True Freedom

There are some pieces of music that send your heart soaring, that tug loose in you that longing for freedom. Then the song ends, and you're left with a hollow ache.

God planted in every one of us a desire for freedom. What is that freedom? Why do we want it so much? Most of all, how can we find it?
Today I'll answer the first question: What is freedom?

Freedom is not a lack of restraint.
Look up the word freedom in a dictionary, and you find definitions such as:
 a. "exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc."
 b. "the condition of being free from restraints."
 c. "the capacity to exercise choice; free will."
 d. "a political or civil right."

The American government was formed under the aspiration to the lofty idea of freedom. Yet according to common definitions, freedom (which is a civil right) can never be fully delivered by a government. Why? A government limits choice and imposes restraints, controls, interferences, and regulations.

More importantly, what does the Bible say about freedom?
2 Corinthians 3:17 "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
Nowhere in Scripture does the Bible say that once we are reborn into freedom, we can be unrestrained.
1 Peter 2:16 "Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God."
Well, that's it: freedom is not the lack of restraint.

On the other hand, freedom is not restraint.
1 Peter 2:16, however, does not say that freedom is servitude. After all, the very word freedom broken down containing the word free. Our whole soul cries out for freedom! We know that freedom can't be found in a government imposing restraints, or even the culture's endless dos and don'ts.
Galatians 5:1 confirms freedom's appeal for ethereality, "For freedom Christ has set us free..."
We yearn to be free. God desires for us to be free. Yet what is freedom, if it's not the lack of restraint, or even restraint?

True freedom is the ability to be who God created you to be.
Have you ever been in a situation where you were frustrated because you were prevented from using your God-given talents? That did not feel like freedom, did it?
However, when you are able to develop your talents, you are closer to freedom.
God will set you truly free when you arrive in heaven, if you call on His name. You will be free to fulfill your ultimate purpose: praising God forever.

True freedom is the ability to be who God created you to be.