Curse and Freedom

When we hear the word “curse,” it can evoke a range of emotions. For some, it might conjure up images from movies or superstitions, something that feels distant and not very personal. But for many of us, if we take a moment to think about it, the idea of a curse strikes much closer to home—it’s something we feel deeply and personally.

We experience the curse in many ways, often in the struggles with our own minds and bodies. For example, I thought I’d make it into my 40s before my body started turning against me, but it happened much earlier. When I was 31, I injured my back doing something as simple as driving a jet ski during a youth event. That injury laid me up for weeks, and I experienced firsthand how our bodies can betray us, becoming a painful reminder of the curse we live under.

It’s not just physical; our minds can also work against us. As we age, we might find it harder to recall things, or we experience what some call “brain farts.” These mental struggles are another reminder of the curse’s weight.

Emotionally, we feel the curse in our constant search for peace, joy, contentment, and purpose. We yearn for these positive emotions, but the curse often separates us from them, leaving us feeling disconnected or out of place.

Relationally, the curse is evident when we experience division or conflict with others. We know there’s a wall between us and someone else, and we feel the weight of that separation. This relational discord is another aspect of the curse at work in our lives.

At its core, the curse is spiritual. It’s the separation from our Heavenly Father that lies at the root of all these other struggles. This separation is the real issue, and it manifests in various ways—physically, mentally, emotionally, and relationally.

But there’s another word I want us to consider, a word that’s the polar opposite of the curse: freedom. Think about the positive images that come to mind with the word “freedom”—an American flag, a bald eagle, maybe the feeling of riding a motorcycle with the wind in your hair. Freedom is something we all desire, something we seek because it represents the ability to live life as we were meant to.

Freedom and curse are polar opposites. A curse keeps us from freedom, while freedom is what we yearn for. But to truly understand freedom, we need to go back to the beginning, to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They had it all—paradise, perfect peace, and complete freedom. But when they disobeyed God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the curse entered the world. They were separated from paradise, from the tree of life, and from each other. That’s where the curse began, and it has continued to affect humanity ever since.

In the book of Galatians, Paul addresses the issue of the curse and the freedom that comes through Christ. The Galatians were being led astray by a group of people who insisted that in order to be truly accepted by God, they needed to follow the Jewish law, including practices like circumcision. But Paul is adamant that there is only one true gospel—the gospel of Jesus Christ. This gospel is not based on human traditions or the works of the law but on faith in Christ alone.

Paul goes on to explain that he received this gospel directly from Christ, not from any human source. He emphasizes that even he, a former zealous Jew who persecuted the church, was not justified by the law but by faith in Christ. If anyone could claim righteousness through the law, it would have been Paul. Yet he knew that true righteousness comes only through faith in Jesus.

Paul also recounts how he confronted Peter when Peter, out of fear of judgment, started withdrawing from eating with Gentile believers. Paul’s point is clear: even Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, needed to be reminded that justification comes through faith, not through following the law.

In Galatians 3, Paul asks the Galatians a critical question: Did they receive the Spirit by works of the law or by believing what they heard? The answer is clear—it was through faith. This is true for us as well. We are justified by faith in Christ, and we continue to live by the Spirit, not by our own efforts.

Paul emphasizes that living by the law puts us under a curse because it’s impossible to fulfill the law perfectly. But Christ redeemed us from that curse by becoming a curse for us when He died on the cross. Through Christ, the blessing of Abraham comes to all who believe, and we receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.

This freedom in Christ is not just about being saved from the curse of the law; it’s about living a life empowered by the Holy Spirit. Paul makes it clear that our new life in Christ is not an excuse to live however we want. Instead, it's a call to live in a way that reflects the transformative power of the Spirit at work within us.

Paul warns the Galatians—and us—not to use our freedom as an opportunity to indulge the flesh. The flesh, with its desires that are opposed to the Spirit, is constantly at odds with the Spirit’s work in our lives. If we give in to the flesh, we will see the works of the flesh manifest in our lives: sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, strife, jealousy, anger, and more. These are all signs that we are living according to our own desires rather than being led by the Spirit.

On the other hand, when we live by the Spirit, we see the fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These qualities are not just the result of our own efforts but are the natural outflow of the Spirit’s work in us.

Paul’s message to the Galatians is a powerful reminder that the Christian life is not about adhering to a set of rules or trying to earn God’s favor through our own efforts. It’s about walking by the Spirit, allowing Christ to live in us and through us. This is where true freedom is found—not in the absence of rules, but in a life fully surrendered to God, empowered by His Spirit.

This freedom means we are no longer bound by the curse of the law, but it also means we are called to live lives that honor God. The works of the flesh are easy to fall into, but the fruit of the Spirit is what marks a life that is truly free—a life lived in the fullness of God’s grace and love.

In our daily walk, we must continually choose to walk by the Spirit, to let go of our fleshly desires, and to embrace the new life we have in Christ. It’s a daily surrender, a daily reliance on the Spirit’s power to guide us and transform us. As we do, we will experience the true freedom that comes from living in the Spirit, a freedom that overcomes the curse and brings us into the fullness of life that God has for us.