“The freedom of the will is a gift from God, but it is up to man to cultivate it and guide it toward virtue”. Freedom is one of the most thought-after notions in life, standing at the very front of almost all of history’s revolutions. Simply, freedom is one’s ability to think about, take, and act on a given decision; it’s one’s ability to use one’s God-given free will, to make a choice, to act, thus being one’s own master by God’s design of the human will.
For every action, arises a reaction; hence, with freedom comes responsibility, which we will define as the consequences and accountability that follow an individual’s freedom; the weight that a person partakes to be truly free; man’s obligation to cultivate and guide his freedom of will toward virtue.
Going through the following definitions, it is time to inquire the following questions: what is the role of freedom and responsibility in the life of a Christian? And how can they draw us closer to God?
Firstly, freedom is the first right, the root of rights, the right of all rights. There can be no rights without freedom. Thus, freedom embodies the dignity of man and the supremacy of man over all other species. God created man free through his free will, consequently prompting him to choose between virtue and sin, which shapes the life of man. Accordingly, every thought we hold matters and every action is, to a certain extent, impactful.
The freedom given by God shall be exercised toward God. Alternatively, freedom exercised outside of God loses its definition and contradicts itself as a gift from God. This abuse enslaves us to sin. By rejecting God’s will man loses his freedom. Because doing what is good and virtuous frees us and aligns us with the will of the Creator; while doing what is bad, what is opposed to virtue, reflects our abuse of our free will which leads to attachment to sin, loss of touch with the path, the will of God, hence slavery. To sum it up, the only freedom is the freedom directed toward God’s unified, unchanging, and objective morality. The Christian must transcend his God-given potential by free will, to fully achieve what God wills in his life. Even if man is free, man cannot live by himself disconnected from God, for the creation cannot bear nor live in the absence of its Creator, subsequently, the common or popular idea that man can save himself
through his free will only, similar to the 5th-century Pelagian Heresy, is false. Man is free in God and to be truly liberated, man must remove all that draws him farther from God, including his inclinations and impulses that shall be mastered because one who is not master of himself is a slave to his weaknesses, to his own shortcomings. The mastery of the will over its acts is an
essential component of individual freedom.
Furthermore, the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) illustrates God’s gift to the servants through their given talents and His praise to those who fruitfully employed their talents to align
with the will of God. Thus, freedom or liberation does not come from offering our works to ourselves or the world, but to God. To be free is to will God’s will, to virtuously partake in the decisions that shall grow the fruits of the spirit, to choose God above the world, and to patiently alter our thoughts and actions to water the seeds ingrained by our Creator.
Secondly, responsibility is accountability for our freedom. It is the duty carried with our actions, the weight implied by our free will. Knowledge breeds responsibility because he who knows
what is right has a moral duty to act on it. Thus, ignorance nullifies responsibility, but negligence within one’s knowledge does not. It is also worth noting that even though ignorance does not imply accountability, persisting in one’s ignorance leads to moral immaturity; which is to be unaware of the implications of one’s actions.
To be responsible is to use our free will to choose what is virtuous, what is meaningful, and what aligns with God’s plan. Through freedom, we are able to do much, but not all that can be done
must be done. As St. Paul puts it, “All things are lawful; but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful; but not all things edify” (1 Corinthians 10:23). Consequently, the combination
of freedom and responsibility stands here as the means to choose what is best, to choose which weight to carry, which cross to bear.
To bear our cross is to be responsible. To be responsible is to accept God’s will in our lives and joyfully carry its weight. To be or to not be, to accept or reject, to stand before the throne of God having taken great and virtuous usage of our God-given seeds or to have negligently left our talents undeveloped. The choice here is to either be the servant who fervently worked to multiply the gifts of his Master or the other, wicked, slothful servant (Matthew 25:26).
In conclusion, God who gave us free will shall hold us responsible for our usage of this free will;
“Thus, the Lord asked Eve after the sin in the garden: What is this that you have done?” (Gen. 3:13). Hence, we can either violate the will of God, abuse our freedom, enslave ourselves to sin, and lose touch with God’s plan; or align ourselves with God’s will, use our freedom to carry virtuous and meaningful responsibilities, become free in God, and see The Christ in our actions, in our lives, and beyond, after death. To align ourselves with God’s will is to ardently state, as the Blessed Virgin Mary said: “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to
your word” (Luke 1:38).