free·dom /ˈfridəm/ –noun
1. the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial.
2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
3. the power to determine action without restraint.
4. political or national independence.
5. personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom.
6. exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually fol. by from ): freedom from fear.
7. the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc.
8. ease or facility of movement or action: to enjoy the freedom of living in the country.
9. frankness of manner or speech.
10. general exemption or immunity: freedom from taxation.
11. the absence of ceremony or reserve.
12. a liberty taken.
13. a particular immunity or privilege enjoyed, as by a city or corporation: freedom to levy taxes.
14. civil liberty, as opposed to subjection to an arbitrary or despotic government.
15. the right to enjoy all the privileges or special rights of citizenship, membership, etc., in a community or the like.
16. the right to frequent, enjoy, or use at will: to have the freedom of a friend's library.
17. Philosophy . the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination. Compare necessity ( def. 7 ) .
My church has a sign up this week that states "Real freedom comes in God's love."
That will make you stop and think!
I am free to do His will. I am free to give myself wholly to Him. I am free to follow His commands.
And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8:34-35 NASB
Even if we had to live in times of Christian persecution, no one has the ability to take away our faith. God gives us that freedom. Others may be able to gain control of other aspects of my life, but that is one that no one can control.
A man in my Sunday School class does a prison ministry. He commented once before that some of "his guys" have more freedom where they are than some people who are out walking around. That is because "his guys" that he ministers to have found a true relationship with Christ and are free in His love, even if they are not physically free to walk among the populace yet.
Often, when I think of freedom, my first thought naturally goes to my husband and the brave men and women who are serving with him. Sailors, Marines, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, and all Law Enforcement help protect and fight for our freedom; physical freedom as well as freedom from fear of attack or persecution.
Freedom isn't something that can be summed up or have a finger pointed at it and pronounced "THAT" is freedom. It is something one feels in his/her heart and soul.
Thank you to all military and law enforcement agents who keep me physically free...
Thank you to God for giving me REAL freedom :)
1 comment:
So true! I really like the definition on #15... the right to enjoy all the privileges or special rights of citizenship, membership, etc., in a community or the like. It immediately made me think of the freedom we have in Christ and of the privileges and rights we experience because of it... His grace, forgiveness, love, and mercy. And the privilege we have to extend that to others because He first loved us!
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