Son or Slave?

I'm asking the Holy Spirit to give me greater understanding and revelation about what it means to be a good daughter of a perfect Father...it's a prayer I have prayed at the start of this new year, and I'm asking Him to help me know how to walk this out in the realities of daily life. A key verse for me related to this is from Galatians 4:7 - "So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God."


I have learned some things from Frank Lake's book, "Clinical Theology," along this line that I'd like to share; he writes about the difference between the one who is living as a "son" as opposed to one who lives as a "slave" (and this applies to believers in the Lord Jesus):

Fundamentally, Lake says that the person who lives as a "son" views acceptance as a gift while the "slave" views it as a reward. This plays out in the following ways:

1. The "son" is not afraid to be known by those near to him because acceptance is not something he earns but has been given to him freely by the Source of being. Because the "slave" views acceptance as conditional, he must work hard to cover up his weakness and failure in order to gain acceptance by those who are near him. This, of course, makes relating with family and close ones exhausting for the "slave" because of the constant fear that he might get found out and consequently not be accepted.
   
2. For the "son," achievement is "an expression of inner core resources. Work is his free donation. He gives himself and his skills as the overflow of relationships in which he has a kind of 'freehold.'...Success or failure do not affect his essential being."...For the "slave", achievement is "an expression of inner core needs. Work is demanding. He does it to feel better, not because he feels like doing it. He performs it in order to achieve relationships. Therefore his eyes are not wholly on the task itself, but on the effect his doing of it is calculated to produce. He likes to be seen doing it. His very ‘being’ as a person is precariously bound up with the acceptance or rejection of his work."
3. Frank Lake makes a concluding statement regarding the son and the slave that is foundational: for the son, "justification is by faith in another person and their achievement"; for the slave, "justification is by works, one’s own achievement."

The formative years play a huge role in our ability to live and walk as "sons" once we have come into Christ by the work of the Spirit; the good news is that no matter what our formative years have been like, the heavenly Father can "re-form" (or remake) us by the work of the cross and His Spirit as we trust Him as the Source of all being and well-being. I have tasted some of the goodness of my heavenly Father through my good earthly father, but I'm increasingly aware that there is so much more goodness and affection in God my Father that I haven't yet experienced and because of that, I still relate with a slave mentality in some areas.

I have a suspicion that the more I live and walk in this reality of true sonship, the less religion will have a hold over me since religion and slavery walk hand in hand. And so now I am regularly asking the Lord, "How do I walk as Your daughter in this situation?" It's already proving to be quite a venture!

Holy Spirit, You Who know the Father perfectly, would You reveal Him to us so that we can walk more fully in our sonship? We don't know what it means to be children of a perfect Father, so teach us and empower us to live and walk in this relationship. Thank You, dear Lord!