CHRISTIANS HAVE FUN !!!

          Paul writes many letters to several different churches throughout the bible, and there is an abundance of knowledge that we can gain from reading them… every single time that i read even a section of one of them, that i have already read before, i find myself learning something completely new. Today, I read through Galatians chapter 5, and i got to get a new perspective on what it means to have “freedom in Christ” and how to “live by the Spirit”. And as i read what Paul had to say to the church of Galatia, i realized that this part of the letter literally wrecks all of what many people have made themselves believe about what it means to “follow christ” and “be a christian”. 


    So many people that i know, or have met, claim to be a christian, and to know God. But i’d say that more times than not, these people will say “oh yes I’m a christian, but just not a very strong one.” or “yeah I’m a christian but i need to clean up my act a little bit.” or another belief that i feel a lot of people have is that they will become a christian and actually start living for christ once they get clean and get their act together… so I’ve got to ask the question, why are so many people choosing to live this way, instead of just starting now to live for God? I think the answer is a lot of the time that these people believe that once they stop living the way they are, and start living for christ, that they are not going to have anymore fun in life… that once they become an actual, devoted, “christian” they are going to be restricted to the way that they live their life. But Paul wrote this letter to the church of Galatia, because, just like today, they were full of people that believed this lie. 


    Paul opens up this chapter by stating that “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” so how has God set us free? and how the heck are we supposed to have freedom when God tells us all these different rules in the bible?… these are all questions that are so normal for people to ask; especially my younger generation… 


    But the answer is simple. When Jesus stretched out his arms and died the death that we were meant to die, He set us free. We were meant to die to sin, and suffer because of our mistakes… But instead He came down to the world, and took it all for us. We WERE slaves to sin but because of his sacrifice on the cross, we are now FREE to His mercy. But when he died, he didn’t just reach inside the brains of every single human and program us to only want to serve Him, and do good… Instead he gave us free will… He gave us a life to live, and a bible to instruct how to, and a spirit to lead us, and then left the rest up to us. he leaves it up to us on HOW we are going to live, and WHO we are going to live for. And when and if you choose to live for Him and Him alone, you are not all of a sudden going to stop enjoying life… Let me be an experienced example for this and say that when i chose to lay my life down, and start living in obedience to what Christ wants from me, life became more fun, fulfilling, satisfying, and purposeful. Please hear me when i say this: CHRISTIANS HAVE FUN!!! All of my best friends are devoted Christians, actively seeking the Kingdom, and let me tell you, we have SO much fun ALL of the time!! Yes, life is still hard, but we have a Savior that pulls us through. Yes, we get judged and persecuted for the way we choose to live, but our persecution has a purpose. Jesus gives us freedom. Freedom is NOT doing what the flesh desires; thats actually called slavery. Because instead of accepting the fruit of spirit talked about in verse 22-23 that is “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” you are instead seeking acts of the flesh that is talked about in 19-21 that are “Idolatry, and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, self ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and like.” because you know what it says after this list of acts of flesh? “those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” and whats freeing about that? NOTHING! but when you read what is says after the fruits of the spirit, it says that “against such things there is NO LAW.” and THAT is freedom!! We can live the BEST way to live our life, and bearing these fruits, and there is NOTHING bad that will come from it…  SO i will say it one more time so you can really hear it… CHRISTIANS HAVE FUN!! BEING A CHRIST FOLLOWER IS FUN AND FREEING!!


    But because of that freedom that He gives us, many times we find ourselves taking advantage  of it, and using it for our human desires, instead of our Godly ones… verse 13 says “You, my brother and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in flesh.” and isn’t that what we do a lot of the time?… Because God chose to let us live the way we want too, and not strike us with lightening every time we fall short, we choose sin a lot of the time… we all do. But despite the inevitable sin that creeps into our lives because of flesh desires and imperfect beings, there is still a hope! In verse 16 Paul writes to the church, “walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” HE says this because it could not be more true! When we keep our eyes focused on God, and keep a kingdom focused mindset, the things of this world will start to fade from our desire… and with that being said i want to uncover the lie that i wrote earlier, of people that are waiting to get clean before they come to christ… GUYS! Thats not the point! He wants and desires for you to come to him… whether clean or dirty. What would have been the point of His death on the cross for YOUR sins if you couldn’t come to him sinful? and to the christians that say they are christ followers, but “yeah i probably need to get my act together..” guess what? we ALL do! no one is perfect. and that is the beauty of the relationship that christ offers us to have with Him… He knows that you are not perfect, and He already knows every sin, every mistake, every regret, and anything else that you believe that is keeping you from Him, so RUN to Him. His arms are stretched WIDE and He is waiting for you. He desires to be in relationship with His children. But just as Paul wrote these things, he also says in verse 17 “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”… 

    You cannot serve the Lord and serve the desires of your flesh. You have to pick one or the other. Behind one, there is momentary satisfaction and what the world defines as “fun”, and behind the other there is eternal life and joy… and a whole lot of fun that you don’t have to feel guilty about later. so it’s up to you. take your pick.

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