Real Freedom: Following Only One's Highest Interests

Freedom is always very highly acclaimed and never more so than in wartime, when it is methodically insisted upon as a thing of greater value than life itself. The fighting men in all countries, and on both sides of the mortal quarrel, are urged on by the same assurance:

“We are fighting for Freedom. And there is no more glorious duty than to fight, and even to die in such a cause” Civilians too—under the inevitable deluge of new regulations, orders, restrictions, prohibitions, and compulsions—are now inured to accept, with little or no surprise, the strange appeal: “We must be prepared to sacrifice, if necessary, every liberty in order to preserve our Freedom” “To preserve” mark you!—not “to regain” Therefore, when such tremendous appeals can be made, and so much can be demanded of us in the name of “Freedom” it is surely reasonable to propose to study it closely to see if we can discover its true meaning; and, in particular, what is our real relation to it.

What is “Freedom”? Most people would probably say that freedom is the opportunity to do just as you please—and, of course, it is—in a sense; but it needs a very important qualification to make it true in every sense. Complete liberty to gratify each recurring whim, to satisfy every natural or cultivated appetite, very far from being freedom, provides, in fact, one of the very worst examples of slavery. For example: men free to do just as they please have, on occasions, had the inclination to experience the effects of opium (or some other pernicious drug, or intoxicant) and the unrestrained indulgence of that disposition has very quickly imprisoned them in a vicious circle from which extremely few have been able to escape at all, much as they have longed to do so. And this is not just a moral or spiritual issue. Even those who would go so far as to deny any moral or spiritual standards, cannot deny the obvious fact that the freedom of unrestrained self-indulgence is not even physical or mental liberty, but is a cruel enslavement leading inexorably to ill-health, mental derangement, and premature death.

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Author: E. H. Smith

Keywords: Freedom, spirit will set you free, Freedom in Christ, Freedom in Jesus, liberty, liberation, liberty in Christ, bondage, bondage to sin, freedom from sin

Bible reference(s): Psalms 119:45, Luke 4:18, John 8:32-33, John 8:36, Romans 6:18, Romans 6:22, Romans 8:2, Romans 8:15, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Galatians 2:4, Galatians 4:8-9, Galatians 5:1, Galatians 5:13, Ephesians 4:8, 1 Peter 2:16, 2 Peter 2:19, James 1:25

Source: “Enquiries,” The Testimony, Vol. 21, No. 246, June 1951, p. 175-9.

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