel writing of John, He speaks about how He is the Good Shepherd. In other words, He looks after His flock with the best intentions. It is because of Jesus that we have freedom.
In today’s passage, the apostle Paul writes to the church in Galatia saying that we are called to live in freedom. We have freedom because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. If it wasn’t for Jesus, we would become slaves to sin. He did not call us to be slaves to sin, but rather children of heaven. Like how Paul says that we are citizens of heaven in Philippians 3:20, He has called us to live a life to serve others. At the end of the verse, he tells us to use our freedom for service in love. When it comes to the word “joy,” it is an acronym, which stands for “Jesus, Others, Yourself.”
Galatians 5:13 NLT- “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for setting us free from sin. It is because of Your sacrifice that we are free from sin. Help us when we fall away. We know that we are human and we are prone to make mistakes, but help us to get back towards You. Forgive us when we stumble and fall. Help us to learn from our mistakes. In Jesus name, amen.