Jesus, the word of God made flesh, makes all who believe in Him free from the law of sin and death. God addressed freedom from sin and death in His first conversation with man, setting man’s life foundation from earth to eternity (Genesis 2:16-17). Adam, the first man God conversed with did not comprehend the value of freedom. Instead, Adam stood watching the unfolding conversation between his beloved and the serpent. Adam ate the fruit exchanging freedom for bondage. Liberty for sin. Life for death. Home for exile.

The internal battle for self-control requires an external power to gain restraint. On the surface, it might seem logical to pursue self-control by trying to control oneself. We create rules and boundaries if we struggle with impulsive actions or addictions. When we fail and fall prey to our temptations, we shame ourselves. Then we try again. Relying solely on ourselves to gain control. Creating this negative cycle progressing us towards isolation. The more we fail in “self-control” the heavier the weight of shame becomes. We retreat, giving birth to self-deprecating thoughts and false theology. Our miscalculated battle plans leave us warring against the wrong enemy.

God is so gracious He is always trying to become more tangible to us. When man messed up in the garden and created this chasm between man and God, breaching our relationship with Him, He instituted the law. Paul writes in Galatians, “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of the mediator.” (Galatians 3:19) Clearer still Paul in his letter to Timothy writes, “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners,” (1 Timothy 1:9). The law was God’s tangible way to show a man on their own efforts they will always miss the mark. Man will always sin. But thank God, He did not stop there! The law wasn’t tangible enough to open our eyes to how to access Him. The law as Paul said was added until the Seed should come.

How would you feel if someone described you as meek? Would you think they thought you were soft-spoken, passive, weak, or inferior? In our day and age, meekness has drifted from its original and true meaning, often mistaken for weakness. Spinelessness. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is not passiveness. Meekness is gentleness. In fact, the virtue of gentleness contains great strength for it is the area of great restraint existing in the perfect balance between extreme anger and indifference.

Picture it! Late evening on a fall Virginian day in 2003 on a mountain college campus there in a dorm room a girl with her two friends knelt down in front of a bed covered with a dark green comforter. Right there in the tiny dorm in the space between the two roommates’ beds, her friend leads her in a prayer she had never heard before nor fully understood. However, as his words poured forth her heart began to unravel and reveal what had been hidden and buried in the depths of her soul. A pause makes way for her to open her mouth to speak. Then it happened. She prays. Not like in times past when prayer was just a method of wishing for her plans to come to pass or a negotiation tactic with a God she did not fully believe was even in existence. No, this time it was different. This time she simply spoke and revealed what had been keeping her from believing there was a living God. “Lord if you are real, never leave me or forsake me. I am giving you all of me. So do not disappoint me,” she prays as tears stream down her face and her heart beats rapidly in her chest. At that moment, she did not know it, but she was asking God for His faithfulness.