Daily Devotion

“God created a woman's feet so that she might walk freely and run joyfully upon the earth, not to have her bones broken and crushed by cloth bandages. Breaking the shackles of foot-binding is not only a physical liberation, but also allows the soul to soar freely in the grace of the Lord.”

Mary Porter Gamewell · Collected Letters of Mary Porter Gamewell to the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society (WFMS)

Scripture

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Reflection

Foot-binding was once a shackle that bound both the bodies and minds of Chinese women. Driven by the love of Christ, missionaries saw lives devastated by this cruel custom and proclaimed liberation through the Gospel. Galatians 5:1 reminds us that Christ's salvation is not only a future hope, but also the present authority to break every yoke of slavery. Today, though our lives may not be bound by physical bandages, we may still be tightly gripped by anxiety, worldly judgments, or inner fears. Only by anchoring our lives once again in God's grace can we lay down our burdens, no longer be held by invisible chains, and live out the abundance and freedom that God originally intended for us in our faith.