HOW important it is that we have a clear idea of the
relationship between God and freedom, and between freedom and love.
Given our very confusing times, when the distinction between truth and
falsehood, good and evil, moral and immoral is blurred, it’s very
urgent that we get hold of this distinction, if we wish to be on the
right track in our life!
Everything true, good and beautiful comes from God.
There’s no question about that. Nothing can be true, good and
beautiful if God is not at the core of it. Anything that is not true,
good and beautiful does not come from God, even if it has appearances
of what we subjectively consider as truth, goodness and beauty. And
sad to say, we often get caught in this trap of an anomaly.
Of course, in the rough and tumble of our actual life in
this world, truth and falsehood, good and evil, beauty and ugliness
can get mixed up in us but never in the same aspects. One may be good
in looks but bad in manners, to cite an obvious example. So we have to
be extremely discerning to be able to distinguish, since this mixing
can be very subtly confusing. We may not even realize we are confused,
let alone, wrong.
We have to realize more deeply then that our freedom, if
it has to be real freedom, has to come from God. It has to be related
to him, to his will, to his laws and commandments. Freedom is not real
freedom if it would just be a matter of doing our own will. Our will
has to conform to God’s will for us to enjoy true freedom.
We need to strengthen our conviction about this essential
relationship between God and our freedom. This is the truth about
freedom. This is the truth referred to when Christ told the Jews who
believed him, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my
disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you
free.” (Jn 8,31-32)
From here, we can already realize that our living and true
relationship with God is very indispensable. Without this relationship
in place, we simply would be left to our own devices. And that
realization should already egg us to really take care of our
relationship with God, knowing how limited and prone to confusion and
error our unguided human powers can be.
With the relationship between God and freedom clarified,
we have to realize next that freedom is what enables us to love, just
as God’s love for us and all of his creation was an act of freedom on
his part. He was not forced to create anything or anyone. There
absolutely was no necessity for him to create us. But He did it just
the same, out of freedom.
In other words, he created us and the whole universe out
of pure love, a total self-giving that can never be reciprocated
equally by his creatures. This is the essence of love which, according
to the First Letter of St. John, is the very essence of God: “God is
love.” (4,8)
In short, for us to truly love, it has to be an act of
freedom. And to be able to love in true freedom and not false freedom,
it has to be based on God, rooted on his will and commandments, and
empowered by his Spirit. Thus, Christ said, “If you love me, you
will keep my commandments.” (Jn 14,15)
So, we should know where we can find true love and what
would constitute as authentic love, and not fake love. This is the
love that Christ himself has shown us. It’s a love that culminated in
his passion and death in total obedience to the Father’s will so our
sins can be forgiven. This is the love that he commands us to do!
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