“And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba, Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.” Galatians 4:6-7

The other day some women and I gathered around to discuss this forth chapter of Galatians. The identity piece is what stood out to me the most, this daily lived out relationship God longs to have with us. It is the core of the truth we believe about ourselves and invades every part of our lives. We daily bear evidence of our identity – a slave or child? It is actually possible to cover this mindset that we are still slaves after our adoption, trust me I use to do it. You see, words mean nothing if our mindset and actions say otherwise, because eventually it all sorta caves in and you cannot continue to keep up the charade. Our Father seems to not want us to believe a lie about the cost of the life and death of Jesus, which made our adoption possible. What love He has for us and is so kind during the uncovering process!

As we talked, I wanted to contrast these two opposing mindsets as a way to bring this out into the light. A slave lives in fear, separation, has to earn everything you have making works top priority, punishment and pain are expected, would not think of asking for grace, no sense of belonging so that too must be found. A child has a heart full of peace, rests in their Father’s love, belongs, does not think twice about asking their Father for what they need, is at home and receives everything as a gift. See the difference? We closed our time asking our Father to reveal any traces of this slavery mindset that remain. A beautiful way to live, wouldn’t you say?