Freedom To Follow Christ

Parenting Pathway

In this week’s return to the Parenting Pathway Podcast, Family Ministries Pastor Dave Carl invites Elementary Ministry Leader Barbara Deatherage to share her struggle to overcome a lifelong battle with legalism and redefine what it means to be a follower of Christ.

Legalism is a big “churchy” word, but it has its roots in both the secular and Christian worlds. Legalism is the obsessive adherence to rules, law, or a perfectionist base code of conduct. When applied to Christianity, legalism can look like a long list of rules, to dos, and a code of a behavior that must be followed to be acceptable to Christ.

But, stepping back, we must first agree that we are designed by God from the beginning of time to pursue a relationship with God—one that is both healing and nurturing. But Satan leads us to believe things about God that are not true. A Christian life based in legalism is another one of the enemy’s deceptions.

“God is drawing us to an intimate relationship with Himself.”

Barbara shares her struggle that started in her childhood as the oldest child in her family. She believed that she had to pursue perfection, work hard, and obey the rules to receive approval and love from her parents, extended family, teachers, and friends. When she became a Christian as a young adult, she quickly took the same approach to faith, creating lists of “behaviors” that would earn her God’s approval.

“The Christian life is not a list; just being with God is the pursuit.”

In this episode, Barbara tells us a story that her heart was first opened to the idea of fellowship with God after the death of her mother. As Barbara was studying the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11, she noticed how the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray so they could talk to God as Jesus did. They wanted to share that relationship. Listen to the podcast to hear Barbara’s insights and be reminded of our freedom in Christ.

Breaking the Grip of Legalism

Open your heart and mind to the idea of living in a relationship with God based on His grace and mercy for you. Understanding that relationship is the key, begin to open yourself to experience God in new ways.

To read more about how this pursuit of Christ can help your kids, consider what we learned this summer.

These Kids are Fragile

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