The Source of True Freedom

God gave us freedom from the very beginning. Choice. God, in making us in his image, instilled in us the godlike power of free will. From the beginning, though, humanity has abused and misunderstood the paradox of that freedom; that it is both absolute and limited simultaneously. This freedom has been our greatest gift and the greatest cause of our suffering. Through the use of this freedom, we have the opportunity to become either saints or sinners.

God also gave us intellect. With the intellect, over time, we come to know the difference between right and wrong, good and bad, true and false, through the teaching and example of others and the reality of our own lived experiences. With practice, we can develop the habits or the virtues that empower us to more regularly choose to do what is truly good and what is morally right…Or not! Those last two words, “or not”, reveal both the long history of human suffering and the reason for the necessity of the Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Human history has shown us definitively that human beings have failed to do what is right and good in countless ways. Our failures to use the gift of our freedom properly are the direct cause, the very source of most of humanity’s suffering, both individually and collectively. And it is a truth to say that we are all sinners. This is true, sometimes because of ignorance and sometimes out of our knowing and willful misuse of our free wills. At some point, if we are lucky or are open to the often surprising grace of God, a little healthy humility enters our consciousness. If we learn the art of being self-reflective, we can come to realize that, even though our intentions are good, we often get lost, go astray from the path that leads to God and to our happiness. This might be due to our ignorance, or it might be due to our lack of experience. Or, it might be because of our false pride. It is when this light of wisdom dawns upon us that we realize our need for the help of others, those who are more advanced than ourselves. More importantly, we realize our need to return to the wisdom of God.

As Christians, we have come to know the image of the Good Shepherd. We know that shepherd-to-be Jesus Christ, the One who has shown us the face and the love of the Father. In his death and resurrection, he has shown us that his love is greater than our sins. He is the true good shepherd who willingly laid down his life for us, even when we were amid our sins. He is the Good Shepherd who guides us, who shows us the way, the truth, and the life through his own words and actions. He is the Shepherd who willingly leaves the 99 sheep in search of the one that is lost. It is he who goes out willingly and purposefully into the darkness of our individual, self-made wildernesses to bring us back.

This is the paradox of our freedom. It is in our willful misuse of our God-given freedom that we imprison ourselves in the dark dungeons, the consequences of our sins, where we come to know only bitterness and fear. On the other hand, it is in coming to know the wisdom and the will of God, and then freely choosing to follow it, that we find the real freedom, the rest, and the happiness that our hearts naturally desire. St. Augustine said it best: “God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” This is the paradox of God’s infinite, unconditional, magnanimous love for us. Though we willfully turn away from him, pridefully going off in our ways, his love for us cannot be conquered. So profound is his love that, in the Person of His Son, he willingly entered into our humanity, suffered, and died for us on a cross. Our true, lasting, eternal freedom is found in our submission to the infinitely loving and liberating will of God. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3: 17).