Freedom

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I have always wanted to live on my own to experience the little freedoms of life: to walk naked in the house…hahaha, eat ice cream and pizza and leave the tub and box on the coffee table, not wash my dishes, binge watch series for a whole weekend and just stay in bed doing nothing. I have not yet been granted this wish in my nearly 40 years on this earth. I should be careful however what I wish for. I have only enjoyed this freedom for a short while when travelling for work. I went to a boarding school for my high school, was in a hostel in university where I always had a roommate, I lived at home when I was working at my first job then I got married and moved in with my husband.

Freedom, whether at work, life or in a relationship, comes with responsibility which many people do not consider when demanding it. The questions that one should ask themselves are: Are you responsible enough to do the right thing, be it work or managing finances? Are you accountable even when nobody is watching? Careful what you wish for because the stakes are higher when you get this perceived freedom.

When freedom is abused, it leads to destruction and draws us further from God. Many teenagers cannot wait to get out of their parents houses but as soon as some move out, they get in to trouble by falling pregnant, using drugs and abusing alcohol. In relationships, some people want the freedom to keep their phones private. These freedom in turn abets infidelity and encourages the watch of pornography in secret. Some people want freedom from their bosses monitoring them but waste plenty of time on social media and phone calls when granted this freedom.

God has given us free will. We all however have a tendency to abuse this freedom but we can make a choice to do what is right. God has given us the Bible as an instruction manual to guide us to take the right steps and make the right decisions. Some of the instructions I will mention can be found in the book of Romans and Ephesians.

Romans 12-15 lays out the duties of a Christian as follows:

• Transform your mind by reading God’s word to discover the will of God for you which is good pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2)
• Don’t think to highly of yourself than you ought to (Romans 12:3) You can be confident but don’t think you are better than others. We all have different gifts. (Romans 12:4-6) Don’t be wise in your own estimation, associate with all, poor or rich. (Romans 12: 16) There is always something to learn from other
• Use your God given gifts. (Romans 12: 6) Don’t grow slack in zeal, motivate yourself (Romans 12:11). Stay hopeful, persevere during hard times and pray (Romans 12:12)
• Let your love be sincere, hate what is evil, love others and show them honour. (Romans 12:9) Don’t revenge. Try to do what is fair in everyone’s eyes and try to live at peace with all. (Romans 12:17-21)
• Exercise hospitality, contribute to the needs of holy ones (Romans 12:13). Bless others with what God has given you. Tithe.
• Be there for others, cry with them, laugh with them (Romans 12:15)
•  The Golden Rule of life is to do unto others as would like them to do unto you. (Matthew 7:12). When it comes to love, the bible tells us that love fulfils all law. Love your neighbour as yourself. When you love, you can do no evil to neighbour. (Romans 13:9-10)

Ephesian 4-6 also gives us rules for a person who has chosen a new life, to walk in the light:

• Speak the truth, no more lies (Ephesians 4:25)
• You can get angry but don’t sin. Don’t let the sun go down when you are still angry. (Ephesians 4:26). Be quick to forgive and let go. Its poison for your soul.
• Do honest work. (Ephesians 4:28). Don’t steal, don’t be corrupt.
• No foul language should come from your mouth (Ephesians 4:29). Encourage others and offer compliments.
• Be wise. Make the most of opportunities that come your way (Ephesians 5:15-16).
• Don’t get drunk (Ephesians 5:18). Drunkenness leads to all kinds of evil, undesired sexual behaviour, drug abuse and much more.
• Give praise and thanksgiving to God for everything you have been blessed with. (Ephesians 5:20) Always remember that ‘every good and perfect gift is from God’ (James 1:7).
• We should respect one another (Ephesians 5: 21). Wives are reminded that they must respect their husbands (Ephesians 5:22).
• Husbands are reminded to love their wives like their own bodies (Ephesians 5:25-29)
• Children are reminded to obey and honour their parents and promised a long life and blessings if they do this. (Ephesians 6:1-3)
• Fathers are told not to provoke their children but to train and discipline them as they grow 😊 (Ephesians 6:4).
• Employees are reminded to obey and respect their bosses and to work with their whole heart even when their bosses are not watching. (Ephesians 6:5-7)
• Bosses should not bully their employees. They are reminded that God is their boss and He sees all human beings as equal and will judge them accordingly. (Ephesians 6:9)

We should strive to be accountable for the freedom given to us and to use it to do God’s will. We have a choice and we will all be judged accordingly.