America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. - Abraham Lincoln

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. - C. S. Lewis

Freedom has always been an expensive thing. History is fit testimony to the fact that freedom is rarely gained without sacrifice and self-denial. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Some came here as political refugees, while others were religious exiles. Some came as entrepreneurs, while others came as servants and chattel. Some came on ships seeking freedom, and others came on ships having lost their freedom. Yet as Jesse Jackson is fond of saying, “No matter what ship you came here on, we’re all in the same boat now.” And as it is with our temporal, nationalistic kingdoms, so it is more so with the eternal kingdom of God. - Anthony Carter

The secret to freedom from enslaving patterns of sin is worship. You need worship. You need great worship. You need weeping worship. You need glorious worship. You need to sense God’s greatness and to be moved it — moved to tears and moved to laughter — moved by who God is and what he has done for you. - Timothy Keller

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 5:1

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself. - Galatians 5:13-14

Freedom From:

God has given us complete freedom, how we use it depends on how we understand and relate to God. As the quotes above reveal, most of us enslave and oppress ourselves with the desires of the world. We have the freedom to eat all the cake we want, be ornery with anyone who does not agree with us, and worry constantly about money, but all of those things have terrible consequences that constrain us from true life. Life in Christ frees us from our sinful attachment to money, power, lifestyle, popularity, self consciousness, political ideology, sexual identity, social media persona, and even religious rules that lead to self righteousness. 

For you, this means freedom from the fears, worries, and desires that you are unable to release from your heart and mind. You know exactly where your mind wanders during the day and what wakes you up at night. Freedom in Christ means freedom from worrying about what tomorrow might bring (Matthew 6:35) in your job, in your bank account, and in your relationships. This means freedom from anything that does not help you turn your heart to God. 

Freedom To:

God gives us free will and that means we have the freedom to choose. This does not mean that what we want is always exactly what we need. Randy Pope, a pastor at Perimeter Church in Atlanta says "Freedom is really the ability to do what we should.” Freedom is being true to the way we are made. God made us in His image (Genesis 1:26) and then He sent His son to be our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30) because we fell into sin. Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). God’s love gives you freedom to stop caring what others think or even care what you think — to seek a new job, or to be of more value where you work now, to earn more money or to earn less money, to find new friends or to commit more deeply to the friends you have, to stay away from social media or to use it as a platform to shine light to others. God’s perfect love gives you the freedom to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31).

Surrender To Find Freedom:

To be free we must surrender. When we stop allowing other people, movements, possessions, or political ideology to define us and instead grab hold of true life (1 Timothy 6:19) we receive true freedom in Christ. Free to be our true selves — children of the King and heirs of the promise. Real freedom does not mean giving into every whim our hearts and minds desire. Real freedom is allowing our hearts and minds to follow The One who made you and loves you perfectly.  

Let’s look at Zacchaeus as a case study: 

"Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold."And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” - Luke 19:1-10

Did Zacchaeus gain or lose freedom when he surrendered his greed and personal control of his life? What does this show you about your attachment to money, power, control, lifestyle, popularity, political ideology, sexual identity, social media persona, or even religious rules that hold you back from experiencing freedom?

Zacchaeus surrendered all things and followed Jesus and discovered a freedom he could not lose. Tim Keller reminds us what drives all behavior when he asks, “How do you change your behavior?" His recommendation: "Change what you worship.” We have the freedom to worship and love what is perfect — Christ. Let’s find freedom in worshiping God and loving others the way Jesus loves us!