The desire for freedom is also a fundamental yearning. However good and justified, this longing can be perverted into something demonic just at that point when one wants to satisfy this yearning by wielding power over someone else. How many hidden power struggles are there between spouses, between parents and children, between colleagues, and between people who call themselves "friends"?Therefore, genuine freedom is based first of all on being released from the chains to which the hidden, cruel power of our unredeemed "ego" bind us. A false caricature of true freedom is offered again and again as real freedom in twisted, unexpected ways. When you become free from the commandments of God then "you will be like God, knowing good and evil" - so the "snake" deceived the first human beings (Genesis 3:5). Their disobedience caused by the claims of their alleged freedom, expelled them from "Paradise" and from the abundant life. In contrast, Jesus presents his way as the sign of true freedom. He takes the way of absolute obedience to the will of the Father: "Not my will, but thine, be done: (Luke 22:41). "My food is to do the will of him who sent me" (John 4:34). Here Jesus shows us how a person can be free from all striving after power. He places before our eyes the true freedom which makes devotion possible and from which devotion grows.
Identify with persons who in obedience to God and in response to human need have found fulfillment which gave their life a new quality (Mother Theresa in Calcutta, Albert Schweitzer or other figures)...
- Look at how Jesus showed his sovereign freedom in surrendering in different situations of his life:
- Freedom that grows out of the bond with God the Father...
- Freedom that is absolutely at the disposal of people...
- Freedom that finds its way from within, rather than being determined by external circumstances...
- Galatians 5:1 ("For freedom Christ has set us free!")