Stand firm.

I was reading in Galatians the other day and came across the passage that begins, "Stand firm therefore in the freedom with which Christ has made you free, and do not be entangled once again in the yoke of slavery." It goes on to elaborate, but I found myself caught up in that first part especially. Have you ever had the experience where you read a passage that you've read a billion times before (okay, maybe just several dozen, but you know what I mean) and then you read it again in a whole new way? It's a very odd experience.
You see, I've always read that passage to mean, "Fight really hard to do what is right. Christ did the hard part already, now you need to keep it up." And no doubt, it is an exhortation/encouragement to choose freedom instead of the slavery of sin patterns. But this time when I read it, what struck me was that it also means the freedom He has given us in Him. Our right to stand as His chosen, redeemed ones, who are righteous in His eyes. We don't have to listen when the enemy tells us we are failures, He cannot possibly love us after we failed in that way yet again. The yoke of slavery can be a yoke of the mind as well as our actions...in fact, I think most of our actions flow out of the mindset.
One way this has been evident in my life lately is in the area of my weight. I think I've mentioned this to most of you before, but I lost quite a bit of weight during early pregnancy (about 25 pounds...that's what happens when you can't eat for 3 months!) and was really enjoying a sense of freedom in not constantly thinking about my body, obsessing over what I was eating and how much I was exercising, and not feeling condemnation over how my body looks/looked. At my most recent OB appointment, the scale went the other way for the first time (by 4 pounds...which may or may not even be true weight gain...I was weighed at a different time of day, in different clothes, etc.) and bam! All of my insecurities returned. Weirdly enough, this happened the day after I read that passage. Since then, I have been struggling with the same old mindset. I really miss the peace and rest that came with that freedom.
And yet...it says "stand firm." That implies that we have to fight. We have to choose freedom. We have to listen to our Father, and not to our accuser. And that is a choice. I wish it was always easy and automatic, and I really do pray it becomes that way again for me (hopefully soon!). But until that day, I pray He will draw me closer, and that the process of learning to stand firm instead of pulling the old familiar yoke of slavery over my head will make me fall more deeply in love with Him. Prayers are deeply appreciated, as the mental battle can be exhausting and discouraging. Yet, freedom is there. It has already been bought for me. I just have to learn to walk in it.