What Is Freedom?

(Plain Text Version)

On September 23, 2021, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to a question on her support for a law which would over-ride any and all restrictions on abortion: “I believe that God has given us a free will to honor our responsibilities.”

Ms. Pelosi is claiming that we don’t have to obey God because He gave us a free will.  This is a common viewpoint in Western society today.  Millions of people think that freedom means the ability to do anything, right or wrong.  In addition, the consequences of our choices are treated with blind optimism, or not at all.

If we are to have happiness in this life and eternal life in Heaven, we must reject this faulty idea of what freedom is. 

To Follow Jesus Christ Is to Change Our Thinking

When asked which is the greatest Commandment, Jesus emphasized the mind:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37).

What a Christian Means By “Freedom”

Freedom of the will is the ability to choose right from wrong and the best choice from the good choices.  When we choose evil, we immediately lose our freedom:

…Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. (John 8:34)

The Hammer Test

Let’s say that my smartphone contains the only link to my cryptocurrency account.  If the phone is lost, a million dollars will be lost with it.  Let’s say that the phone is on my desk, with a hammer next to it.  I am “free” to smash the phone, but I have no desire to do so. 

I don’t need to smash the phone to prove that I am free!

The Hammer Comes in Many Disguises!

I won’t hammer the phone because there will be no pleasure and only bad consequences. 

Temptation to sin always promises pleasure and blinds us to the consequences.  When we are tempted to sex outside of marriage, we don’t naturally think about antagonistic relationships, children without fathers, poverty, and loneliness.  In reality, we are hammering ourselves, our partners, and our children.  It is even harder to think about the loss of Heaven and the reality of Hell.

To make matters worse, we quickly get into a pattern of harm to self and others.  This is the slavery to sin which our Savior warns us about.

How to Be Free

If we become disciples of Christ, we will begin to see sin for what it really is.  When we make good choices, it will be easier to make more good choices:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind… (Romans 12: 2)

A free person is able to say “No” to evil!

Scripture: English Standard Version Catholic Edition, 2017, Good News Publishers