As a child, on occasion, I would choose to do things that I knew were wrong. Okay, so it was often, I would choose my own will, not my parents. Once I was riding a horse which was my favorite pastime. This particular day my mother instructed me to limit the space in which I rode. “Go no further than your grandmother’s house”, she said. I chose ‘freedom’ to do as I pleased and disobeyed.
Expressing my determination to be free and choose my own way burdened me with heavy guilt. Then there was the fear of being caught. This was not freedom, but bondage. There was not a shred of inner contentment to be had. To make matters worse, I got caught. My mother came looking for me and my punishment was severe. Freedom?
Free Indeed
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
John 8:36 NKJV
What does it really mean to be free? Does it mean we can do whatever we please? Scripture tells us of freedom. It is not an easy subject to grasp or explain in a few paragraphs. To learn of true freedom in scripture, one needs to study the Old and New Testament.
Inner Contentment
Freedom does not give us the right to do as we please. It gives us the capacity to do as we should. It does not erase the responsibilities we have as Christians and citizens, but gives us the responsibility to make right choices. Freedom in Christ gives us an inner contentment. Peace within.
“It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?”
Galatians 5:13-15 MSG
Freedom is Right Relationships
Freedom is specifically concerned with a relationship one with another. This flows from a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ and following the Holy Spirit.
Do What is Right
It doesn’t matter what man tries to do to improve the world because man is sinful and selfish. Man desires to serve himself and meet his needs which results in hurting others. As Christians, we are to resist the fleshly urges and do what is right in the eyes of God.
It begins with loving and serving our neighbors.
God’s Freedom
As we celebrate our country’s freedom on July 4th, the events of recent weeks give me pause to think about freedom. As Americans, we have a right to freedom, but not at the expense of others. Personally, I believe freedom in Christ is a deep inner peace knowing we are obedient to God. In obedience, we serve and love others and live a life of inner contentment that only God’s freedom can give. To live otherwise is bondage.
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16, NKJV
https://youtu.be/r-VfFTVu-6E Austin French Freedom Hymn
Paula Wallace
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