L. C. FOX-SMITH - 19/06/25: Today I read Romans 6:15–23. That section is titled, ‘Slaves to Righteousness’.
I used to think Christianity was about control. That faith was a set of rules designed to limit life, not enrich it. But I was completely wrong. Yes, religion has done damage in the world, and people have certainly twisted faith for their own power, but that’s not Jesus. That’s not the gospel.
Obedience to the Lord isn’t about being restricted in a negative sense. We do give up things, but those things aren’t good or healthy. They bear no fruit in our lives worth sharing. For me, the fruits were shame, confusion and emptiness, which only created a fog that clouded my vision and made me reactive and restless. The deeper we go into that fog, the harder it becomes to see anything beyond it. But when I tried to see through it and fixed my eyes on the Lord — everything changed.
The Lord doesn’t force His presence where it’s not welcomed. But when we do invite Him in, when we surrender ourselves to Him, we become “servants to righteousness”, and the fruit of that is eternal life, peace, and joy. Now those fruits are worth sharing!
I remember my life before I invited the Lord into it. True peace and joy weren’t things I experienced all that often. I had moments of happiness but those moments would soon pass and be replaced by emptiness and darkness.
In my walk so far, I’ve learned that the Lord doesn’t seek to control us. Instead, He teaches us to control ourselves. That speaks more to freedom, growth and love to me.
How have your fruits changed since walking with the Lord?