What kind of free are you?

How free are you?
50, 60, 75 or 99.5% free? Guess what, if your not 100% free, your not free at all.

Our society loves freedom. Freedom of religion, freedom to vote, freedom to work anywhere that will take you, freedom to choose to eat or not eat organic food, freedom to choose which airline or bus company you use, freedom to choose the shop you buy you clothes in, in fact in our society the ultimate punishment is through imprisonment.

Have you seen the movie “Braveheart”? One of my favorite parts:

“I am William Wallace, and I see before me an army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You have come to fight as free men, and free men you are. You are free, free from badges, free from flesh and free to love. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?”

A tall soldier near the front eyes the huge opposing forces arrayed across the valley and then answers, "Fight against that? No, we will run, and we will live."

Wallace responds, "Ay, fight and you may die, run and you'll live. At least a while! And dying in your beds many years from now, you would be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom."

In the movie, “Chicken Run” What does Rocky the American rooster think freedom is. Freedom, according to Rocky Roads is being free of responsibility and not having to care for others. I don’t want to spoil the ending for those who haven’t seen it but Rocky falls in love and discovers that this kind of freedom is not possible.

Most of you will know what it’s like to fall in love or have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Suddenly you want to please them and you end up doing things you would never have chosen to do if it was just you.

You make compromises, why? Because you want the other person to be happy. Just think of all that God has done for us. We are to respond in love to God. Does that not mean we have to give up a bit of our freedom to do what we want? What about loving our neighbor as ourselves. Does that entail giving up of freedom?


1 Corinthians 10:23, 24 -
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

Unlike our society personal freedom to do what ever you like is not what it means when it’s said that Christ has set us free. But, it is easy in our society to forget this and live our Christian lives as if personal freedom to do what we like is the be all and end all. Christ gives us our freedom so that we are free to follow him and love.

He lived his life for the benefit of others. Then he gave his life by dying for us. Christ’s example is of voluntarily giving up freedom for the sake of others. We are called to follow his example.
In Philippians 2:5 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: “
Christ did all of this and your attitude should be the same. So when you are doing whatever it is you are doing, think about why you are claiming your freedom to do what you want or freedom to love, freedom to give and freedom to give up.

Do you do things because it’s your right and because you’re free to do it and no-one can tell you otherwise or because you love and it’s best for others. So I ask that you to think, reflect on freedom, what we are free from?

Gal. 5:13-14
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure you don’t use that 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.

To quote William Wallace, “You are free, free from badges, free from flesh and free to love. What will you do with that freedom?”