Thoughts on Freedom

A few thoughts on freedom...specifically as initiated by the Holy Spirit.

I had a great convo today that again stoked the embers of my thinking about what freedom in the Spirit is.

I have been honored to play in worship bands and lead teams for over 10 years.  Being associated with this culture of music and worship in the church I have heard the paraphrase of 2 Corinthians 3:17

     "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

Often associated with the proclamation of the verse in a musical/worship context invites the audience member to 'worship freely.'  There is never a specific direction given, but it is implied that the audience members are now allowed to clap more, shout more, dance more, raise their hands, and commit more physical and emotional acts of worship.

There is no clarification or instruction as to what an individual is FREED from or FREED to do.

Here are my thoughts:

Simply, the freedom that is found in and of the Holy Spirit is one that frees us FROM ourselves and does not free us FOR ourselves.  In other words, we are loosed from the things that weigh us down, discourage us, lie to us, hold us back, and constrict our ability to completely surrender our lives to Jesus.  This freedom does not free us to feel better about ourselves, to expect more from God, to waste time seeking an emotional fix, and most importantly we are not freed to indulge in doing WHATEVER WE WANT.

As we become filled, covered and moved by God's Holy Spirit, our self-focus begins to diminish and fade away.

The freedom that is found in God, is one that allows us to live independent of our bank account, our fears, our doubts, our self-serving attitudes, and the emotions associated with a one-time worship service experience.

As we embrace true freedom from the Spirit, we ought to be compelled to live as Jesus did and to follow where He leads.