On this July 4th, people will celebrate with barbeques, fireworks, gatherings, apple pie, parades, and baseball games. We celebrate this day not because we are free from all the rules that we don’t like, but because our founding fathers fought against the oppressive rule of Britain. On this day in 1776, America declared its freedom from the rule of King George. In no way is America perfect. A country is full of people, and we are all imperfect, so our country is not perfect. We have a long way to go for everyone to have equity. We do however have freedom, but we must realize that with freedom comes responsibility.
Even though we are a free country, it does not mean that we get everything we want or that every law is in our favor. Trust me. I wish some laws would be handed down, but not only would we not be a free country, but war could break out among the people because my laws would annoy you. America was unique when it began, especially wanting freedom from a government ruling us. After we received our Independence from Britain, war broke out among the states over the idea of freeing all people. Once slaves were emancipated, freedom was to be for all people. I know we have a long way to go for all people to be free, but we have come a long way.
With freedom comes great responsibility. We have taken freedom for granted for so long, that many of us have become mundane and haven’t realized that we must change for all to be free. Our founding fathers wanted us to be free from a government ruling us. They wanted people to be able to take risks as they did and create lives that would bring good to everyone. We have the freedom to choose our life course. We have the responsibility to protect that freedom for those who live among us and after us.
We must use our freedom with responsibility. We have freedom of speech. I have seen the unwise comments that people are speaking on social media. When we don’t have responsibility over our speech, relationships are broken, which causes friction. The Bible warns us about our tongues being out of control. Calling people names and deeming them evil because they believe differently than you, are not responsible acts. It’s being a tyrant.
If you want the freedom to speak or write your opinions, allow others to do the same. You don’t have to respond. Being responsible with freedom means allowing others to speak with their freedom. If you want to have an intelligent discourse, which is rare on social media, then have one with intelligence, no name calling, and with understanding of the views of the other person. The goal is not to change the other person’s views but to see their views and understand that person with their experiences. We must speak to others as we want them to speak to us.
Along with responsibility of speech, we must have responsibility of our religious beliefs. Jesus did not command us to go around and demand that everyone believes in him, but to invite others into his presence. There’s a big difference between demanding and inviting. Jesus did not tell us to belittle or call people names who do not believe in him. He never did that. He told us to go and make disciples. That takes time, not screaming on the street corners, which is what social media does. We want to INIVITE people to Jesus not shove them to Him and demand that they follow him or else. That’s not freedom. That’s not responsible. That’s not freedom in our country or in the ways of Jesus. Jesus always invited. He never demanded. Let’s begin inviting.
The Revolutionary War was fought so that we could have a government that governs the people and represents the people, not rule the people. Our country is divided. We are so polarized that people on either side cannot communicate or have relationships with those who think and believe differently than them. Both sides want to rule. We must realize that God created all of us with a brain and we all think and believe differently. We all have different experiences that shape our ideas and beliefs. In order to have a more perfect union, we must begin with listening to those who are different from us.
When I visited Washington D.C. in 2013, I understood with all the tours, memorials, homes, and battle lands that we are a young nation. We have made grave mistakes, but we also have made beautiful strides in making the world a better place with our inventions. If we want the country to be better, then we must all do one small act to be better. The country doesn’t get better because we vote or because the laws we want or don’t want. The country is made up of human beings. When human beings become better in their actions and words towards other people, the country becomes better.
Our founding fathers compromised. They did not agree with one another. You will never agree with someone 100%, but if we want this country to remain free, we must compromise. We must listen. We must be responsible with the freedom we do have because if we don’t, we may lose it.
The Fourth of July is not about barbeques, or fireworks, or parades. It’s a reminder that we received our independence from a tyrannical government. Let us appreciate our freedom. Let us be responsible with our freedom and respect the ideas of others because we do not want to lose our freedom. It is our responsibility to protect our freedom. Protected freedom comes with responsibility. Let us begin to be responsible with our freedom.
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