Freedom

I was asked to teach the lesson in Relief Society today on freedom. While I didn't connect the topic to the 4th of July until after 6 hours of deliberation and study, I did come upon it eventually. Ha. As I was studying and researching the topic and the concept of freedom I discovered that freedom is one of the governing principles of this world. We are free to choose what we may. No one can force me to do anything I do not want to do. What a blessing. I can choose for myself to be a good person, to have morals, and to follow Jesus Christ. No one is there shoving me into it. Especially now that I've grown up (not completely but a little bit...) and moved away from home I choose now more than ever what is in my life and what is not.

And yet, with that choice comes a consequence. So many choices in this world appear to come without consequence. Getting a credit card allows you to spend money you do not have and conceptually seems like you get to buy things without having to work for them and without immediate consequences for spending beyond your means. It would appear that with the social freedom to sleep with anyone you want Chasity is old fashioned and out dated. And yet both of these choices can lead to quite serious consequences. Yet the world is still advertising freedom without consequence, or freedom without responsibility. Which is so interesting to me because without consequence what is there to base your choices on? If it does not matter what you choose, is there really a choice?

The freedom the world offers is cheap and it falls short. In today's society you have the social freedom to have sex, to do drugs, to drink until you are unable to walk in a straight line. And the world says that all of these things are so fun and can make you so happy. And yet, I do not buy it. Because I know at least one person who does each of these activities on a regular basis. They feel free for a time. Which is all the world is selling - free for a time. I wonder if that is what they thought they were signing up for before they began - for a time. What a false freedom. They are free until their freedom turns to bitter addiction or painful regret. Without self discipline we are but empty vessels of self gratification. The world turns a cold place filled with only ourselves and our own emotions. A world with but me in it is a sad place to be sure. While I can make myself laugh sometimes and smile at my own cleverness other times, without the laughter of others and love towards them, my life would be more empty than I could even imagine it to be. What a sad world to live in. I see no freedom there.

It is only through self restraint and self mastery that we become free.

To put it a different way...

I believe in God.

I believe in a God who loves me enough to guide me to freedom. I believe in a God who gives commandments and doctrine that enable me to be more free than I could ever be without them. I believe in a God who directed the Founding Fathers and who brought about this land of freedom. I believe in a God who knows me by name and who is ever loving and ever watchful. I believe in a God who is involved in my life, happiness, and well-being.

I believe in a God who believes in true and lasting freedom.

Goodnight, dear void.