Day 3 : Spiritual Freedom
It's an interior freedom, a freedom of the mind and heart. People are spiritually free know who they are - with all of their gifts and limitations - and are comfortable with who they are.
However, we have numerous preoccupations that get in the way of our hearing and responding to God's call : fears, prejudice, greed, the need to control, perfectionism, jealousies, resentments and excessive self doubts.
These tendencies bind us and hold us back from loving God, ourselves and others as we ought to.
They create chaos in our souls and lead us to make poor choices.
Lacking spiritual freedom, we become excessively attached to persons, places, material possessions, titles, occupations, honours and the approval of others.
These things are good in themselves when ordered and directed by the love of God. They become disordered attachments when they push God of the center of our lives and become key to our identity and value.
Reading Luke 1 : 26 - 38
The Birth of Jesus Announced
26. In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee named Nazareth.
27. He had a message for a young woman promised in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was a descendant of King David. Her name was Mary.
28. The angel came to her and said "Peace be with you ! The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you. "
29. Mary was deeply troubled by the angel's message, and she wondered what his words meant.
30. The angel said to her, "Don't be afraid, Mary ; God has been gracious to you.
31. You will be come pregnant and give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus.
32. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was,
33. and he will be the king of the descendants of Jacob forever ; his kingdom will never end !"
34. Mary said to the angel, "I am a virgin. How, then can this be ?"
35. The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God's power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God.
36. Remember your relative Elizabeth. It is said that she cannot have children, but she herself is now six month pregnant even though she is very old.
37. For there is nothing that God cannot do."
38. I am the Lord's servant, said Mary. May it happen to me as you have said. And the angel left her.
Reflections
I was captivated by this new term Spiritual Freedom. Because of the sins, we are no longer Free. We are the slaves of something therefore we always chase the wrong things in our life. Something that never gives us fullness.
In our awareness, we know that we live to glorify God, we believed in Him. But in our action, we do differently.
We are bound with this material worlds, acceptance and approval of others. We care so much about how we look, what we have and easily pass judgment of others.
I give thanks to God because by His Grace, He has called me for this 30 days soul purifying.
I have found what is important in my life. Knowing more about God's wisdom, reading saint stories, make me understand how small and fragile I am. I am prone to sins no matter how many times I pray and read the bible. I am still lacking in humility. My faith is still immature. I love to boast myself that I am the most righteous person and easily pass judgement and condemn others like I were God.
Hopefully, throughout this journey, I achieved this spiritual freedom so that my soul is free and I am content to be who I am without needing approval from others and not quickly pass judgement to others.
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