There are few things which have a greater appeal to mankind than the desire for freedom. The child, at a very early age, may often pit his little human will against that of constituted authority, known to him probably as the laws and regulations made by his parents and teachers. Often he may exercise much ingenuity in order to circumvent or evade these rules, until some sharp lesson comes to him and he learns by either bodily or mental suffering that the rules, which to him had seemed harsh and restrictive, were really designed for his safety and well-being.
Since at present it sometimes seems as if license and disregard of the laws of decency and good behavior are exceptionally rampant, it is well that we clarify our thought on this question, striving to understand something of what Paul meant when he said, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." What a wealth of meaning lies in those few words, and what a concept of true liberty they bring to the thought! "The Spirit of the Lord"! The spirit which animated Christ Jesus was far removed from the material sense of liberty.
At first sight one may be tempted to wonder how the word "liberty" could be applicable to Jesus, who throughout his earthly career was constantly pursued by the hatred and malice of the world, Jesus, to whom the material pleasures of the world and the gratification of the material senses were almost unknown, and who was finally betrayed and put to death. Where was the world's idea of freedom and liberty in such a life of constant self-sacrifice? And how can we who are striving to follow in his footsteps and to take up his cross know freedom and liberty, hemmed in as we frequently seem to be with the false beliefs which surround us on every side?
