A man died for me

There's a line from one of Taylor Swift's earliest songs "Cold as You" that's been echoing in my head this Easter season. It's a sad song about a boy who takes in a relationship but doesn't reciprocate the love he is given, and the line I've been thinking of says, "And I know you wouldn't have told nobody if I died, died for you."

Maybe the rest of the song doesn't really apply, but I've been thinking about this line in isolation because of this season's focus on Jesus' death. When I think about if someone in the present day died in my place so I could live, the answer is clear: Of course, I would tell other people about it. Not only that, but I would live from that knowledge that my life was a second-chance gift every day. Do I do the same for Jesus? He died for me.

It's true; it's the same premise. This man died for me so I wouldn't have to live with the fear of dying and all of the other worries death brings with it that attempt to hold me back from life abundant. And it's not only the death that happens at the end of earthly life I no longer have to be afraid of, but I also don't have to be afraid anymore of the thousand small deaths that happen each day, like death to my own desires. I don't have to be afraid of death to caring about others' approval. And I don't have to be afraid of death to success. I am free from it all. And although I don't always live in that freedom, I am learning. Learning how to trade in my love for the comfort of chains with the surprise of delight in what if feels like to be free. To have permission. To be able to choose, to dance, to live.

Although The Message translation takes a lot of liberties with the Word of God, sometimes it can be helpful for providing insight into different ways of thinking about Scripture. I really like The Message's translation of Galatians 5:25: "Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives."

This is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of God's love. So, in every detail of our lives, let us tell others Jesus died for us through our words, humbly and lovingly. And let us tell others Jesus died for us by our lives, through our joy and freedom, through our genuineness and gratitude, through our love.

Maybe, through our witness, others will come to receive these gifts of a life free from fear, too.