What is real freedom?

What is

Real

Freedom? [

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What is

Real

Freedom?

“W

hat is real freedom?” This was the question a twenty-something friend of mine from a Christian home asked on social media. I couldn’t resist writing an ironic answer. So I said something along the lines of: I would guess you think the freest people in the world are the ones who get to do whatever they want, whenever they want! They don’t have to answer to anyone else but themselves. They can have cake for breakfast, pull a sicky and just watch TV all day if they like.

So I feel sorry for the Olympic athletes: “Don’t eat this.

Don’t do that. Don’t smoke. Don’t drink. Run here. Sprint there.” It’s all rules, rules, rules; they’re like slaves. They must feel so trapped.

Forgive my sarcasm, but I’m sure you get the point. I knew my friend was worried that following Jesus would just force him into a life of rules and restrictions. And my friend wanted to be free.

His idea of freedom was being able to do whatever he wanted.

Most of us probably feel that way, but is that true freedom? And how does it compare to the life Jesus offers us?

Is freedom doing

whatever

I want?

T

he dictionary defines freedom as: “Being able to say, think or do whatever you want without being controlled or limited.”

But does this match reality?

Imagine life without laws: no seat-belt laws, no laws against stealing, murder or rape, no employment laws, no laws against political corruption, not even a law against squatters living in your garden shed. Life with total freedom of choice. Would you feel safe? Would you enjoy the freedom of everyone being able to do whatever they wanted “without being controlled or limited”? Our governing laws actually allow us to live in freedom.

Doing whatever we want sounds good, but it can quickly turn ugly. We need boundaries and guidance if we are going to live in a society that has more people in it than just me.

Of course, for many of us, obeying the law isn’t the only thing we worry about when we think of freedom. Our concern is that we want to be able to be ourselves, make our own choices and plot our own path on life’s map. So, understandably, we think that Jesus would kind of get in the way of that.

And he does. If we’re obeying his teaching and leading, we’re no longer free to just chase our own dreams and happiness. But does obeying God just result in a life of rules and misery?

Will God

make me

miserable?

A

s a teenager, I was terrified of trusting Jesus. I feared that if I gave him control of my life, he would make me miserable. I had visions of being sent to some hot, dusty mission outpost where my life would be plagued with difficulties; or of having to marry someone ‘nice’ but totally unattractive.

The choice, to me, seemed to be Jesus or happiness.

When I finally trusted Jesus, what I discovered was very different. Following Jesus is a bit like another definition for freedom that I came across: “To be honoured and given special rights.”

When a celebrity or sports star is rewarded with the ‘keys’ to their home town, it means they have the ‘freedom’ of the city.

They can go where they like, see what they want, enjoy all the opportunities offered—and no door will be locked. They have freedom. But not freedom from the law. They still couldn’t throw someone out of a window or burn down a building. Within the laws of that town, they have the freedom of the town. That’s kind of what it looks like to receive the freedom Jesus offers. We are now God’s children; we have the incredible privilege of God’s protecting, guiding, loving presence. But it still means we have to obey him . . .

The freedom

of

obedience

M

y eldest daughter learned to run when she was about 18 months old. She wanted to run everywhere; but I knew the dangers of her running free. She could have easily dashed out onto a road. So I taught my toddler to come when I called her. This involved tears from both of us as I disciplined her for her own safety. Once I had taught her to come when I called her, she no longer needed to hold my hand everywhere. She could run ‘free’ safely because she obeyed my voice.

I once heard a Christian speaker say, “ ‘God is love’ means that he is constantly trying to block your route to destruction.” This is a powerful explanation of why God gives us boundaries. Just as I knew of the physical dangers surrounding my daughter, God sees the spiritual dangers we are unaware of.

We’re told “God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?”

(HEBREWS 12:7) and “God’s discipline is always good for us . . . No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterwards there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way” (HEBREWS 12:10-11). The commands God gives and the difficult situations he leads us through can feel like too much at the time. But as we obey our Father, asking for his strength and guidance, he will help us navigate the dangers of this world, and we will find freedom in knowing God’s discipline is always good for us.

Real

freedom

W

hen Jesus talked about the freedom He offers, the people listening felt like we do today, saying: “[We] have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?” (JOHN 8:33). But they hadn’t understood they were slaves to sin ( V. 34). Living without God doesn’t mean we get to live without a master. If God is not our master, then sin is. And sin is a cruel master (ROMANS 6:16-23).

Sin is the Bible’s word for how we choose to put ourselves first, rather than God. Sin rules us through our needs, insecurities and selfishness. It traps us in a vicious cycle of self-indulgence, endless striving and desperate measures—finally resulting in God’s judgement after we die (ROMANS 5:12; HEBREWS 9:27).

I recently met a retired soldier named Frank who was a raging alcoholic. The only way he could sleep was by drinking a whole bottle of vodka every night. He started his day with vodka too.

Surrender wasn’t an option for him; not to God or anyone else.

Except alcohol. That was the irony; Frank had a master, but he was too trapped to see it.

Then one night Frank changed masters. I was privileged to have been there when he said to Jesus, “My way isn’t working.

From now on, you can drive.” He isn’t perfect by any means (he still needs a lot of support and has been to rehab), but Frank is a new man. Jesus is setting him free. Frank has a real peace from knowing God loves him as his own child, is transforming his attitude and is preparing him a place in heaven (JOHN 14:1-3).

T

What freedom

looks

like

he freedom Jesus offers from sin isn’t just for addicts—it’s for each one of us.

Here’s just some of the ways we can experience that freedom: Freedom from guilt: This doesn’t mean we’ll never struggle with guilty feelings. But when we do, we can remember that Jesus has freed us from the penalty of our sin for good. We’re promised God “has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” (PSALM 103:12). Everything we’re ashamed of, everything we hope no one ever finds out about, everything that still haunts us—all of it is paid for when Jesus died on the cross, making us completely clean in God’s sight. We’re free from sin’s grip and punishment. Our wrongs, even the ones we haven’t done yet, have been paid for.

Freedom from fear: Everything about us is in Jesus’ capable, loving hands, including our future and even our death. His home has become our home; heaven is our certain destiny. He has promised to guide us safely there. And he promises to be with us for every step of the journey. Nothing in the world can separate us from him (ROMANS 8:38-39).

Freedom from regret: Those missed opportunities (and all the slip ups still to come)

don’t define us anymore. Jesus is directing our path. We don’t need to stress or despair over “what could have been”. He will guide us and grow us in just the right way to fulfil his perfect plans for us.

That doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll never regret anything ever again; there are always going to be things we wish we hadn’t said or done. But when we do face regrets, the Bible tells us we can bring our sadness to God to receive his comfort and forgiveness. He gives us the freedom to move on from regret, rather than being trapped by its bitterness.

Freedom to love: Paul (a writer in the Bible) tells us, “You have been called to live in freedom . . . But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.

Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love” (GALATIANS 5:13). Our freedom from sin means we can actually learn to love and serve people like Jesus did when he was on earth. Even people we wouldn’t normally mix with. Limited by our own, often flawed, points of view, we can find ourselves shying away from anyone who’s ‘different’ to us.

But with God teaching us Jesus’ perfect and compassionate perspective on the

people he has made, we can choose to serve and encourage others, rather than just living for me.

Freedom to be the best we can be: “Who am I?” “What will I be remembered for?” “What difference does my life make?” We are free from the pressure of such questions. God created us and knows exactly what we love to do and where we fit. We can trust his unique plan in our lives. We don’t need to watch desperately for our ‘break’. We are free to rest in and trust Jesus’ leading.

It’s like a friend buying the latest smartphone and then using it as a doorstop. You’d naturally ask why on earth they are wasting such a valuable object. They might reply, “But it’s good at holding the door open.” It might be.

But that isn’t what it was designed to do.

Smartphones might be good doorstops, but they’re much better as smartphones.

You might be great at doing your own thing, but that isn’t what you were designed for. Only God knows exactly what he made you to do best. Only by putting yourself in his hands can you be the fullest expression of who he created you to be.

All I want in life is to

belong

to you

I

recently heard the story of a slave auction in the 1850s—a time when the atrocious slave trade was still being practised. A man was walking past the marketplace when he saw several rich men bidding for a pretty girl. Their bids got higher and higher, much higher than a normal price for a slave at the time, as each one eyed her with cruel intent.

The man watching couldn’t bear what he was seeing. As he heard them boasting about what they would do with that poor girl, he was unable to stay silent. So he spoke up—with a bid of his own. It was twice the amount of the last bid. It brought the auction to a close, and the girl was handed over to the man, hate filling her eyes.

Immediately he took her across the road to a lawyer’s office. After some negotiations the man turned to the girl and handed her some documents. “These are your manumission papers,” he said, “You’re free.”

The hate in her face was replaced with shock. “You bought me to set me free?”

“Yes,” he replied. “You’re free.”

The girl fell to the floor, sobbing at his feet. “Sir, you bought me to set me free! All I want in life is to belong to you.”

Jesus has purchased and freed us in a similar way. He bought us from the kingdom of sin and selfishness so that we can belong to God instead (1 COLOSSIANS 1:12-14). We’re not the mistreated, exhausted slaves of sin anymore. Now we are God’s own children!

Real freedom isn’t about getting rid of authority or direction in our lives. Freedom is having those things from someone who loves us deeply and will always treat us well. Just like that slave girl, when we see how good, loving and compassionate our buyer is, we will know he isn’t going to mistreat us, hurt us, burden us, restrict us, shame us or trap us. We can say to Jesus “All I want in life is to belong to you!”

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004.

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. © 2019 by Our Daily Bread Ministries. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United Kingdom

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