I Love My Shepherd

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
                                                               Galatians 5:1

I wrote the following article for district newsletters, but I couldn't help sharing here. It is about so much of the primary struggle I hear from pastor's wives everywhere. I believe it is one of the primary struggles for women everywhere. He has set us free, girls. He has set us free.

Galatians 5:1 is one of my most favorite verses for pastor’s wives, or any one touched by the ministry. Sometimes life turns into a big ball of expectations and roles and to do’s, without us even realizing it. We step back, look at our life, our family, and our church and wonder how we got to this place, serving with a tiny bit of resentment, feeling exhausted, unappreciated, or misunderstood. Does anyone really know who “I” am, or just what I do?

            Galatians 5:1 speaks truth to our hearts. God created each of us as unique and precious individuals. He formed us with His own two hands, and knit us in the womb. He has big plans for us. He calls us worthy and loved. But, He also calls us Free, by the death and resurrection of His Son. He doesn’t just call our husband’s free, or our children free, or the parishioners free. He calls each of us Free. We are free to choose and to do and to be ourselves. We don’t need to fulfill any church member’s expectation of what a pastor’s wife or ministry wife should look like. We don’t need to even fulfill our own expectation of what we need to look like. We only need to fill God’s… and He calls us Free.

            Pastor’s wives, ministry wives, everywhere come from a wide variety of background, from all corners of the earth, with various types of education, different passions, different skills, and different weaknesses. This passage reminds us that we are free to live and breathe our very own testimony that God is writing in our lives. We are free to rejoice in who He made us, even when that doesn’t look quite like someone expected.

            This is a verse I recommend women everywhere paste to their refrigerator, their bathroom mirror, or their day planner- or all of the above! We daily need the reminder that God’s invitation to live what He has already given us, is new every morning. Live free! Be you. Let Him perfect you in this race, not the image someone else thinks you need to be. May He complete this good work, which He has already began – Freedom!

The author of this article is Heidi Goehmann, Deaconess to Ministry Wives, through Grace Place Wellness Ministries. Feel free to contact Heidi with thoughts or comments, or to receive encouragement and support at DeaconessHeidi@GracePlaceWellness.org.