Self-Indulgence And Its Downside

July 11, 2008 Life Development, Spiritual Formation 4 Comments

I rediscovered something this week, along with 35 students and leaders on a home missions trip to Wheelwright Ky.; the human heart is where real freedom flows from. Freedom is not doing whatever we want when we want; it’s more about being true to who we are and who we were created to be.

Above all…you are called to be free; do not use your freedom for an openness to self-indulgence, but be servants to one another in love… [Galatians 5]

Real freedom [the kind that Christ invites us to] recognizes that self-indulgence has many limits and leads us to only being more enslaved by it; we eventually become slaves to our own needs and wants. But love, compassion, and giving ourselves more totally and freely to others leads us to a greater kind of freedom.

To be free is to put justice, truth, and service to others over and above our own need for recognition, power, personal gain, and success.

One Final Thought: the main teacher on the road to freedom is Jesus.

I am fascinated and attracted by His total freedom, which He insists is the way we all are created to live everyday. I think I really believe Him and want to follow!

Welcome

The world God created is good. He created all people in his image and no amount of darkness or sin can ever fully erase God's original imprint. So, we should choose to look for God's goodness everywhere and in everyone!

About George Stull

Pastor, teacher, thinker, father, and husband who believes the world is more malleable than we think and we can all help bend it into a better shape.




How can we find our way through any darkness? By making the light a little brighter!

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