The Apostle Paul wrote a powerful message to the Galatians that should ring loudly in your heart: freedom.

There are many reasons why we believe that we can earn God’s love and acceptance. Ultimately, this belief makes us legalistic, and it can ultimately lead to strict rule-keeping and perfectionism. These can be cages that never allow for freedom:

There once was a bear that had lived its entire life in captivity. A kindly gentleman visited this bear every single day. As he pondered how to help the bear live its best bear-life, he decided to purchase the bear and find it a home in the forest near his property. The bear had lived a life imprisoned in an eight-foot by eight-foot cage, and he knew nothing else. When the kindly gentleman released the bear into the forest, the bear knew nothing more than the eight-foot by eight-foot parameter and continually walked that same imaginary path. Even though a wild strawberry patch was located very close by, the bear continued his eight-foot square walk. As the kindly gentleman studied the beautiful animal, he wondered how to help the bear break the mental bars that had formed over a lifetime of habits. Further attention yielded God’s solution for the kindly gentleman: “Leave the bear alone, and it will figure it out by reason of its own nature.”

The cage becomes the nature, knowing nothing else. By God’s grace, we are free—and through the Spiritual Journey, freedom becomes our nature. Allow the Spirit to work, cooperating in every way so that the God-nature can develop.

We can’t act differently until we know differently. To know differently, allow the journey’s perfect work to take place. At completion, you will be free…free indeed.