Freedom to do good!

Word from the Center
Written By Dr. Gregory Seltz

Would you agree with me that there is a weariness in our culture today, especially for those who try to reflect biblical values in their lives? When the Bible tells us to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15), our culture often attacks. It challenges any limitation on one’s lifestyle, ridiculing the notion of their being accountability for acting contrary to the Bible’s definitions of goodness, truth, love, morality, or, for that matter, even life itself. What has been ramping up the last few years (and this is a strategic thing for the “secular-pietistic-statists” in our midst) is the public shaming, demonization, and intimidation of those who confess Christ. Sometimes legal punishments are even imposed on those who seek to express His grace, mercy, love, and service to others on His terms. In that sense, it is a different time in America. The notion that we are “freed to serve” others on God’s terms has been recast as “freedom to do whatever I want unless you can stop me.” And those of us with a healthy sense of our own sin, brokenness, and need for grace realize that there are two “freedoms” at work in our culture today. One is real freedom, the other counterfeit. One is the freedom to do what is right which flows from a grace relationship with God in Christ. The other is to do as we please on our own terms, as if the solutions to our deepest problems are within our grasp.

In the book of Galatians, St. Paul instructs us about the power of authentic freedom which comes from Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, and it is offered to all as a gift of grace. In our passage today, Paul reminds us that this authentic freedom gives real purpose in this life; it is a freedom to serve. It is the joyful opportunity to reflect the gracious love we’ve received to others so that they too might come to know the real freedom that Christ has made possible for them.  The power of this “good news” freedom is that in Christ you have been “set free” for life now and into eternity. And you can live already now with that enduring perspective. You can face whatever you are up against today. This freedom in Christ is always looking for ways to do good “as we have opportunity.” That’s a freedom which is active in love, eagerly looking for ways to be His people for others until we reap the harvest of God’s work for us in Christ. Wow! That’s freedom in action empowered by His love and mercy received through faith alone!  

So, on this July 4th, be reminded of the fact that you need God’s love and that the world needs His love as well. As believers in Jesus, you have eternal freedom in Jesus Christ. And because of the temporal freedoms granted to citizens of this country, you have the opportunity to share his love! As believers, we get to shift our focus away from ourselves—which is hard to do, I’ll grant you. But we can, because Christ always has His gracious, loving eyes on us. When we “shift away” from ourselves, God allows us to see more clearly the opportunities for love and service that are presented to us each day. In Christ, you are free from being ruled by your burdens and you are free to do good for the glory of God.

So, take up the challenge to do good as you have opportunity, not because you have to, but because you get to in Jesus’ name. Remember that politics won’t save us. Money can’t give life meaning. Power and prestige, even education and technology, can be both a blessing and a curse. But living each day in the freedom that comes by faith in Christ empowers you to look for ways to love and serve those whom God brings into your path. Freedom opens up opportunities to serve. In Christ, look for ways to do so today. Others will be blessed that you do, and so will you! That’s a way of life that endures forever.

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, help us to be ready to do good as we have opportunity, to share the love and grace we’ve received abundantly by grace from You. AMEN.

See Also
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SEEING THINGS FROM GOD’S “MISSION-VICTORY” POINT OF VIEW!

D.C. We have seen religious liberties for Christians now protected and defended rather than threatened and litigated. We have seen other constitutional protections undergirded as well. But sadly, we are also seeing a growing callousness to the issue of life, not just from a select group of secular elites, but even from American citizens who are religious. The Pew Research Center shows that while conservative Christians still see abortion as an illegal action against innocent Children in the womb, other Christians are beginning to support the “abortion in all circumstances” mantra in pop culture.  The abortion euphemistic cover of a constitutional “right to choose” has been properly litigated, but now the deceptive phrases of “reproductive freedom” and “women’s health care” has many callously embracing the killing on demand of innocent children right up to the moment of birth. Politicians and citizens alike are growing in their support of the outrageous notion that a child can be aborted up to the time of birth and even after it is born, as long as the mother and the doctor decide.

May Bulletin Insert
May Bulletin Insert

The Bulletin Insert is designed to be printed and cut in half to fit conveniently inside a Sunday worship bulletin. Each month an insert will offer insight, encouragement, and information from the LCRL on the topics of Religious Liberty, Life, Marriage, or Education.

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May 2025 Bulletin Blurbs

The dates identifying the LCRL bulletin blurbs are only suggestions. Please feel free to use any and all of the bulletin blurbs as your ministry needs allow.

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Sacrificial, Unconditional, Incarnational: A Biblical View of Marriage

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17 …. What then is this that is written: “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER STONE?” 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.

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The Common Order of Christian Love

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April Prayer Partner Thursday
April Prayer Partner Thursday

Prayer Partner Thursday provides a month-long prayer emphasis in one of the four Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty areas of emphasis: Religious Liberty, Sanctity of Life, Educational Freedom, and Marriage as an Institution (family).

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RECONCILED RECONCILERS!

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17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

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Making the Case for Life

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11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Don't Be Political
Don't Be Political

Don't speak against abortion, though it will undermine everything you say about the sanctity of life and the Incarnation, our Lord who made His life in the womb. Oh, and babies will be killed. Don't be political and speak the truth of marriage, though God gave it for the sake of all children, so that they might have a mom and dad. Whatever you do, don't get into the whole male and female debate. Let the confused kids fend for themselves. Don't go out of your way, like some Good Samaritan to help them. Don't stand in the way of the predator wielding the knife.

Dr. Gregory Seltz
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