Freedom

By Karysse Trandem, DO

"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, NIV 1984).

When considering the freedom Christ won for each of us on the cross, I love to think of the final courageous scene of the movie Braveheart. Mel Gibson portrays William Wallace, the Scottish warrior leading the revolt for Scotland's freedom against England's abuses and oppression. After all of his fighting for the people, he is betrayed, captured and, while being tortured to death, still shouts with his last breath, "FREEDOM!!!" What a picture of Christ. It is for our freedom that Jesus Christ, the greatest warrior-hero of all time, gave His life with the truest love for us. We now have the freedom from the abuses and oppression of our enemy Satan. By the spirit of the Living God, Jesus was raised to life again and now sits at the right hand of the Father, still crying out "FREEDOM!!!" for you, His chosen bride. His life was given so that we can live with the freedom from guilt, shame, worry, envy, pride, hate, despair, fear, condemnation and death. Beloved, what a joy it is to honor and love our Savior by living today in that eternal freedom He purchased for us with His own blood.

The most precious and greatest gift of our lives is to worship the Lord. It's amazing that every time we turn our thoughts to Jesus and make much of Him, He gives right back to us 100-fold, expressing the intimate knowledge of His endless love for us. What a giving, compassionate, generous, loving Father, Savior and husband. It is this, His perfect love, which allows our hearts to fully experience His endless freedom, and, in turn, share it with those around us: patients, nurses, colleagues and those in our personal lives.

The apostle Paul goes on to urge us to use our freedom to serve and love those around us, "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love" (Galatians 5:13, NIV 1984). With the ever-increasing knowledge of His love for us as we worship Him, let us now turn and share that love with those around us, showing them the true freedom in Christ. Every soul longs and aches to know and love God. As we walk in His miraculous freedom, we can't help but share these gifts with those we touch at our workplace and elsewhere in our lives. The Great I Am, whose love for us has set us free in every possible sense of the word, gives us the ability to unashamedly love Him, be consumed in His love for us and share His love and Freedom with those around us.

Dear sister, let us take hold of our great freedom today by worshiping the One who gave His life for our eternal freedom, loves us beyond measure and allows us to share His love with our patients and all those around us.

"Loving Father,
Thank You for saving my life by cutting the chains of my slavery to this world and sin and allowing me the freedom to live forever in perfect love with You. I worship You, Jesus, and give my whole heart and life to loving and serving You, experiencing Your great love for me and freely sharing that love with others as I serve them through medicine/dentistry and in my personal life. Holy Spirit, take all of me, and let Your freedom reign in my life. I love you. In Jesus' Name, Amen."