We put a premium on freedom. It’s kind of what we are all about. Many have sacrificed to ensure freedom for us; countless men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives to ensure that freedom. But despite this and even though we live in the land of the free, it doesn’t necessarily mean we are free.

Central to the Christian faith is freedom. We get saved, we are free, we are forgiven, we have peace, joy; there is love in our hearts and it feels good. We eventually make it to church, maybe invited by the person who introduced us to Christ. But a funny thing happens, it seems that the joy and freedom we have experienced is eroded away by those who tell us all the things we need to do now that we are Christians. All the things we need to do to be acceptable Christians. The life that starts out in freedom, that starts out as a gift is now somehow bound by duty and obligation. To live in freedom takes courage and is somewhat more difficult to walk in because we are shaped by the fear of what people might think or say about us. So we try hard to conform so as not to be rejected by our new brothers and sisters in Christ.

The freedom we discover in Christ is nurtured by grace. The word grace in the Greek is charis and simply means gift. But we don’t know how to handle receiving a gift. We immediately turn it into an obligation. We treat gifts from an economy of exchange. If you buy me a gift for my birthday, then I am obligated to buy you a gift on your birthday. Not only that but one which reflects an equal amount of thought, care, sentiment, and money.

And because we presume to know what grace is, we almost always treat God’s grace to us as yet another (albeit much grander) economic exchange. We react to God’s grace as though we are obligated to give back to God since he has given to us. We do this often by denying ourselves, working to live moral lives, dutifully making ourselves better people. But as Paul says in Galatians 1:7, “that is no gospel at all…” NIV

The whole notion of a gift is that it is 1) unmerited; 2) there is no obligation; 3) there is nothing expected in return. It is a gift, a grace, charis. The only legitimate response to a gift is gratitude, and it is this gratitude, which is meant to be the dominant attitude and posture of the Christian. It is the garden where love springs forth from … loving gratitude.

Have you ever wondered why the New Testament doesn’t teach about tithing? It’s because the New Testament teaches we give from a heart of gratitude and not from the burden of obligation. When we perceive the gift we have been given, our gratitude will far surpass the offering of a tithe. Everything about our life from the air we breathe to the salvation we have been granted is gift, and if we move away from hearts of gratitude, we drift into a life of duty and obligation…the world of ‘shoulds’. I should be nice, I should go to church, I should…..you can fill in the blank. This is our ‘default’ setting, to borrow a term from technology.

Living concerned of “what others will think” or a life of “I should…” is not living freely; instead it represents a life of duty and obligation, not an expression of freedom. Consequently, we are not living in the freedom Christ paid for. So in loving gratitude let’s receive fully the gift of Christ in us.