Maximizing Your Potential

Freedom! It sounds so good. Everybody wants freedom. Ethnic groups, social groups, religious groups. Children, youth, adults. All want the right to determine their own lives and to make their decisions without guidance or interference from anyone else. It should not surprise us, then, that many common phrases express this craving for freedom: Freedom of the press, Freedom of choice, Freedom of religion, Freedom of speech. All reveal the universal longing to be unencumbered by the dictates and the decisions of others. Nothing Is Free Is this truly possible? Can we be entirely free? No, I don’t think so. Nothing is free. Although advertising tries to convince us that we are getting something for nothing—buy one, get one free—we are still paying for the product the advertiser claims is free. In a similar manner, the cost of sweepstakes and prizes given to entice consumers to buy a particular product or to subscribe to a certain periodical is built into the company’s price structure somewhere along the way. We cannot get something for nothing. Nothing is free. We cannot get something for nothing. This axiom is also true in relationships. We cannot be entirely free to do what we want, when we want, where we want, how we want, and with whom we want. Freedom always has a price because the actions of one person restricts and influences the freedom of another. The woman who aborts her baby takes away the baby’s freedom to live, and the student who slaps the teacher who reprimands her takes away the teacher’s freedom to keep order in his classroom. Freedom without responsibility cannot be freedom for all who are involved. The Consequences of Freedom Without Responsibility Lawlessness is the freedom to do whatever we want, when we want, with whom we want, with no one telling us to stop. In essence, we defy the standards that govern society to become a law unto ourselves with no sense of responsibility toward anything or anyone. For example, you may choose the freedom to smoke marijuana behind your house at three o’clock in the morning. You know you are breaking the law, but you choose to disregard the law and to exercise your freedom to do as you please. Lawlessness always results in slavery, death, and the loss of preexisting freedoms. Adam and Eve’s experience in the garden verifies this truth. Freedom without law is bondage. The Loss of Freedom When God created the man and the woman and placed them in the garden, He gave them the following instructions: