Unshackled

You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything.

“Hey Lovie, how was your day?”

From a hotel balcony in Albania, I quietly chatted with my daughter back home about ordinary moments in her school day before she turned the phone over to her brother so I could start the process all over again, asking about soccer practice and an English project. Hanging up the phone ten minutes later, I returned downstairs to circulate with my traveling companions and our Albanian hosts, my homesickness eased and my heart reassured that all was well.

Our phones can be a wonderful tool. The ability to stay connected with loved ones far beyond our physical reach is an incredible blessing previous generations could not have fathomed. And social media—so often a frustrating, difficult beast to tame—has reconnected me with cousins I’m lucky to see once a decade, allowing me to keep alive relationships that would otherwise lapse entirely.

But sometimes, too much of a wonderful thing can turn into something insidiously damaging. While today’s verse isn’t specifically about electronics and our culture’s tendency to be distracted to the point of spiritual and physical harm, it’s certainly applicable when terms like “addiction” are often used to describe people’s relationship with their phones.

If we’re honest, this principle applies to far more than technology. Jesus doesn’t want you shackled to anything: phones, food, addictive substances, appearance, shopping, gambling, to name a few. He died that we might be free from bondage of any and all kinds. And the enemy of our souls desires to steal that freedom, crippling us physically and emotionally so that we become ineffective in fulfilling God’s plans.

I don’t know about you, but I periodically need to reexamine my life, looking for shackles—big and small—and bringing them before God, thanking Jesus as he shakes me free once again. He will, and he does, and that gift of freedom is one we need to protect carefully.

Julie

Today’s Act of Gratitude

What is trying to steal your freedom in Christ? Use 1 Corinthians 6:12 as a starting point as you bring those shackles to him, seeking an intentional plan toward liberty.