What is Freedom? ...

Monday, April 1, 2019. What about human freedom? What is it that makes you free? We are all free to some extent. We make our choices day by day. We choose what to wear. We choose what to say. We shape our free time. We shape our relationships. We choose a partner. There is so much freedom in human life.

How free are we? …

At the same time, we are also unfree to some extent. Our choices are influenced by the environment we have grown up in. We are influenced and limited by our experiences. Some of us had to make very bad and difficult experiences, traumatic and strongly endangering. It is not easy to get rid of the influences which have shaped our mind, our emotions, our soul, our existence!

The topic of freedom is a basic and important topic of faith as well. Some people think that Christianity is a set of rules which are limiting our freedom. There are a lot of ideas about God shaping and limiting our life, even in Christian communities. But is it true? What limits does God impose upon us? And what does freedom mean to us?

Let us have a look into Galatians, where the apostle Paul writes about freedom in Christ:

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. (Gal 5, 13)

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(Roland Potthast) ... further texts