Responsibility and Freedom
“A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” Proverbs 18: 20-21
Living a Kingdom life has many freedoms and responsibilities. You will never have an increase of one without the other increasing as well. Don’t allow the idea of gaining more responsibilities become threatening to you because his yoke is easy and his burdens are light. Having more freedom isn’t becoming less purposeful. They exist because of each other, a check and balance. Isn’t that like the nature of the Father? He is as much of one thing as He is the extreme other.
I chose to use the principle of the tongue as an example to help explain. The Proverb lets the reader know that the mature individual is mainly responsible for their own well-being here on earth. No, this is not without grace. It is grace! Remember grace is being allowed to live free from the law. It is a kind of lawless life, but not without responsibilities. So as a man hears, he will believe. Romans teaches us that faith comes by hearing. Contrary to popular belief, that applies to more than just the word of the gospel. It is why we are taught to guard our gates and to be mindful of the things we take part in. Hearing is a matter of the heart, not the just the ears.
So, I am encouraging you to begin to speak to the things in your life that are unfulfilling. Sometimes you literally have to speak “life or death” to present situation. Not everything that has attached itself to you is a part of who you are. It takes courage and tenacity sometimes to face the ugly, but is it worth the quality of your life? Is the quality of life worth the little sacrifice made in order to live in more freedom? Remember that responsibility and freedom coincide with the other. Life and death exists in the power of the tongue.