Don’t Go Back to the Chains

“What the Messiah has freed us for is freedom! Therefore, stand firm, and don’t let yourselves be tied up again to a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 5:1 (CJB)

This morning, as I read this verse, I found myself thinking about the things God has already brought me through. The battles He has fought for me. The doors He has closed. The habits, mindsets, and struggles He has helped me overcome.

And I had to ask myself a very personal question:

Why would I ever go back and pick up the chains that Christ already broke off of me?

The truth is, sometimes we do.

Christ didn’t set us free just so we could keep returning to the things He freed us from.

Sometimes we think of slavery only in terms of the obvious sins of our past. But a yoke can take many forms—anger, bitterness, addiction, pride, fear, resentment, lust, unforgiveness, or even the constant need for approval from others.

And sometimes the old chains still feel familiar.

That’s why Paul says, “stand firm.”

Freedom in Christ doesn’t mean temptation disappears. It means temptation no longer owns you. Your past may call your name, but it no longer has authority over you. The chains may still be lying on the ground, but you don’t have to pick them back up and put them around your neck.

There are things God has already brought us through that we keep trying to revisit. Old habits. Old thinking. Old wounds. Old identities.

But Jesus didn’t break your chains so you could carry them around as souvenirs.

He freed you so you could walk in freedom.

So today, I’m asking myself the same question I’m asking you:

What am I allowing to put a yoke back around my neck that Christ has already freed me from?

Whatever it is, stand firm.

You don’t belong to it anymore.

You belong to Christ.

Walk like someone who has been set free.

— Rev. Carlos Figueroa
TheFreeBible.org