Fear No Fear

“For freedom Christ freed us. Stand fast therefore and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1, MEV). There are thousands upon thousands of hours of footage available showing animals caged up, animals in poor conditions, animals suffering, and animals denied the right of self-determination and basic care. It runs the complete gamut of wild animals, exotic animals, and domestic pets. Attached to these images are millions of comments from people decrying those conditions and the treatment those animals received. It also has sparked action. There are companies that were boycotted for animal testing. Products in food that people refused to purchase because of how they are harvested. And people have picketed and protested and even taken legal action against companies, farms, and individuals who have been proven to have animals in less than ideal circumstances. When we see captivity – even in animals – it pulls at our collective heart strings. We are against captivity at a fundamental level. One of the worst punishments we have in our legal system is prison. Captivity of a human being. We refer to loveless spouses as a ball and chain – echoes of captivity. We HATE captivity. We fight against it. We champion freedom. We even cross cultural lines to protest what we see as captivity in other places of the world. That’s how much we hate captivity. The reason we do is that freedom is built into our spirits. We were created by God to be free. Not just in a physical or relational sense, but also in a spiritual sense. In every aspect of our lives we are meant to be free. In our choices. In our actions. In our words. FREEDOM is important to God. Because He loves us. He doesn’t want to FORCE us into a relationship. He wants us to freely choose one. He doesn’t want to see us bound, chained, and captive. He wants us FREE. Jesus chose to die for Sin in order to open the Way for us to be free. Free in Him. Free to chose God. Free to be FREE. He loved us too much to see us remain in chains.