Freedom

The word “freedom” is fashionable today, but when we dig deeper, we find out that many people today have a distorted view of the nature of true freedom. When 10 people talk about freedom, there are 10 different points of view, perceptions and thoughts.

True freedom comes with the law and involves responsibility, but often by freedom people mean selfishness. Due to the abuse of freedom, society is declining.

People declare freedom to be the right to disregard anything that contradicts their way of thinking. They do not want to recognize society, laws, and responsibility and believe that to follow their own impulses is to act freely and therefore well.

Consider, for example, the president of the country. Being the most important person, can he get up early in the morning and start indulging his whims and fancies? Does such a man go to bed when he wants to? No, his day must be calculated by the minutes. Even when he just eats, someone will want to know where he is and what he is doing.

Can a president just ask to be left alone and try to avoid visitors? Can the president choose from his many duties only the ones he likes? Can he change the time and place where he needs to be to perform all his duties? Whatever happens, even in the middle of the night, the president must immediately respond to the situation. If he does not, he cannot be the leader of the nation. From this point of view, the president is utterly devoid of freedom.

Some students constantly break the rules by being late every day and think they are thus developing their freedom to the maximum, but in fact the educational system does not allow it. There is no freedom to follow a passing whim. By insisting on his “freedom,” such a student only hurts the freedom and harmony of the whole school, so he is a bad student. To be successful, the student must become involved in the academic process of the university and abide by the required rules. By doing so, he will enjoy tremendous freedom.

What characterizes freedom?

Freedom is characterized by three things.

First, there is no freedom outside the Law. Freedom requires both free will and the free actions pursuant to that will. Perfect freedom is achieved when they are in harmony. Therefore, there cannot be any free action without free will, nor can free will be complete without free actions to accompany it.

Second, true freedom is based on responsibility. If everyone insists on the freedom of love for each individual, and yet embodies it without any responsibility, this will lead to great problems. The perfection of the person who is to embody the ideal of love is only possible when he takes responsibility for love.

Third, there is no freedom without results. Freedom always leads to concrete results. With freedom, one seeks to fulfill one’s responsibility and to achieve results that will bring one closer to the goal.

Levels of freedom

Have you ever thought that there is a higher level of freedom than the world? The freedom of the lowest level can easily destroy the freedom of the highest if the lowest appropriates the priority untimely.

Directly related to the level of personal freedom is the level of freedom of the family, and then of society, the nation, and the world. Sometimes there is a conflict between them. Individual freedom may not coincide with national freedom, and national freedom may not coincide with world freedom. If the individual prioritizes personal freedom, it can bring misery to the family. If national freedom is given the highest priority, order and freedom in the world will be shattered. If the world cares only for its freedom, it will be detrimental to the freedom of the universe.

If one does not live up to the expectations of one’s family, the whole family is disturbed. And if a family breaks up, the whole society suffers. If a country pursues its own interests against those of the whole world, the whole world, at the risk of being affected by it, will be forced to change the direction of that country.

For a family to feel safe in its country, it must respect and serve the country. The same applies to all other levels, up to the level of universal freedom, which, in turn, must submit to the freedom of the Creator.

In a country, laws are made for the good and stability of the nation as a whole; they need not necessarily serve the personal interests of everyone. In this way, the freedom of the nation is protected, and personal freedom is subordinated to it. At the same time, all people living in the universe must respect the higher laws and follow them. The law of the universe is the law of God.

The Heavenly Parent, looking at the universe He created, sees that it tries to use its freedom without Him, and He suffers greatly for it. If man’s freedom destroys higher levels of happiness, it brings no joy. For the Creator’s dominion to be established and for Him to have freedom, all lower levels of freedom that come into conflict with it must be sacrificed.