“Though I am free and
belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as
possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the
law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so
as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one
not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s
law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to
win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible
means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may
share in its blessings” (I Corinthians 9:19-23, NIV).
I am free because of what
Jesus has done for me, and I choose to make myself a slave for the sake of others.
What does that mean? I become as others so that I might understand their
plight, and offer them the hope that I have received. Paul said that he had
become all things to all people so that some might find Christ. That is my
call, too, and it is yours. Not to force any superiority or knowledge or faith
on anyone else, but to live my faith and offer it–to become as someone else in
order that I might understand how to share it.
What a powerful thought!
If I become as Christ, and make myself a slave to others, then in offering my
life for the sake of someone else, the gospel lives in me. His message of
sacrificial love is offered. Jesus, who was sinless, became sin, and took it to
the cross. There He sacrificed His life so I might be free from sin's control.
I am free because of His love. But I choose to be His because of that love
which gave everything for me. If I can identify with someone in need of His
love, and give all my heart’s attention to them, the Holy Spirit can reveal the
deepest need that only He knows. He can guide me in what I say and do. When I
become less for the sake of someone else, then Christ can be much more in me.
He can then use me to help someone see the freedom and potential He has for
their life.
I have a story to tell
and to share. It is a story of Christ laying down His life for my sake. It is a
story of redeeming love, and freedom from all I have been. I am a free, and
only a slave by choice. He is the best choice I could ever make, and His life
is the greatest I could ever offer. John said it best. “In him was life, and
that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and
the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4, NIV). He is the life that is
offered to all mankind, and the only light which reveals the depths of the
human heart. I will allow His light to shine in me, and the darkness will not
overcome it. I will make myself a slave for the sake of others. In my freedom,
I choose Him.
© 2018 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2018/05/a-free-slave.html
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