Freedom

This freedom

which we enjoy

did not originate with

the Founding Fathers.

- - -

This great boon of freedom

and respect,

for the dignity of man,

came as a gift from

the Creator.

~ Ezra Taft Benson

“May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”

~ Peter Marshall

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must,

like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”

~ Thomas Paine

“Christian freedom does not mean being free to do as we like; it means being free to do as we ought.”

~ William Barclay

“For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

~ Robert D. Hales

“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. 

With freedom comes responsibility.”

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

“Freedom is never given.  It is won.”

~ Philip Randolph

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”

~ Abraham Lincoln

May we never forget freedom isn’t free.

“For to be free is not really to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

~ Nelson Mandela

Freedom is not the right to do anything.

Freedom is the right to do the correct thing.

And as we celebrate Independence Day for our country today, may we also give thanks for our personal freedom that comes from knowing Jesus.  John reminds us that when we know Jesus, the Truth, the truth will set us free.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:32

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

John 8:36

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

Romans 6:22

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:1-2

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Corinthians 3:17

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:13

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Ephesians 3:12

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

Hebrews 9:15

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.

James 1:25

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slave.

1 Peter 2:16