For the Joy of Living Free in Christ

Heavenly Father, it is our deep desire to glorify Your name. We want to honor Your Word, even when it squares off against our own feelings or experiences. We thank You for being kind enough to teach us the basic things about grace. And we pray that teaching might result in freedom from the bondage that has held captive some of Your people far too long.

Now we ask for several things—that You would guard us from extremism; that You would guard us from misunderstanding; that You would guard Your children from foolish, licentious living; and that You would guard us from a misappropriation of freedom. And, Father, that You would guard those of us who keep lists from thinking that our lists make us more holy. Deal first with our attitude, our Father, then with our lives—whether it's for salvation, or for deliverance from the terrible plague of legalism, or simply for the joy of living free in Christ.

We ask it in the name that is above all names, Jesus Himself. Amen.

(by Charles Swindoll, reprinted from Day by Day, July 2005, Thomas Nelson, inc., Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved)