I read this quote this week, and it reminded me of something similar that I use to say to Ricky often, which is this -- Slavery is doing what you want; true freedom is not doing what you want."Freedom is not the permission to do what we like, it is the power to do what we ought.” ~ Lord Acton, paraphrase
What an unpopular subject in today's world! The world says we have "the freedom" to do what we want, but then we start doing what we want. Next thing you know, we are always doing what we want, calling the shots, making our own choices, and all the while yelling, "I'm free!" -- that's not freedom; that is being bound to self. Lo and behold, we have now become slaves -- to our desires. Yet, our desires are born of the flesh and will only lead to death (Romans 8:6). Freedom leads to life, not death.
Notes:
- It is no surprise that what the world tells us about freedom is actually leading us into slavery, the opposite of truth. [God's kingdom is the upside-down kingdom.]
- Oughts and shoulds have a bad wrap for sometimes explainable reasons. We do not need to feel obligated to meet someone else's imposed standards, but instead we need to seek to please the LORD and aim for His standards.
- This all comes down to the great endeavor of dying to self (Luke 9:23).
- I am sure we all feel like we are definitely not doing what we want all the time. However, I am not talking about the professional life but the personal life. Also, we all do the daily grind musts that are not fun but do serve a greater goal of ours and/or God's purposes. I.e. Laundry provides clean clothes for us to be acceptable...
- There are many times when what you want does not necessarily conflict with what God wants (i.e., how you relax or play)
