Dear friends,

I love Independence Day – a day full of picnics, parades, fireworks, and friends and family coming together to celebrate the freedoms that we cherish. This 4th of July, I encourage you to take a deep dive into a passage of Scripture that speaks to the responsibility of freedom. Galatians 5:13 (NIV) tells us, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

Humbly serving others with love and placing them ahead of yourself is the path to freedom. It is exactly what Jesus did when He bore the cross for you and for me. What does serving others look like? It differs for each of us. It could mean sacrificially giving to a person in need. It could mean giving up that golf outing you have been looking forward to and, instead, spending time with a loved one. It could also mean allowing someone else to have the last deviled egg at a picnic. No matter how it looks, I encourage you to find a way to exhibit your greatest freedom and serve someone else.

Freely yours,

Steve