Freedom

It’s already July! I can’t believe the first half of 2024 is already over. I hope everyone had a nice Fourth of July holiday.

Every year at this time the word “freedom” is heavily on my mind. I think about all the different kinds of freedom I’m thankful for and try to make this a month of gratitude (instead of complaining, which I default to so easily…sigh). Freedom is especially on my mind lately due to writing on this topic recently for Crossmap (I’ll let you know when the article is published) and because of my current work with incarceration ministry.

My prison visits have made me keenly aware of the many simple acts of freedom I take for granted, like moving around whenever I please, breathing fresh air, eating what I want...the list goes on and on. My friend Heather (who leads our ministry through our church) puts it into perspective well when she says that after our visits her outside problems seem like luxury problems. Indeed.

We share with the women that while we grieve with them for the freedoms they have lost, we rejoice with them that they still have access to the most powerful and transformative freedom available: Freedom in Christ. Sharing this hope in a setting where hope is in very low supply is not an easy thing. It can seem abstract and distant. And it’s certainly uncomfortable. But we’re grateful that deep and thoughtful questions are being asked, and we’re trying our best to answer them. Please pray for us that we listen and hear the Lord’s guidance, and please pray that these precious women walk in freedom and hope, even as they carry some very heavy burdens.

Reflections Questions

Isn’t it quite astounding how many freedoms we have and how easily we can take them for granted?! I’m trying to take some time each day this month to thank the Lord for one freedom for which I’m thankful. I invite you to join me.

How do you explain “Freedom in Christ”? I’d love to hear from you on this so we can incorporate your ideas into our ministry conversations.

Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. (NIV)