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The fine lines of Legalism · The Living Freed Podcast

0:20
What is up, everyone? This is episode 25 of the
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Living Free podcast. Thank you for tuning in.
0:29
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. If
0:33
you tried to tune in this past Thursday, I'm
0:36
so sorry. I really had the intentions of putting
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out like a fun little episode that's lighthearted
0:44
and cute and just conversation based. And then,
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sorry. And then, well, honestly. We'll dive into
0:54
what I've been up to and that will tell you why
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it didn't happen. So the week before, you should
1:00
have heard in my what's up is that I was going
1:04
to a wedding, which wedding was great, beautiful,
1:07
gorgeous, like could not get over how pretty
1:09
the wedding was. So fun. The best time. But leading
1:13
up to the wedding, I did what I always do, which
1:15
is I planned to leave earlier. I got everything
1:18
done a lot later than planned. I left later than
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planned because apparently this is who I am.
1:23
I used to be an on -time girl. Apparently not
1:26
anymore. Not loving the side of myself that's
1:28
come out in 2025. That doesn't matter right now
1:33
though. This is not a therapy session. Anyways,
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yeah. But let me tell you, real girlhood is...
1:45
I was headed to the wedding. Well, not the wedding,
1:47
but I was headed to the Airbnb the night before
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the wedding. And there's a stretch, y 'all, on
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this highway. I don't even know the name of the
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highway. Where it's like 93 miles. 93 miles of
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no gas stations that I would go into by myself.
2:05
No food stops. Nothing. Like truly nothing. And
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when I tell you your girl had to pee, she like
2:13
legs were crossed. in the car also i was starved
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i told myself in the car when i left the house
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i was like okay i'll get a snack like two hours
2:22
into the drive because the wedding was up in
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virginia beach and that will be like my little
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treat to myself and i'll keep going well two
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hours into the drive after that last Bojangles
2:34
I passed which I was not craving Bojangles there
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was not another chance so I suffered and I went
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from being like this is such a far such a far
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such a fun car trip to being like this is the
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worst car trip of my life I don't know how I'm
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going to survive this I can't wait to get to
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the Airbnb this is just like the worst. I wish
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someone was in the car with me to keep me company,
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blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, which I'm never
2:58
like that because I love to turn on my little
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audio book and listen to the music I want to
3:02
listen to. Anyways. So yeah. So I was like, this
3:05
is terrible. And then after those 90 miles, I
3:08
find a gas station. I get a snack. It was just
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like a Lunchable. I don't eat Lunchables, but
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it was a Lunchable. Get gas. And when I tell,
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oh, and I use the bathroom. Praise God. I did
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use the bathroom and they had a very clean bathroom.
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Thank you, Jesus. And when I tell you, my whole
3:26
attitude shifted the second that lunchable hit
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my lip. I was in the car and I was driving. I
3:31
was like, this has just been the best road trip.
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Like what a fun little road trip I've been on
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by myself. The last three hours have been so
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fun. I can't wait to get to the Airbnb and see
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my friends. Like what a blast I'm having. So
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really like big attitude switch up once I went
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potty and had my snacks, which was crazy. But
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I feel like that's just being a girl. And if
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you can't relate to that, I'm kind of sorry because
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my life instantly got better by the tiniest thing.
4:00
Okay, so yeah, the wedding, gorgeous. There was
4:03
dolphins swimming out in the water behind where
4:05
they got married. There was a band. I've never
4:08
been to a wedding with a band. Low key, a vibe.
4:12
I did not think I was going to enjoy it. I really
4:15
enjoyed it. I had the best time when the band
4:17
was playing. The food, phenomenal. Everyone looked
4:21
gorgeous. Like there was every single person
4:23
at this wedding was beautiful. Just absolutely
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beautiful. And then they went to the bar. That
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was just like a couple blocks down from the venue
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that the bride and groom met at. And it was so
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cute to like see where they had their like, honestly,
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in my opinion, love at first sight. Sue a girl.
4:40
Love at first sight moment. Yeah. Anyways. Okay.
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So then I get home from the wedding on like Sunday.
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I'm exhausted. I think we're all exhausted, but
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I left around like 8 a .m. Get home around 12
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-ish. I come into the house, sit on the sofa,
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and I don't think my butt gets up again. Well,
4:59
I had to get groceries. And then I had to work
5:01
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then leave Wednesday
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night to go to what we call, doesn't mean it's
5:07
what we did, but it's called Blackout Wednesday
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with my little roomie bestie and my older brother.
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And then my little cousin ended up meeting up
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with us. And yeah, and then Thanksgiving. And
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Thanksgiving was great. Thanksgiving was so much
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fun. So that is why we don't have an episode
5:30
for Thanksgiving on Thursday. There was a lot
5:34
happening. Because leading up to that trip, I
5:37
also worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And then
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I only had Thursday off. Which is why you only
5:43
have an episode for that Thursday. So yeah, in
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case you're wondering why I let you down, that
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would be why. Speaking of Thanksgiving though,
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let's talk about what's in. So what is in is
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good food. Honestly, good food and Christmas
6:01
lights because tis the season. We are past December
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1st. Your girl did already look at Christmas
6:07
lights, November 28th. Sue me. It's fine. We
6:11
also did Flotilla. Listen, you know what? I was
6:14
going to say something else is out. Flotilla
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is out. Okay. I have been to flotillas before.
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I've been to the Wilmington flotilla. I have
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been to the Newport Beach, California flotilla.
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And I have never been so let down as a flotilla
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of 2025. When I tell you, 12 boats came by. 12.
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That's it. It was like 38 degrees out. They take
6:41
the bridge up so you can't go home and get to
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the other side. It was freezing for no reason.
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took my nephews home with me from Raleigh to
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come spend the weekend after Thanksgiving. And
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I like talked up this flotilla to them. I was
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like, there was a time I went to a flotilla and
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there was a DJ on a boat and they were rocket
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launching t -shirts off the back of it. And there
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was a time that this guy was shooting off fireworks
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off his boat and there's this and there's that.
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And then none of it happened. It was the most
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mediocre boats I've ever seen in my life, except
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for there was this rowing crew. that like had
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their rowing but I don't know what it's called
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anyways they're like long rowing boats that was
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decorated and then they were rowing in the dark
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and I thought that's actually kind of impressive
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you had to convince like 12 friends to do that
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I'm impressed maybe more because you have to
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have a leader anyways um And we bought hot chocolate
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leading up to it. And it was going to be such
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a cool experience for them because they don't
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live at the beach. And then it was the biggest
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letdown and they were just freezing cold and
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nobody was happy. And so, yeah, Wrightsville
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Beach Flotilla 2025 Committee, I have beef with
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you. We need to have a conversation because what
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was that? I heard y 'all jacked your prices up
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and I have beef with that. Why would you do that
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to these people? We are all out here just trying
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to have fun. That's it. We're just out here trying
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to have fun. What is wrong with you? And enjoy
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the holidays. So yeah, that's my what's out.
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I know that sounds super serious, but I'm upset.
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Your girl is upset. I genuinely was really looking
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forward to it. So yeah. Okay, let's dive into
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this week's episode. um before we keep going
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in this episode I want to let y 'all know yes
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I have another cold my nose is so stuffy I work
8:29
really hard to stay healthy I really do but when
8:33
I run too hard my body gets really worn out and
8:37
sick And I had my period when I was going this
8:40
hard. So my immune system was down. So if I sound
8:43
like I have a stuffy nose or I'm on the verge
8:46
of tears, I promise you I am not on the verge
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of tears. My nose is unbelievably stuffy, but
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the type that like won't come out. So now I sound
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like this. Anyways, thank you. And let's also
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get back into this episode. Okay, sweet friends.
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I want to ask you a question. Have you ever heard
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of the word legalism? And do you know what it
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means? Well, if you know what it means or have
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an idea of what it means, then great. And if
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not, and you're wondering, what does this have
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to do with living free? Also, great, because
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your girl is about to tell you. Webster defines
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the word legalism as strict, literal, and excessive
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formality to a law or to a religion or moral
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code. And in the Bible terms, it basically means
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a system of religious thought and practice that
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emphasizes adherence to a set of external rules,
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traditions, and laws to earn God's approval and
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salvation. It is a focus on self -righteousness
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through rule keeping. So let me break this down
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in the simplest way I can think of. Let's say
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you're participating in a race and the only rules
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when you sign up is that you need to show up
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to the race and cross the finish line. Now you
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show up to the race. and get a number, and now
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you're being told that to actually run this race
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properly, you need to be wearing a certain shirt
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so everyone knows you're running this race. Your
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number isn't enough. Next, you're told by someone
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else to get in line, and you have to stay exactly
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in this order. If you don't, and you outrun the
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person in front of you, then you're out. And
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you're like, okay, that defeats the purpose of
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a race, but whatever. You're also then told by
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another racer, if you slow your pace, you're
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disqualified. You're told to run your hardest,
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but not to get too far ahead. Stay in your lane
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and follow the person ahead of you. Well, this
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race has taken a turn. You thought there were
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only two rules, but... Now there are too many
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to count. You thought all you had to do was cross
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the finish line, but now you're not so sure.
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So you do your best to follow all these rules,
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unsure of which are true and which aren't. Eventually
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you start to tell other racers those rules as
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well, believing them to be true and holding those
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racers to your standard. Or you bring those rules
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up another notch, like saying not only do you
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have to wear a certain shirt, but they need to...
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You need matching shoes as well. It's all gotten
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out of hand way too quickly. That's how legalism
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works. We get total rule, believe it to be true
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as a Christian, and we just move on. Or we add
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to it, taking it to an extreme. We see the Pharisees
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and Sadducees do this in the Bible. They took
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it all to an extreme. We see the Pharisees and
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the Sadducees do this exact thing in the Bible.
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They took it all to an extreme and they could
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because no one else knew the rules as well as
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they did. And we see it happen in the church
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today. Okay, for example, the church I spent
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my younger years in would hold a prayer meeting,
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but the prayer meeting were for men only. And
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it was a man's job as the head of the household
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to let the women know what was said in these
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meetings. Now, was any of this biblical? No.
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Nowhere in the Bible does it say women cannot
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be part of a prayer meeting. And trust me, I
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searched high and low. And what if there was
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a single woman in the church who didn't have
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a man in the meeting? How would she know what
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information she needed? But they used the term
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head of the household to hold up their agenda.
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Legalism can look like other Christians having
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a problem with me drinking alcohol because they
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have an issue with it. and they decide I'm lukewarm
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because of it, that I'm not Christian enough.
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Legalism can look like judging the single mom
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because you don't know her story, or maybe because
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you know her story, and you decided it didn't
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fit the church rules. Legalism is having rules
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on clothing and how you dress determines, one,
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if you're living for Jesus, and two, what your
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worth is, or if you should even be respected
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by fellow believers. Legalism is doing something
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the right way, and if people aren't doing it
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the quote -unquote right way like you, then they're
12:57
in the wrong and not doing good enough. In short,
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legalism is basically saying the Sabbath can
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only be held on Sunday, or for those it applies
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to, Saturdays. And if you aren't doing it then,
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then you are sinning against God. At the end
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of the day, legalism comes from a place of pride
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and insecurity. I always say legalism is the
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death of a church. It turns true believers away.
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It kills the spirit, which was called to do all
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things through love. It causes confusion, creates
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hypocrites. It takes away compassion. It distorts
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the truth of the gospel and has you live for
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law and not for God. We see it everywhere. For
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example, a very famous Christian influencer said
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that we should stop watching reality TV because
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It's common to watch and we aren't called to
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be common. So it doesn't bring honor to God.
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Therefore, it brings dishonor. I don't agree
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with that. God did call us to be set apart. But
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if I was watching Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,
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which anyone who knows me knows it is my favorite
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trash reality TV show. And I'm addicted, possibly.
14:04
And my roommate hates it. Anyways. But if I was
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watching it and Jesus walked into the room and
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sat down next to me, I wouldn't be embarrassed
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or ashamed and turn it off. I might turn it off
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to give him my full attention because I don't
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know about you, but if Jesus walked into the
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room, I would have questions. But like also in
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the Bible says, what God has made clean is already
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uncommon. And I don't know about you, but I know
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about me and he's already made me clean. So I
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can't be common. Okay, back into the topic. We
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see in the Bible, those who knew God's word best
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used it even against Jesus in the most legalistic
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way. Imagine that, using someone's own words
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against them. In Luke 11 38, it says, Again,
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we see later in the same chapter in verse 45
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and 46, one of the lawyers answers him and says,
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Teacher, in saying these things you insult us
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also. And he said, Woe to you lawyers also, for
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you load people with burdens hard to bear, and
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you yourselves do not touch the burdens with
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one of your fingers. Here we see Jesus rebuke
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the lawyers for their oppressive religious system.
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These lawyers aren't modern day lawyers, by the
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way, like we have now, y 'all. They were experts
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in the law of Moses. Because their job was literally
15:36
to interpret the law, they created almost impossible
15:39
rules for others to follow. Not only that, but
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they also took the simple understanding of those
15:46
rules and dramatized them, making them from an
15:49
easy rule to follow to heavy, like a burden.
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And they also created loopholes for those rules
15:55
that only they knew. For example, they taught
15:59
that on the Sabbath, a man could not carry something
16:02
in either of his hands, across his chest or his
16:05
shoulders, but you could carry something with
16:08
the back of your hand, with your foot. with your
16:12
elbow or in your ear, your hair or the hem of
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your shirt, or in your shoe or sandal. Uh, crazy,
16:23
right? I mean, it seems like more work to me,
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but don't we also see that happening in Christian
16:30
culture today? We see leaders and others making
16:33
rules and preaching them like it's what the Bible
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says or means. We see people read verses to fit
16:39
their agenda. And we hear people reiterate what
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they've heard others say that they respect without
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fact checking for themselves. I hear people say,
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well, the Bible said X, Y, Z. And I'm just like,
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uh, is that really what the Bible says? Or is
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that what you've heard? They tell me something
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is a sin. And I'm like, no, homie, that's definitely
17:00
not. Another example I have is in a Facebook
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group I'm in. And a girl asked the question.
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My friend's church told her if she isn't a stay
17:09
-at -home mom and homeschooling her kids, she's
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dishonoring God. Is that true? Y 'all, so many
17:16
women commented under this post saying that was
17:19
indeed correct. And let me tell you, I've never
17:22
commented on something so fast in my life. I
17:26
was like, hold on. Y 'all need to go touch grass.
17:30
Nowhere in the Bible says that if you aren't
17:33
a stay -at -home... If you aren't a mom staying
17:38
at home homeschooling your kids, that you're
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sinning. I was like, what about the Proverbs
17:44
31 woman, the judges, and so many other women
17:47
mentioned in the Bible? Like, ladies, let's not
17:50
just take what we've heard for facts and maybe
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use the discernment God gave us. Like, would
17:56
being a stay -at -home mom be a huge blessing?
17:58
Yes. But can every family do that? Definitely
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not. Romans 14, 23, at the end of the verse,
18:05
says, Whatever is not done in faith is a sin.
18:08
This is for those gray areas in life. Anything
18:11
you have to justify, you feel guilty about, or
18:13
troubled by, is probably a sin for you. But a
18:17
sin for you isn't a sin for all. I could use
18:19
example after example of legalism. It's a hard
18:23
subject because it really is a fine line. The
18:26
line being sin and personal conviction, turning
18:29
into sin. That line being what sin is and the
18:32
extremes we turn it into. That line being how
18:35
we are called to live and how others decided
18:38
we should live. It's so interesting because we
18:40
see those who don't follow these legalistic rules
18:43
often are called lukewarm. And when people are
18:46
confronted about how they call out sin or how
18:50
they don't do it out of love, even though that's
18:52
literally what the Bible says to do, and they're
18:55
all like, well, people are too sensitive or passive
18:58
about others and their sin. Like, no, babe, you
19:01
aren't doing it from love, from the love of your
19:03
heart. You're doing it out of the pride of your
19:05
heart. Wow. I guess someone really needed to
19:08
hear that. Okay. You might be wondering now,
19:12
with me being so passionate with this subject,
19:15
if there's a way to fight it, either if you're
19:18
seeing it happen around you or have fallen victim
19:21
to it. All I can say is one, if the Bible doesn't
19:25
clearly actually... Correction. Let me take that
19:28
back. If Jesus doesn't clearly say X, Y, Z is
19:32
a sin or refrain from doing yada, yada, yada
19:35
or woe to him who does whatever it is and you
19:39
don't know for sure that Jesus said that, then
19:42
do some investigation and pray about it. Two,
19:46
God commands aren't to be heavy. Jesus says the
19:50
yoke of his father is light. So if it's heavy,
19:53
it's probably not from him. Three, be aware of
19:58
someone's personal conviction versus sin stated
20:00
in the Bible. If they're trying to label their
20:03
personal conviction for all to live under, then
20:06
you have to call them out on it in the most loving
20:09
way possible. Let's remember that because we
20:12
are all called to not create confusion for baby
20:16
Christians. I mean, truly, we are said, don't
20:19
create confusion for new Christians. which is
20:23
a whole other topic for another time, but I see
20:25
this happen a lot when it comes to personal convictions.
20:28
Y 'all. I so wish you knew what a hot take this
20:32
topic is. Like it's so slept on by the church
20:35
and pastors and speakers and it's so crazy to
20:38
me because Jesus literally had to deal with this
20:42
in his time with the religious community because
20:45
of leaders. High and low in ranking went unchecked.
20:48
And here we are thousands of years later still
20:51
dealing with it and it's still going about unspoken.
20:55
So obviously, there is a very fine line when
20:58
it comes to legalism on what is sin and what
21:01
isn't. But what is the fine line of legalism
21:05
and how do we spot it or know if we are doing
21:08
it? Well, it's us trying to get or attempt to
21:12
get extra favor, for lack of a better term, with
21:15
God or impress other Christians by doing or not
21:18
doing certain things. It comes from a place of
21:21
pride, not love. And it leaves no room for grace.
21:25
That's the simplest way I can think to put it.
21:29
Oh, oh no. Okay. I'm realizing we might need
21:32
to dive deep, need a deeper dive episode on this
21:36
because I honestly could keep talking about it
21:39
and dig a little deeper as we go. But truly,
21:42
it's not for today. I don't know if I even have
21:45
the brain capacity for it. So let's just end
21:50
here and close out with prayer. Dear Jesus, I
21:54
ask that you open our eyes and our ears to legalism.
21:57
How it's killing faith in Christians and in the
22:00
church. How it's destroying the body of you,
22:03
of your bride. I ask that we take pride out of
22:09
our heart. We take judgment. Let me correct that.
22:12
I ask that we take unrighteous judgment out of
22:15
our heart. And we approach this with love. Give
22:18
us clarity and wisdom on what is sin and what
22:21
is legalism. Give us wisdom and clarity on how
22:26
you have called us to live versus how the world,
22:29
the church, the Pharisees, and our lives have
22:32
called us to live. And have us all bring it back
22:35
just to you and your simple commands that you've
22:38
given us. And in Jesus' name, amen. That's all
22:55
I have for you today. Honestly, I really could
22:58
have kept talking about this subject because
23:00
you can tell I'm very passionate about it. It's
23:04
like a fire under my butt at the moment. I'm
23:07
not sure why, except for the fact that I do see
23:09
it throughout our whole Christian culture in
23:12
the United States of America. But anyways, I
23:17
want to thank you for listening to this episode
23:20
and to the Living Free podcast. If you are enjoying
23:23
the episode, I would be so honored if you would
23:26
hit that subscribe button and leave me a review.
23:28
And if you have feedback or a subject you'd like
23:30
me to cover, please email or DM me on Instagram.
23:34
You can also connect with me through email or
23:36
Instagram, that Instagram being HannahLizD and
23:39
that email being livingfreepod at gmail .com.
23:43
Again, thank you so much for listening and I
23:45
hope you feel a little bit more encouraged and
23:47
lighter today. Bye y 'all. Thank you.