Americans celebrate our freedoms like no other country in the world. We pay great honor and homage to our fallen soldiers for fighting for our freedoms. Every July 4th we celebrate Independence Day when our founding fathers declared the colonies were no longer subject to the tyrannical rule of the British Crown.

Then on July 4, 1776, our march towards freedom had begun, albeit flawed. African slavery was the big blot on our record, along with the disfranchisement of women. But we live in a country where people can fight for and obtain political freedom. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation and after the Civil War, the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments were added to the Constitution, effectively abolishing slavery. Women gained the right to vote in 1920. African Americans fought against segregation and won with the signing of the various Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s. While prejudice and de facto racism still exist, people have an avenue in our government and judicial system to seek redress. Nowadays, each political party laments the loss of our freedoms by the other political party. During the Bush years, the left lamented over the Patriot Act. Now the right fears the loss of freedom through healthcare reform. The conservatives felt free under the Patriot Act; the liberals felt unwarranted wire taps violated the constitution. The liberals feel freedom will come when the financial burdens of healthcare are alleviated, the conservatives fear socialism, which is short for slavery in their minds. Maybe one person's freedom is another person's prison. Each side, when threatened, calls for political action to fight for their freedoms. Demonstrations, heated rhetoric over the airwaves, raucous sessions of Congress, lawsuits upon lawsuits -- this is how we fight for our freedoms. Once we even went to war and killed one another.

People speak out against the loss of freedom, and I always wonder, "Just what freedom are you losing?" Is military prowess freedom? Is physical security? Is wealth? Is government working for you, providing certain safety nets freedom? Is the government leaving you alone freedom? Does freedom come from men killing other men in wars? Is freedom at all a political, social, or economic state?

Or is it something else?

About eight years ago, I had everything I was taught was desirable: A husband, children, home, job, car, etc. I should have been most happy and most free from the American point of view. Instead, I was dying inside. I was frustrated with my husband, overwhelmed by my responsibilities at work and at home, and I felt angry and short-tempered and trapped. One evening I looked at the trajectory my life was on and I realized that if something did not change quickly I would find myself divorced, bankrupt, and in ruins. How could I be a good mother to my children with my own life in ruins? I did not want that to happen, but what could I do? I had come to the end of my rope.

I tried to be good, tried to make good, moral choices, but it seemed everyone had a different idea of what was moral and many were contradictory. Some standards seemed pointlessly harsh, others seemed just pure indulgence. How did I know if my decisions were right? I needed some light. And it slowly dawned on me that I was not sufficient in my own self, and neither was anyone else I knew. I needed Someone else.

I had known Christ as a child, but church can be a mean place, and I ran from harsh, judgmental, hyper-moral people who would instill fear and shame in me. I knew God was different; I guess I always believed that God was good, but I didn't know how or where to find Him. So I wandered for many years. I remember praying to him in my early twenties, "God is there a church for people like me?" I had a desire to know Him, but did not want to get hurt again.

Five years after that prayer, I found myself in dire need of God. I had begun to casually attend a local congregation. I didn't necessarily go to worship much, but I did take an aerobics class they offered. I had just had my second child and needed to get back into shape. The church started sending me their newsletter and in it they advertised a thirty-four week course through the Bible. I knew I had to take that course, as daunting as the commitment was. I figured it was a good place to start looking for some answers.

The course began the Friday after 911. I had so many questions, the foremost being, "God, do you even work in the world anymore?" Within the first few weeks of study, He answered my question with a resounding, "Yes." By the end of that course, I had totally and completely fallen for Him and dedicated the rest of my life to His service. His grace, forgiveness, mercy and love provided a soothing balm for my soul and a quickening of my spirit. For the first time in my life, I felt truly alive.

An amazing thing happens when a person accepts Jesus Christ. He gives them the gift of His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwelling in a believer is the power that enables a person to live for God. The power to live in true freedom. Man tries to mimic this law as best he can in this fallen world. Brave Christian men and woman have worked hard to provide Christ-like laws, and they are good. But a person is not truly free under any of man's rules, no matter how well-intentioned. God, however, does have a law that sets you free called the royal law and it goes like this: "If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right." "Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom." James 2:8, 12

Love is the law that gives freedom. And by this I do not mean romantic love or even brotherly love, although those are wonderful. I am talking about Agape, or God Love.

You can have all the political, economic and social freedom in this world and not be truly free. To be truly free, you must submit to the law of Love that has the power over sin and death. Before Christ, I tried to make moral choices but was still in the dark. I was not set free until I accepted Christ's love for me. "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son . . ." (John 3:16). Love died on the cross so you could be free. Love rose again on the third day so you could live forever. Love frees us not to do whatever we want, but to empower us to do the right thing in Christ Jesus: Love one another. And with that freedom come these benefits: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) That is true freedom. Why? Because, ". . . against such things, there is no law." (Galatians 5:23b).

God love, the royal law, is the only freedom that really matters. Do you have it?

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