“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17 NKJV
“Liberty is your right in Jesus Christ; loving and serving one another is your responsibility.”
My thoughts today are about “rights and restraints.”
Freedom unrestrained by concern for others’ best is not freedom at all; freedom without restraint is freedom abused. I remember my fourth grade teacher describing for our class the difference between freedom to do whatever you want and the restraint of doing only what is beneficial to others as well as yourself. She spoke of personal rights and interpersonal responsibilities. She said that every person has the right to swing their arm as they please, but one person’s freedom to do so “stops at the end of another person’s nose.” I think the fourth graders understood the concept that day. One’s personal freedom should never be imposed at another’s expense. Why do many adults not understand what was obvious to those fourth graders – the simple concept of rights and restraints?
Some impulses are best restrained. You have a right to your opinion; you should restrain yourself from imposing your opinion on others when unwanted. You have a right to enjoy yourself, but not when doing so imposes on someone else’s enjoyment. You have the right to do what is best for you, when that is coupled with a regard for what is good for others as well. On a recent, full flight, I was seated on the aisle with an empty middle seat. When a man asked if the middle seat was taken, I offered to move over and allow him the aisle seat. My feelings of generosity lasted only until he commandeered the arm rest for the duration of the flight while I sat uncomfortably with arms folded, admittedly displeased at his lack of sharing such limited space. He assumed a right without similar restraint.
Let’s be real; self-interest is your first instinct, but it should not also be your last as well as everything in between. When liberty is only self-serving, it is something less than love and gives occasion for the flesh to exalt itself to the harm of others as well as your own detriment. Liberty is the fruit of love, the means by which you serve others. The Apostle Paul loved and taught spiritual liberty but he also qualified true liberty. “You have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an occasion for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the Law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Galatians 5:13-16 NKJV.
Are we capable of setting aside our prevailing self-interest – the idea of “myself above and before all others?” Probably not on your own nor in your own strength. Here’s the good news: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. We all . . are being transformed into the same image [of the Lord] from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NKJV. The Spirit’s work of liberty is the freeing of one’s selfish, sinful self to be who you were created to be and were redeemed to become. See John 8:31-32/36 NIV.
In the context of his instruction, Paul distinguishes between the ugly “works of the flesh – expressing sexual immorality, impure thoughts, lustful pleasure, idolatry, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions,” in stark contrast to the lovely “fruit of the Spirit – producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.” Read Galatians 5:17-26. NLT. Liberty is your right in Jesus Christ; loving and serving one another is our mutual responsibility. You serve best when you pick up your responsibilities and lay down your rights, as Jesus did. See Philippians 2:3-11 NLT.
My prayer for you today is that you practice restraint in everything except love.