“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

I was asked recently how sinners are saved. The person asking wanted to know if there was any other way than through Jesus Christ. What if a person didn’t believe in Jesus? What if a person didn’t know Jesus? Isn’t there some plan B by which God weighs the good and the bad and gives a person a pathway to salvation?

When it comes to salvation, there is only one way. Jesus declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

This is what the Apostle Paul was saying to the church in Galatia. There were those in the church who were teaching that a person needed to go through circumcision in order to become a Christian. In other words, there were things you needed to do in order to gain salvation. And that’s the thing – when it comes to salvation there is not a single thing in the universe we can offer up to God other than our sinful selves. We bring nothing to the table. Salvation is 100% the work and the gift of God.

That’s how Christ set us free from the bondage of sin. So, don’t take up any other laws or rules for salvation and be burdened again by the yoke of slavery to sin. Christ set us free.

We celebrate freedom from sin. That’s ultimately our Independence Day.

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:31-32).

Freedom.

Since it is Independence week, the theme of the Verses of the Day will deal with freedom.

Jesus defines for us what it means to be a disciple. And, you will see, the definition is redundant because disciple literally means to be a follower. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are following his teaching. See…redundant. But, I think Jesus tells us this because we somehow don’t seem to get it. Because we want to be his disciple yet we want to live lives according to what we think and believe is right. I know. Crazy!

Here is the first lesson from this weeks’ Verses of the Day – You cannot believe in lies and be free. Freedom is in knowing and believing the truth.

The biggest battle you face as a disciple is between what you know and what you feel. What you know to be true comes from God. God’s truth is our baseline for truth. But what we know to be true doesn’t have the same pull as what we feel. When it comes to effectiveness, our feelings have way more power than what we know.

Most of us are very good at living our lives based on what we know rather than what we feel.

• Imagine if you ate everything you felt like eating.
• Imagine if you said everything you felt like saying.
• Imagine if you did everything you felt like doing.

We’d all be in terrible shape! We’d have no friends! We’d all probably be in jail!

While we’re pretty good at living our lives based on what we know to be right, when it comes to faith issues, too many Christians give into how we feel about God, about money, about morality, about sex.

And that’s a terrible way to live. If you truly want to be free, the starting point is God’s truth. Stick with what you know. You already know how to live like that.

True freedom is found in obedience.

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18).

This verse always makes me laugh. Look, relationships are hard. And, great relationships are really, really hard! But they are worth it.

Paul recognizes that a good and healthy relationship requires the work of both parties. One cannot have a good and healthy relationship with someone who refuses to act and behave in good and healthy ways. Both parties have to agree to work toward health, and it is hard work. Healthy relationships do not just happen. They have to be worked at.

So, here’s a way to know if you are with someone who is valuing your relationship enough to work at it – A disagreement with a unhealthy, toxic person will turn into an argument that becomes a bigger problem. A disagreement with a healthy, good person will turn into a conversation that leads to a solution.

Know the difference. With the unhealthy, toxic person, no matter what you do in the relationship, it will remain combative and unhealthy. With someone who is healthy, they will work with you through the difficulties of misunderstanding toward health and peace.

So, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” However, when the other party continues their toxic and unhealthy behavior…let them be. Move on. Pray for them. Love them from a distance. You are not responsible for fixing their toxicity.

Relationships are hard. Great relationships are really, really hard. Build relationships with people who value you enough to work at it together.