What the Bible says about true freedom: Serve One Another
Freedom is one of the most celebrated words in our culture. But what if the way we define freedom is actually keeping us from experiencing it fully? The Bible offers a picture of freedom that looks radically different from what the world describes, and it starts with serving others.
What Does Freedom Really Mean?
When most people hear the word "freedom," they think of one thing: the ability to do whatever they want. No rules, no obligations, no one telling them how to live. And honestly, that sounds appealing to just about everyone.
But here is the problem. If freedom is only about me, it eventually makes us incredibly self-centered. If everyone is living for themselves, who is left to live for anyone else?
The Apostle Paul gives us a completely different picture in Galatians 5:13: "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh. Rather, serve one another humbly in love."
Paul connects two things we rarely put together: freedom and serving. He says you are free, now use that freedom for somebody else.
Free From Earning God's Love
Before Paul ever tells us to serve, He wants us to understand why we serve. Because you can do the right thing for the wrong reasons. You can serve God and still be trying to earn His love.
That was exactly the problem in the churches of Galatia. Paul had preached the gospel to them, telling them they were saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by keeping rules or being good enough. But after Paul left, false teachers came in and started saying that Jesus was not enough. They taught that you needed Jesus plus the law, Jesus plus circumcision, Jesus plus performance.
Paul was furious. He knew that the moment you add anything to Jesus as the basis of your acceptance with God, you have missed the entire gospel.
He writes in Galatians 5:1: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
Are You Serving Out of Guilt or Grace?
It is easy to slip into serving out of guilt. Maybe you are trying to make up for your past. Maybe you are afraid of what people will think if you do not step up. Maybe somewhere deep down you feel like God's love for you depends on how much you do.
That is not service. That is slavery with a church name tag.
People who are trying to earn love will always serve with one eye on themselves. Did anyone notice? Was that enough? Do people appreciate me? But people who know they are already loved stop looking at themselves and start looking at others. That is where real serving begins.
You do not serve to become loved. You serve because you have already been loved.
Free From Living for Yourself
Once we understand that we are not serving to earn God's favor, the next question becomes: what do we do with our freedom?
Paul addresses this directly. He says do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh. In other words, do not take the freedom God has graciously given you and turn it into an excuse to live for yourself.
A few verses earlier, Paul lists the works of the flesh. And it is worth noting that many of them are relational: hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition. These are the things that happen when we become more concerned about ourselves than about others.
Then Paul paints a vivid picture in Galatians 5:15: "If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other."
That is what happens when everyone is fighting for themselves. Everyone wants their way. Everyone wants to be heard, noticed, and served. Eventually, we start tearing each other apart.
Are You a Consumer or a Contributor?
It is possible to be saved by grace and still live a completely self-centered life. We can come to church and ask only what we are getting out of it. But eventually, followers of Jesus start asking a different question. Instead of asking what am I getting, they ask what am I giving.
God gave you freedom with your time, your money, your resources, your words, and your schedule. The question is not whether you are free. The question is who is benefiting from your freedom.
Jesus did not save us so we could spend our lives asking what is in it for me. He saved us so we could give our lives away.
Free to Serve: What It Actually Looks Like
If you want to see what serving one another humbly in love actually looks like, you do not have to imagine it. You can look at the life of Jesus.
John 13 is set the night before the cross. Jesus is in the upper room with His closest friends. In just a few hours He will be arrested. In less than a day He will be crucified. And what does He do with His final hours?
John 13:3-5 tells us: "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet."
Why Security Is the Secret to Serving
Notice what the passage says before Jesus picks up the towel. It says He knew. He knew who He was, where He came from, and where He was going. Jesus was completely secure in His identity.
And because He knew who He was, He picked up a towel.
When you are insecure, you are always trying to prove something. You need people to notice you, affirm you, and give you credit. But when you know who you are and whose you are, you do not need to be the center of the room. You just care about meeting a need. Secure people can serve people.
What makes this moment even more striking is that Luke tells us the disciples were arguing at this same meal about which one of them was the greatest. Everyone wanted to be important. Nobody wanted the towel. So Jesus, the King of the universe, got down on the floor and washed dirty feet.
And He washed the feet of Judas, knowing full well what Judas was about to do. That is what it means to serve one another humbly in love.
Jesus then says in John 13:14-15: "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."
What Does Humble Service Look Like Today?
You can serve without humility. You can serve because you want recognition. You can serve and keep score. You can serve and grow bitter when no one says thank you. But humble service does not need an audience. It picks up the towel, sees a need, and meets it, even when no one is watching.
And when love puts on a towel, that is when the world sees Jesus.
First Peter 4:10 says: "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms."
Whatever gift you have received, God gave it to you for someone else. Maybe it is your skill, your time, your resources, your ability to fix things or organize things. Maybe it is your gift of encouragement, or simply your willingness to show up. God did not give that to you just for you. He gave it to you for one another.
Serving one another is not just something we do at church. It is the husband who gets up in the middle of the night with the baby. It is the co-worker who stays late to help someone else. It is mowing the yard of a neighbor who just lost her husband. It is making time for someone who has no one else. It almost never looks impressive. Most of the time it looks like a towel and some dirty feet.
The Ultimate Servant
The towel in the upper room was just the beginning for Jesus. A few hours later, they stripped Him of His clothes, beat Him, and nailed Him to a cross.
Philippians 2:7-8 says He "made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross."
Jesus had every right, every power, every privilege. And He used it for us. He did not just wash their feet. He washed our sin. Mark 10:45 says: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
The one who deserved to be served came to serve. The one who had every freedom gave Himself away. And three days later, He walked out of that tomb.
Where Is Your Towel?
Maybe you have been sitting in the stands for a while, watching others serve. Maybe today is the day you step onto the field. Maybe you used to serve but got hurt, got tired, or felt unnoticed and put the towel down. Maybe God is reminding you today that you were not doing it for them in the first place. You were doing it for Him.
Or maybe you are the person doing everything and you are exhausted. The most important thing you need to hear is not "do more." It is this: rest in the fact that God already loves you. You do not serve to become loved. You serve because you have already been loved.
The question is not what do I get to do with my freedom. The question is who can I serve with it?
Life Application
This week, identify one specific person God has already placed in your life who needs to be served. It does not have to be dramatic or impressive. It might be a neighbor, a coworker, a family member, or someone at church. Pick up the towel. Show up. Meet the need, even if no one notices.
Before you do, take a moment to remind yourself: you are not doing this to earn God's love. You are doing it because you have already received it.
Ask yourself these questions as you reflect on this message:
Am I serving out of love and gratitude, or am I secretly trying to earn God's approval or the approval of others?
What am I doing with the freedom God has given me? Is it mostly benefiting me, or am I using it for the people around me?
Who has God already placed in my life that I could serve this week, and what is one practical step I can take to do that?
Is there a towel I have put down because I got tired or hurt? What would it look like to pick it back up?
The church is not just people who sit beside one another. It is people who live for one another. That starts with you, this week, with a towel in your hand.
-Thoughts from our Senior Pastor, Cesar Arocha. Cesar is a native of Venezuela who came to know Christ at 16. He served many years as an evangelist with Team Impact sharing Christ through physical strength. Now he serves as Senior Pastor at Dallas Bay Church in Hixson, TN (north of Chattanooga, TN) with his wife Lacey and their four children. Cesar is passionate about sharing Jesus, walking alongside Christians as they grow in their faith, and caring for our community.
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