I love freedom.

One of the key elements of discerning light and darkness is to consider if the core is of control (manipulation, force, dishonesty) or of freedom (transparency, love). 

In 2 Corinthians 3:7 Paul writes:

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

One of the attributes of those who walk with Jesus is increasing self-control along with the ability to love others even those who hurt you. 

Sometimes it seems we humans have this twisted up, and it brings us much pain. We try to control (or bemoan that we can’t) everything and everyone around us and we only love the people who are like us, easy to love, or love us back. 

I think that’s why we live in a culture so full of anxiety and depression… mental illnesses. 

We were made for freedom. 

The beauty of what we are given if we accept Christ’s offer of it, is not to live in fear, but the power of love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7)

Control is sneaky. The test of how you are doing with release of control of others and living in freedom comes when you are let down, hurt, or don’t get your way. When you find yourself in what seems to you an unfair situation, how do you react? 

• Do you have peace regardless and can you navigate the situation with a sound mind? 
• Are you OK with someone you care about being not OK? 
• Can you create healthy boundaries out of love and not of self-protection? 
• Do you find it easy to put yourself in the other shoes and see their perspective though it is different from your own? 
• Do you have anxiety in your relationships? 

If instead of peace you have anxiety or fears (often expressed as anger) you might need to ask Jesus for help managing your need to control the lives around you. 

On this day we celebrate freedom in our nation, I challenge you to dig deeper. If there is freedom where Christ is, could you walk in freedom of your spirit even if you are in a situation you are not free in other ways? Could your heart be free while navigating a broken relationship? In a prison? In a country you are not free?

I think the center of this like most everything else that is good, is love. 

As I dug deeper into the language of freedom, the Greek word Paul used is Elutheria. Simply it means freedom. 

But I was delighted to read this on ellipos.net regarding the roots of the word:

“Eleutheria seems to come from arriving (eleu) to where one loves (eran). This way eleutheria radically means the fulfillment of one’s love as an end of a trip. There is included here also the meaning of growing and rising, advancing to a higher state of being.”

Freedom is about arriving at the fulfillment of love. 

This I hope for us all.