Your choices matter

 Your Choices Matter

​Sometimes it is easy to think, "My choices don't matter," or "The things I do don't matter. My life is just my own and it has no great impact on the world." We may even look at people like the pastor, the community leader, your boss, or even the president and say their choices matter, but mine don't.

​The Fallacy of Singular Leadership

​This is false. The success of anything in life, whether it be the family, the church, the business, or the nation, depends not necessarily on the choice of a single leader, but on the daily choices made by the individual. Let's look at a business, for example. You can have the best CEO, but if some of the low-level employees choose not to show up, it will impact the business.

​You can be the greatest general in the world, but if your frontline soldiers refuse to fight, you have no strength. You can be the best spouse in the world, but if your spouse chooses the path of selfishness, the family will be damaged.

​The Collective Moral Foundation

​Life is never about the big choices, but the daily choices made by the individual. A successful society is dependent on the choices of all of its members. If the members of a society are greedy for money and neglect true self-development, the rot of corruption will soon begin to eat the society from the inside out. If the members of the society start choosing to believe there is no difference between a man and a woman and that homosexuality is okay, confusion will soon take over the whole society.

​Sexual promiscuity erodes trust and breaks people down emotionally, which then leads to greater problems in marriage. Problems in marriage might lead you to get a divorce. Your divorce not only impacts you, your children, and those around you; it impacts society as a whole, for it shifts people's perception of marriage, and as we know, marriage is the foundation of society. For a marriage is akin to a small nation-state. The breakdown of marriage is a small dose of national breakdown. A nation is a marriage of people through a social contract. Your individual choice of how you treat marriage has a national impact. Choose wisely, deal wisely with your spouse. Your success and failure in marriage have a great impact.

​The Interdependence of the Whole

​A machine depends on the sum of its parts. As long as each part is working correctly, then the machine is working correctly; but as soon as a different part, or what appears to be the most insignificant part, starts to malfunction, then the machine will start to breakdown.

​Each member is integral to the success of the whole. An army at war is not solely depending on the general who directs combat, but on the cook who prepares the food, the mechanic who fixes the vehicles, the clerk who processes the material, and the phone operator who passes the message. Each has a crucial part to play in the success or failure of the army. A missed message could define the success or failure of a battle.

​To build a society, one doesn't simply need a great leader, a great cabinet, etc., but the construction worker who will work on infrastructure, the teacher who will raise the future generation, the policeman who keeps the peace in the streets, etc. The choice of each member is crucial to the success or failure of it. A revolution may start with one member of the society, high or low, stating his or her discontent, then that discontent goes from member to member until it becomes a flood that overwhelms the system.

​Empowering the Individual

​The truth is, no one man is truly as powerful as the least member that upholds him. If you want to build a successful family, church, business, or nation, focus on the development of the least individual. Teach them to make healthy choices, wise choices. If the individual is making healthy choices, then the society and the business become healthy.

​Imagine having a business where one of your employees gets involved in a scandal of some sort; his personal choice will impact the function of the business.

​A powerful nation is not powerful because of its army only. It is powerful because of its industry, its educational system, its virtues, and the people's belief in its cause. A powerful country is dependent upon the poor as much as the rich. For it is usually the poor who make up its armies, work in its factories, maintain its infrastructure, etc. While the rich may provide the financial capital, the poor do the labor, and as such, the poor are as important as the rich.

​A church is not successful because it has a brilliant orator as a pastor. The whole contributes to its success: the deacon maintaining cleanliness and order, the usher with the smile welcoming the people, the treasurer who faithfully stewards its money, the youth working the technology, and the member seeking to live an upright life. If the usher had a bad day and was mean to one person, that one act may eventually lead to a damaged reputation and destroy the church. One member living in sin will, by his or her influence, corrupt the whole.

​The act of one soldier can define a battle. A soldier who no longer believes in the cause can open the gate to the enemy, reveal secrets, etc. One traitor in the ranks can destroy the whole. The individual and his daily choices are what contribute to the success or failure of any group or enterprise.

​Conclusion

​Your choices matter. The choices you make on a daily basis are determining whether your family, your job, church, Bible study group, society, or the nation gets stronger or weaker.

​The idea that my choices are unimportant and only the choices of powerful people in powerful positions matter is simply false. As a matter of fact, many times so-called "powerful" people make choices to appeal to the popular will, and what is the popular will but the individual choices of the majority?

​Your choices matter. Every single one. Whether you choose to read the Bible or watch some foolishness, whether you go to school or not, whether you treat someone kindly or not, it all matters. The person you treated kindly may develop a better view of people and repeat the same. The person you mistreated one day may develop an evil outlook on humanity or your people group and spread evil.

​Your choices matter; seek to make wise ones.

Always remember that national sin is the result of accumulated individual sins. When God judges a nation, He is not judging them, He is judging us. Make right choices that please God on daily 

The Stronger Sex: Man or Woman ?

 The Stronger Sex: Man or Woman?

​Who is stronger, man or woman? A lot depends on how we define strength. If we define strength solely by physical power, then men take the crown, for men are stronger than women on average. They possess greater upper-body strength. But what about emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually? That can be very hard to quantify.

​But let's look at another area. Let's look at strength in terms of who has power over whom. Who is able to rule over whom?

​While many men will go around saying they are stronger than women, the reality is much different. Many men are ignorant of the power of women, and in a male-centric world, it blinds them. Men define power in terms of other men. Men are mostly focused on raw power, while women use soft power for the most part.

​Who is more powerful? The man with the muscles, or the woman who walks by—that beautiful woman who makes every man's heart skip a beat? The woman whom everyone wants to hold the door for? The woman who gets hired on the spot because of her good looks, or the woman who was speeding and is let go without a ticket by a mean-looking male police officer?

​Who is more powerful? Bathsheba, whom King David was powerless to resist, risking his household to attain? Who is more powerful? The Taliban, who defeated the mighty USA, or the women who are so dangerous that their faces must be covered lest the men be taken captive by lust? Think of the rich man who goes to a third-world country in search of a beautiful woman; when he finds her, he lavishes his wealth on her and brings her back to the states to make her his wife.

​Is it King Herod on his throne, or Salome in her youth, dancing before the king, enthralling him, and to whom the king promised half of his kingdom? Just a look, a glance, a shake of the hip would have been enough to take away half of the kingdom. Any other man who desired half of King Herod's kingdom would have to assemble an army and fight for it. But the dance of a young woman was more than a match for the king.

​How many men who would not give anyone a dime will spend a fortune on a woman they barely know? Samson betrayed his strength for a woman. Samson, the mighty man who defeated a thousand Philistine warriors, was defeated by a woman. Solomon, the wisest of kings, was taken captive by his wives. The Israelites on the border of Canaan were defeated by Moabite harlots. We read of Caesar—the mighty Caesar—being enthralled by Cleopatra, and Mark Antony, one of Rome's famed generals, taken captive by her gaze. How many husbands live by the "yes, dear" principle for fear of offending their wives? Men will pay and beg to be with a woman, and yet many men claim to be stronger than women.

​Many men's lives are centered around pleasing women and seeking validation from women, all the while claiming to be stronger. Men seek money, fame, and power just so they can attract women, and yet they claim to be stronger.

​The truth is, the object of attraction is stronger than the one who is attracted. Because women are to a great part the attraction of many men, the truth is that women to a great part rule over men. They don't rule over men through physical dominance, but through beauty, the promise of sensual pleasures, and emotional awareness.

​Many men can resist anything but the power of a beautiful woman, and the man who cannot resist the power of a woman is not stronger than her. Toxic masculinity is nothing but men who realize they are weaker than women; unable to resist, they resort to violence—physical, emotional, etc.—to dominate, to assert back their lack of perceived dominance. Violence is usually the tool of the inwardly weak. The desire to control is the expression of the weak.

​Many men are the slaves of women. To a great degree in modern society, or in the past, women have ruled over men. Women have ruled over kings and generals because women ruled over them through their lust. The person who controls the resources that you seek controls you.

​Women, while physically weaker, are powerful creatures. A woman will analyze a man, seek his weakest point, and unless she truly loves him, will, like a mighty general, take control of the whole man. Her softness, tears, and tenderness are not tools of weakness, but power.

​An army is as strong as its weakest point, and a man is as strong as the passion he controls or that controls him. A man who believes he needs a woman to be validated will be a slave to women. A man who believes he needs to seduce and conquer women to feel like a man has already admitted to himself that women are stronger than him. Hence, womanizers are weak men who look at women as a prize to conquer in order to feel manly.

​The only man who is stronger than a woman is the man who rules over himself, over his passion. Any man who loses control over himself and his passions will find himself being ruled by women. A woman is stronger than any man who lacks self-control and self-possession.

​The stronger sex is the man who has self-possession. He is able to rule over himself, and he will rule over his household. A man who has self-possession will be able to properly love the woman in his life, and his love will disarm her of the weapons of her strength and make her a partner instead of a rival.

​"Her desire shall be to her husband, but he shall rule over you." The woman desires to control the man, and she will succeed over the man without self-control. At the fall, Satan reversed the order of creation and has strengthened the woman while progressively weakening the man. The modern man is weak. The spiritual man, the man restored by God, alone can rule over the woman.

The path of a slave

​I was a young man, and as yet, free. The stranger came to me—not as a stranger, but as a familiar friend, speaking a common language. He lured me in, talking of greatness.

​Every man seeks to make something of himself because every man feels an emptiness within; there is a secret fear that unless he does something, he will die in obscurity. So, the familiar voice whispered, "This is the path of greatness. Pursue this path, and you will be great. Women will honor you, and men will praise your name. Your name will be held in remembrance for years to come."

​And so, I began to pursue the path toward greatness—the path of honor, the path of a king—fully intent on succeeding, fully intent on taking my crown.

​Another call came later, as I traveled that road: "Son, do not venture thus, for it is the path of death. It looks appealing, but its end is destruction. It promises honor but hides hatred and the misery that follows. For you see, son, a true king does not seek for himself; he serves out of the abundance of his treasure. He does not rob the weak but protects the most vulnerable. A true king lifts up his community; he does not break them down."

​Furthermore, the voice said, "Come with me, and I will show you the future of those who took that path."

​As we walked through the vision of life, I saw many under heavy loads. I saw many who were broken. I saw many in a state of weakness I had never anticipated—weak, grief-stricken, and like Samson, grinding through a mill, blindly. I saw the conquered controlling the conqueror. I saw some scraping the bottom of the barrel to feed their souls.

​Slavery—slavery is all I saw. Men who were once mighty, full of life, were reduced to shells of people. And the voice said to me, "This is the end result for those who were promised they would be kings. In seeking to ascend through the pulling down of others, it is their own souls that have been pulled down. They have lost all self-possession and have become the slaves of others. Sorrow fills their lives as they look back at the mistakes of the past."

​"Do not go this way, my son; do not open the door that will rob you of self-possession. True greatness is not achieved by seeking honor in the ruin of others, or by seeking validation from others."

​"True greatness is found in seeking the honor of God and living a life of humility."

​Many warriors are promised the spoils of war, promised greatness and honor, only to fall on the first day of battle or be taken captive, becoming the spoils of war themselves. They never thought they would be captured, yet they find themselves in prison.

​This is the end of the path promised by that familiar voice you heard in your youth. He promises you a grand voyage on a grand ship, but unbeknownst to you, it is a slave ship disguised as a cruise ship. He promises you the spoils of war and the glory of victory, but you are the spoil of war, and the glory will be his.

​Flee from this path, son, and do not become a slave of his.

​And so, by His strength, I escaped. I am no longer a slave—no longer a slave to that familiar voice, the voice of Satan, the enslaver of mankind.

In the name of freedom

Man was created by God, and God made him free. He possessed self-control and authority over all his powers; God alone ruled over him, and he was a king in Eden.

​But then came Satan, disguised as a snake. There it is—that word, "disguised." Satan disguised himself as someone familiar, as someone harmless, and he engaged in conversation with the woman, for Eve was free. I define freedom here as the ability to act according to one's own will rather than being coerced; it is the state of having no internal struggles to do what you know to be right. The woman was free, and doing good was her habit. But then came the enemy, disguised as a friend.

​He asked her, "Did God really say you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?" The woman corrected him, saying, "Of every tree in the garden we can freely eat, except the tree in the midst of the garden." She essentially told him that they were at liberty to eat everything save for one prohibition. But the devil, still in the guise of a snake, told the woman that God’s prohibition was actually an act of oppression. He claimed that if she were to violate it, she would experience true freedom, for she would be as God, knowing good and evil.

​The woman trusted the serpent. She believed he was a friend who had her best interests at heart, unaware that he was an enemy bent on her harm—bent on her subjugation.

​For you see, the most efficient way for an evil being to entrap someone is through the promise of liberty, achieved by shifting that person's perspective. Someone who is in bondage but recognizes their master is evil is closer to freedom than the gullible person who believes they are "free" but does not recognize the snares laid for them.

​Satan promotes "liberty," but his real goal is absolute servitude. The man and woman had self-possession prior to their encounter with Satan, but afterward, that self-possession began to slowly erode within the human race. Satan understood that to truly control a person, you must remove their self-possession. And how do you remove it? By making them focus on earthly things rather than heavenly ones. If freedom comes from God, then by removing a person's focus from Him, they will automatically use something or someone else as a shelter, and that thing—or person—will then be used to control them.

​That is the key to spiritual thralldom: disconnect a person from God, then guide their attention elsewhere, and through control of that distraction, you gain control over them. Satan guided Eve’s attention to the wisdom she thought she could gain. As she grabbed the fruit, he grabbed hold of her; then, he used her to grab hold of Adam, and he held both in captivity.

​Throughout the generations, Satan has continued to tempt the human race to search for meaning in people and things. As we search for meaning in objects that cannot satisfy, our degradation simply increases.

​Satan might say to find "sexual freedom," encouraging you to sleep with whoever you want, but then you catch a disease or find yourself in drama and difficulties that rob you of your peace. Your promised freedom has become a galling yoke of bondage. If children are involved, child support follows; now the courts get involved, and you may lose many things, including your hard-earned wages.

​Or you are promised "coolness" by smoking cigarettes. Over time, you find yourself unable to function without smoking, and you are shackled to the habit. You have lost your self-possession and are dependent on an external vice to get through life.

​Satan's aim is subjugation, but he disguises it under the name of "freedom." It is as if he is packaging his cigarettes in a box labeled "freedom." The label says, "Find freedom from stress—smoke this," or "Find freedom—sleep with this person." But he hides the fact that the promised freedom will lead to captivity.

​Tyrants use a similar process. They offer the people "freedom" while taking away their liberties. Pimps do the same: they offer gullible young women money or love, and then they ensnare them. This world is a vast plantation of servitude, and most of us are in chains to one thing or another. Some are dominated by a spouse, some by materialism, and some by false ideologies or religions. Bondage is widespread; again, it is anything that robs you of your self-possession and puts your joy and peace in the hands of someone or something else.

​Satan promises a man he will be "great" if he pursues many women, but he soon leaves that man enslaved to their jealousy, conflict, and the overwhelming responsibility of providing for them. Most men in the Bible who had multiple wives had a host of problems to contend with. The promise of freedom became lifelong thralldom.

​Governments use the same promise. They are always promising "more freedom" by removing our liberties; for them, the more control they have, the more they claim there is "freedom." No one would willingly give up their rights, but under the guise of freedom, many surrender them readily.

​True freedom is self-possession: having nothing in your inner life that Satan can use to hold you captive. It means having no addiction or weakness that can be used by the enemy to violently pull you to do his will. For this is how temptation feels: a violent pull to do something you know is detrimental to your own well-being. You know that woman is no good, but she looks good, and you are pulled toward her violently despite your reservations. You know that man is no good, but the power of lust pulls you toward him. You have lost your self-possession.

​The truth is, we all have weaknesses. So how do we remain free and avoid being pulled by Satan into cruel bondage? We remain free in only one way: by hiding our weaknesses in Christ. It is only as Christ begins to remove these chains that we will begin to realize how enslaved we have actually been.

​Resist Satan's power, resist his lies, see his disguises, and hide yourself in Jesus; He will set you free indeed.

A false world

​This world, in its entirety, is based upon falsehood. We pursue things that end up bringing only more sorrow. A man works hard to accumulate wealth so that he can relax, but he becomes stressed trying to manage it, fearing its loss.

​A man starts a relationship with a woman so that he is no longer lonely, but he ends up dealing with constant conflict. The thrill of the person ebbs away, replaced by mere relationship management. Some people, after marriage, grow to hate each other, seeing divorce as the only solution lest they kill one another.

​Do you bring misery and stress to the life of the person you love? Do you speak harsh words to them that kill their spirit?

​We pursue relationships to feel full, only to realize how hollow and burdensome they can be. Man is surrounded by burdens.

​Religions promote "truth" and "peace to humanity," yet their adherents are conflict-driven. Churches fight amongst themselves. Believers accuse each other of heresies. Some even fight and kill each other in religious wars. Hatred and strife are hallmarks of religion.

​In himself, man is insignificant. Have you ever thought about how an army is powerful simply because of the whole? The individual is a small part of its composition and will most likely die in the battle; however, the army wins because more of its members remain. War is foolish; why send many to die to achieve what?

​You work hard to accumulate wealth and seek higher positions, yet you can be fired at any time. Even if you manage to save all the money in the world, one economic downturn can cause it all to be lost.

​You help people, and they are ungrateful. You conquer the world, kill many, and what do you gain? Suspicion, hatred, and enemies seeking to kill you. I once read of a Russian monarch who was deposed by his own wife in a conspiracy—Catherine the Great. "Great"? She betrayed her own husband for power. The monarch has power but cannot trust his own spouse or children; he can seldom even eat in peace.

​The world says, "Get this, get that," but all these things end up bringing more sorrow and burden.

​The most ignorant of people think themselves wise. People who continuously make mistakes still trust in themselves; it is no wonder this world is miserable.

​Life is at times a constant round of repetitions that lead nowhere. The true meaning of life cannot be found in the world. Its views are false; its foundations are false.

​Man is proud simply because he looks a certain way, has a paper degree, or was born in a certain place? What? It is insane. Man neglects his peace to find validation in people who do not even care.

​A man marries a woman who only cares about being married. A woman marries just so she can control a man while still expecting to experience genuine love. A man marries a woman he sees as a sex object, then is shocked at the emptiness of it all.

​The more you have in this life, the more crushed you are by the weight of responsibility. You make friends, only to eventually drift apart. You learn things in school that have no practical bearing in real life. You give your life to a job that sees you as a number.

​A lover today, an enemy tomorrow. A man pursues a lover and ends up sorrowful because he is paying child support. Pleasure leads to sorrow; many pleasures in this life end in misery. How many men, even politicians, are exposed by a former lover? Was it ever love? How can one be burned by love? Or is our definition of love false?

​Your team competes in sports, but only one wins, and the majority of supporters are left sorrowful. You were hungry and ate, and now you have food poisoning. Your car can easily become your coffin.

​We try to control everything, but we cannot even control ourselves. A false world. The child you brought into the world can disrespect you. The man or woman you love can disrespect you the most.

​Why fight in this world? To defend what, exactly? Your honor? What is it? What is your honor?

​A nation calls you to sacrifice in battle, but only the king is remembered. The common man is thrown into an unmarked grave, while the king is placed in a pyramid. But both died; what is the difference?

​You love this person? Why? Just because of their appearance? What will appearance do for you? Can appearance bring you peace? Can it comfort you? Can it understand you? Or is appearance a vain reason to love?

​Is that not your church brother or sister? Then why do you hate him? Are you not serving the same God? Why are you enemies? Because he has a different opinion? Is that not ungodly?

​Many times in religion, people are constantly fighting over who is right and who is wrong. Politics is no different. How does fighting make things better? With so much energy spent fighting, it is no wonder that true evangelism has died; what is true evangelism but the displaying of truth in one's life? With so much fighting in politics, there is no time for governance. With so much fighting in relationships, there is no time for love. A false world.

​So much falsehood exists in this world.

​The foundations are false, and it is no wonder the world is so full of misery. No matter who we are or what we achieve, death will come. Why worry about nonsense and speed up the process of death?

​The human being is conflict-driven, and conflict follows him wherever he goes. Relationships, churches, and governments are conflict-ridden because humanity does not know peace. The man who understands this will not be deceived; he will cease from constant rivalry and find peace. The majority of human beings bring chaos with them. The prudent man avoids chaos. The chaos of this world is in the human heart and its falsehoods.

​Do not pursue what the world promotes—its idea of love, its definition of success, and all the rest. It is a fool's errand of misery.

​Just as the wise man does not argue with a fool, do not argue with the falsehoods of this world. Do not entertain them. The world is built on falsehood. The moment it was suggested to man that he could be like God, the foundations were laid for falsehood.

​The world is false, so study to show yourself approved. Search for the truth and live in it. Pursue peace with all men.

​Speak the truth to the world, but not as the religious do. Teach truth out of love for the individual, not as a sword to harm them. Teach truth to enlighten those who wish to be, and leave those who prefer ignorance to their own peace.

​Truth is in life. Seek the Lord, do good to others, do what you are called to do, and leave the results to God. The God I speak of here is different from the God of the religious. I speak of the God who cares for the individual—the God who values the individual, the God who sees the individual, and the God who died for the individual.

The free man

Who is free? Is freedom based on whether you walk around with phyiscal chains or handcuffs? No! A man in prison can be more free than a king upon his throne. A man in prison can be at peace, while a monarch upon his throne is a slave to fear, appearances, his court, concubines etc.. Sometimes a physical prison is the greatest place of freedom. A man who was a slave to drugs may find himself free from it in the prison after having had time to regain his mind, his manhood. He could have been a slave to ambition, but the prison slowed him down, giving him time to reflect. The prison has become his intellectual palace, a place of deep reflection and introspection. God will, in life, use different prisons in order to set us free. The prison of a sickness, of a loss of relationship, loss of a job, are sometimes the best schools towards freedom, while the palace of a relationship, of a high paying job can be the worse bondage. The free man is the one who has time for introspection.

Malcolm Ex was physically freed in his youth, but he was a slave to drugs, women and vice. He was a slave to the condition many blacks found themselves in those days: deprived of economic opportunities. But in prison, he became mentally freed. He escaped the chains that had degraded his manhood and became an intellectual voice for liberation in the struggle of the blacks. Prison opened his eyes to his condition. Introspection and learning of religion exposed some of the invisible chains that held him fast. The prison was to him an intellectual library and a place of liberation. As a matter of fact, he had access to great books while in the prison, books he would have never thought to read while physically freed and drugged out. He learn to debate, increased his vocabulary; The prison freed his intellectual self. The prison saved Malcolm from himself. He was no longer a slave to fast money (the hustle), women, drugs and aimlessly drifting through life. He became a man focused, driven and on a mission. The free man knows his worth, is not distracted and is on a mission.

Who is free? Is a man free because he has money, fame etc..? A homeless man may be more free than the wealthiest tycoon and famous musician. 

Freedom is not a matter of position, situation or life circumstances, freedom begins in the mind.

A man may be in chains yet has been freed from the mental chains society imposed.

Paul and Silas were in prison and were yet more free than the guard who feared that any escaped prisoners may cost him his life. Paul and Silas were more free than the emperor Nero on his throne, who feared conspiracies from every corner.

John the Baptist was homeless and yet was more free than king Herod upon his throne, who was bound in a chain of lust and appearance of power and greatness. John was free from the bondage of man's expectations, while Herod was fearful of even a whisper of disaproval. A monarch so in chain to public opinion that he had John executed in order to keep a foolish oath for fear of appearing indecisive.

This is why Christ said “everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” John 8:34 (CSB). The man or woman under the power of sin is a slave to all manner of fears and constraints, regardless of their external circumstances.

But if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed. The free man is the man who has been set free by Christ. Freed from his fears, anxieties, vices, false identity. Free from the delusion of society. 

The man who is free is the one who has taken the first step towards freedom. He has turned away from his chains. An escaped slave who falls in battle against his master, dies a free man. 

The free man is the one who has taken the first step towards freedom. 

The first step is the true revolutionary act upon which the flag of liberty is planted.

Whether in secular matters or spiritual matters, the free man is the one who has decided to no longer be a slave to the foolish pursuits of society, of this world, and has taken the first step towards freedom.

Whether it be being content with what one has and not chasing after constant promotions, likes, and keeping up with the Joneses, or in spiritual matters where the man or woman who has decided to give his or her life to Christ, and makes Him his first love: The first one he speaks to in the morning, the last one he speak to at night. This is a man who will reject the idea that a man or woman holds the key to our satisfaction, that money will make us happy, and that drugs, sex and alcohol will cure our wounds. The man who has rejected these false ideas has freed himself from cruel chains and is a free man. He has taken the first step towards Christ by giving himself over to Him. Even if he has not yet experienced the joy and peace promised, he has committed a revolutionary act and is already freed from the bondage of Satan and society.

You may still have your struggles, you may still be in physical chains, but the decision to leave, the first step towards Christ has already removed the shackles from your mind. You have seen the way to true freedom. Christ will strengthen you, make you focus and give you a mission. The mission? To continue the march of liberty and to spread the call of it everywhere, in whatever way He has called you. 

The only question is will you continue? My advice: move forward, and advance.

The pain of freedom

Freedom is costly. Painful. It is easier to remain a slave than to endure the painful struggle that leads to freedom. A slave knows where he will find his food: among the crumbs from his master's table. Knows where he will sleep: his master cottage. But a man striving for freedom has no idea where he will lay his head, nor any idea where his next meal will come from.

The slave finds comfort in familiarity. The familiarity of the plantation, his chains, his master's brutality & degrees of benevolence. The slave knows that as long as he behaves, submits, then tomorrow will be as today. The slave is familiar with the vices that comfort his soul. The materialism that keeps him grounded. He looks forward to the bonfire pleasures after a long day of work to numb his pain. The nightclub on the weekend to dance away his anxieties. The uncommitted sex to temporarily make him forget his condition, his brokenness, his emptiness.

The man seeking freedom has no such comfort. Picture him as a man fleeing from the plantation of a harsh master. He flees because he understands his condition. He realizes the comforts of slavery are not comforts at all. The master’s food doesn't fill him, for they are only crumbs. His cottage is not fitted for him, but for a dog. The plantation work robs him of his human dignity. The dance club, the meaningless sex, are simply coping mechanisms that further his degradation, and make a mockery of both his humanity and manhood.

Life is more than constant work on a plantation, constant rounds of pleasures. And so he says "I will depart this evil place and I will seek freedom at all costs. I will endure privation in order to truly gain. Better to lose all comforts of bandage to gain my soul.” And so after much reflection, he sets out on the path of freedom, not knowing what to expect. On the way to freedom lies death, wild beasts, forests, deserts, swamps, the pursuit of the master upon him, the unexpected, but better to face all these than to remain in cruel bondage. And so he sets out.

The path towards freedom is hard, for he must leave behind his former life and former thoughts. As he walks away from the plantation, from the friends he knew, the master he hated, the certainty he knew, he faces the emptiness of separation. A darkness sweeps over him-“have I made the right choice? Am I foolish? Why would I throw away my life in pursuing such a foolish endeavor? Why am I not content with my slavery? Should I turn back to the world of bondage?”-But he remembers the emptiness, the soul degradation from slavery, the false promise of freedom if one is ‘obedient enough’, and he says “I will go forward no matter what.

I will escape from the bondage of consumerism, the pursuit of pleasure to numb my pain. I will endure the dark night of the soul so that I may see the light of freedom.” Day and night he walks, resting a little, with one goal in mind, liberty or death. “I will not turn back.”

A man who seeks freedom must be willing to endure hardship, privation, heavy sorrows and uncertainty. 

So is the life of a Christian. The true Christian is kne who recognizes that he has been a slave to a cruel master, even Satan. Satan had him on his plantation, working to death, with glimpses of pleasure and a false hope of future liberation to keep him in bondage. Satan promises him, if he simply works hard enough, he will be rich and can retire without a care in the world! But he hides from him the fact that as wealth increases so too does the fear of losing it. Satan promises him “you can have this girl” or if the slave is a woman, “you can have this man. After a long pursuit, if you can sleep with her, then you will finally enjoy bliss.” But he hides the fact that in casually sleeping with someone, your depression, sense of worthlessness and meaningless of the relationship and of life itself will simply increase. The Christian is one who realizes the deception of the slave master to keep him in a state of degradation in order to fasten his rule over him. 

The Christian hears the true promise of freedom  and decides for himself- “I will pursue it at all costs. I will pursue it even though my family stays behind, even though my friends stay behind, even if I have to leave behind my former identity, the identity of a slave. I will pursue freedom even though I become emptied of all I used to know. I will pursue freedom even though I have no certainty of what tomorrow will bring. I may get wounded in the way,  but I will continue. The master's arrow may strike me, but I will crawl. The only thing that will stop me is capture or death, but turning back, I will not. 

In order to be freed from the bondage of sin, we must be willing to endure the dark night of the soul. The emptiness that comes as a result of being separated from all we used to know in order to prepare us for things we knew not. The slave is degraded and doesn't know what it means to be a free man or woman. For him to experience true manhood, for her to experience true womanhood, she must be willing to be separated from the false identity that slavery has given her.

The slave master told her she is only her physical beauty, so cater to this shell at the neglect of your inner beauty. Tells him you are only the amount of money you have, so pursue money at the neglect of your soul.

He must be willing to separate from all these false notions in order to know that a true man, a true woman is one who understands that our value comes only from God. The old master used chains of iron, whips of cords. The new master uses the chains of materialism, pleasure,  and fear of the quiet time with self to reflect.  The whips of conformity to worldly customs to keep us in check and subdued. The master is the same, but has simply changed his method. He has simply put on velvet gloves to hide his iron fists. 

To be truly free we must experience the pain of freedom, the pain that comes in letting go of the old man, the old way of life, to embrace the new. Each step I take away from the plantation is another step towards dignity, true manhood. There can be no turning back, no doublemindedness, no stopping to relax and explore. To do so is to risk the master and his hunters to steal me back. I must flee from slavery no matter how painful, to the city of refuge no matter how far. I must flee to Christ no matter how difficult, how soul trying , how dark the process is, I must go forward to Christ. I might fall along the way, but no turning back. Get back up and continue the journey. Thoughts may come to you that says this journey is futile, turn back to your old master, he will welcome you, you will find rest. But remember, the fact that you took a step out of the plantation of sin means you are already free, you are making decisions for yourself. Your old sinful master is no longer commanding you as he once did. You have tasted freedom, so keep moving forward towards Christ. Too often we think freedom is when we are finally at the goal, but freedom is a process and begins with the first revolutionary act, the act of leaving the plantation of sin. Many have thoughts of freedom, but never take the first step and as a result have died in slavery. The man or woman who has taken the first step towards Christ has already overcome the fear of the master's wrath and are already enjoying liberty.

No turning back