Now the Lord is the Spirit

Freedom. The desire for freedom is deeply ingrained in us. But what is this freedom that Paul is saying comes from the Spirit of the Lord, and only the Spirit of the Lord?

Even great concepts like freedom can be perverted by the temptations of the world. The world demands freedom “from” things. It is expressed in words like “I am free to do what I wish, whenever I wish to do it, without any constraints from any other authority but myself.” This is the tyrannical cry of the radical individualist. In that sense, it is no different than the defiant words of Satan in John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, when, after he has been cast into hell for his rebellion against God, he boasts: “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.” That “freedom” is a delusion. In reality, there is no such thing as freedom without consequences, no such thing as freedom without responsibilities.

The kind of freedom that the Spirit of the Lord brings to us is freedom “for.” It is in the Spirit of the Lord that our truest freedom is revealed. It is seen revealed in our words and in our actions. We are no longer enslaved by the selfish demands of the ego. In the Spirit of the Lord, we are freed to become people for others, people who knowingly, willingly, and purposefully serve the greater good. In the freedom of the Spirit, we humbly choose to submit our will to the will of God, who is love (1 John 4:16). What could be more liberating? The Spirit of the Lord frees us to serve all that is good, true, and beautiful. We are no longer subject to the whims of our immediate desires. We are free to sacrifice our own wants, even our present needs, in order to serve the immediate and greater needs of the other.

This, then, is the freedom that we discover when we place ourselves under the loving Spirit of the Lord: that we choose to be like him in all things, more and more frequently. It is in this freedom that we become true disciples of the living God. God is alive in the world today in and through this freedom. When we freely choose to do the will of God, in the Spirit of the Lord, he pours his graces out on the world through us.

Lord, give us the courage to choose to live in your Spirit more and more in our daily lives. This is the true freedom we desire; to do the will of God in all things. We pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen!