Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Paul wrote his first epistle to the Churches of Galatia to defend the Gospel of grace from the false teachers and to exhort the Churches to live by faith. The first two chapters are centered on his defense of his own apostolic ministry. Next, chapters three and four move into a defense for the true Gospel of Salvation by Faith. Then Paul closes out with two chapters focused on living out the spiritual life as a believer. This verse is found in his discussion on living the spiritual life. The verse begins with stating the fact that believers are blessed with freedom that unbelievers do not have access to. In the context of the historical time Paul and his primary audience were living in, this is freedom from sin, religious traditions, ceremonies, and other pagan activities going on at that time. Later in his ministry he expounds upon our freedom from sin in Romans. This availability to freedom from sin is not to be taken for granted, but to understand that it is gifted to us for a purpose. This should serve as a clear indication that Christianity is much more than simply believing in Christ so that we can go to heaven. As important as our salvation is, it is really just the starting point to a very great lifelong task of glorifying the Lord through the study and application of the Word of God as we learn to utilize the ministries of the Holy Spirit to resist the desires of our flesh. Our purpose for the freedom that comes with salvation is so that we can worship the Lord by means of serving one another. In Matthew 22, Christ Jesus ties love for God and loving your neighbor together as encompassing the whole expectation for obedience to the Lord. Serving others is an indication of humility and an attitude of having our focus on something other than our self. Christians should function as humble servants to others as Christ has demonstrated in the foot washing episode found in John 13:12-15. In humility we should look out for the needs of others ahead of our own needs (Philippians 2:3-5). We must treat people in the same manner that we would want to be treated (Luke 6:31). It is through the wisdom that results from diligent study of the revealed Word of God that will result in establishing a lifestyle of service that has the proper focus in order to glorify our Lord and Creator (Proverbs 24:3-4). Our service of worship involves serving others by means of the love that can only be learned through the study of God’s Word through the mentoring ministry of the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord for His provision of a means to worship Him through following the humble example that Christ has set before us and has made possible for us through the utilization of the ministries of the Holy Spirit.