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<\/a>Photo by ellehem on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n
If we really wish to honor freedom, then we will seek to live as servants of God. We cannot expect that God will continue to bless us with freedom when we abuse and misuse that freedom to do evil. Freedom may be a “right” in one sense (God gave us free will to choose our actions) but it is also a gift of God\u2019s grace that comes with responsibility. To take freedom for granted and think that we can do whatever we want with no downside is to fail to honor God’s will and God’s gift.<\/p>\n
Freedom also entails the ability, even the responsibility, to be willing to give up our rights for the sake of others (see Romans 14). Why? Because the goal of true freedom is not selfishness, but godliness. If we are unwilling to do so, then our personal freedoms become a vehicle for our own enslavement. We cannot be truly free unless we are willing and able to forego certain freedoms in order to win others to the Lord or to help others grow in the Lord. If we cannot give up a liberty for Christ and others, then we are enslaved to it.<\/p>\n
Here is also where freedom in a physical nation crosses paths with freedom in Christ. In Christ, we are free from sin. This freedom from the domain of darkness and sin should cause us to want to use all other physical liberties and freedoms in a way that will bring glory to God and edify others. How else can we show our gratitude to the One who freed us?<\/p>\n
We thank God for our freedom, but that thankfulness acknowledges that the source of all true freedom is God Himself, and He deserves our thanksgiving, our commitment, indeed our very lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Doy Moyer \u201cLive as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God\u201d (I Peter 2:16). If we really wish to honor freedom, then we will seek to live as servants of God. We cannot expect that God will continue to bless us with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[790,1363,179],"class_list":["post-5282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-freedom","tag-selfishness","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56318,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/freedom-through-gods-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":5282,"position":0},"title":"Freedom Through God’s Law","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Charles N. Spence, Jr. God had always wanted His people to be free. However, most people today have a radically different idea of freedom than God's. Many in the world today look at freedom as the uninhibited right to do what they want to do. We can see this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88417,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-meaning-of-freedom\/","url_meta":{"origin":5282,"position":1},"title":"The Meaning of Freedom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Freedom has long been a cherished ideal, and people typically are willing to pay a high price for its benefits. We celebrate freedom in many ways-through memorials, cookouts, music, fireworks, and other traditions. People have lived and died for freedom, and this should certainly be appreciated; we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50978,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-does-live-as-people-who-are-free-fit-with-submission\/","url_meta":{"origin":5282,"position":2},"title":"How does “live as people who are free” fit with submission?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I wanted some clarification on what Peter says in I Peter 2:16.\u00a0What does Peter mean when he says \"Live as people who are free\"? The context throws me off a bit because he's talking about being submissive to authority. Answer: \"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56314,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/freedom-can-only-be-found-in-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":5282,"position":3},"title":"Freedom Can Only Be Found in God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton Thomas Jefferson wrote, \"And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure, when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but by his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56322,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/freedom-under-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":5282,"position":4},"title":"Freedom Under God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert F. Turner via\u00a0Guardian of Truth\u00a0XL: 2 p. 1 January 18, 1996 Freedom ... The word is almost sacred to the American people, and over the world today it stirs great hope and aspirations. Our Declaration of Independence calls it an \"inalienable\" right and a truth \"self-evident.\" What is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31140,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thoughts-about-true-freedom\/","url_meta":{"origin":5282,"position":5},"title":"Thoughts About True Freedom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by R.L. Whiteside (1869-1951) \"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free\" (John 8:31-32). People who long for freedom usually know little of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/fish-213x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5282\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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