Freedom Comes With Responsibility
“As human beings, we are endowed with freedom of choice, and we cannot shuffle off our responsibility upon the shoulders of God or nature. We must shoulder it ourselves. It is our responsibility.” ~ Arnold J. Toynbee
Freedom. It is a word that has been at the forefront of many a battle. People have gone to war in order to preserve their freedom. Freedom of choice has always been a high priority. However, and this is a huge however, our freedom comes with responsibility. We cannot be allowed the freedom to choose if our choice is going to negatively impact the rights or lives of others.
All choices should be directed toward the good of others. That is what the Lord asks of those who follow Him. If we follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, our choices must be for the benefit of others. We are to announce Good News. We are to bring aid and comfort to others. We are to foster love and healing among all people.
This is easy to do among the people we love, isn’t it? It’s easy to choose to do good things for them. However, when it comes to people we don’t know or people we don’t love, we are often not as charitable. Remember, we are called to be just as gracious, kind, and merciful to them as to those we care about.
We are, after all, one family. Granted, that one family might be wildly dysfunctional at times but we are one family nonetheless. We are brothers and sisters in the Lord. By virtue of our baptism, we are sons and daughters of God.
Let us live as one family. Let us shoulder our responsibility for each other — for all people — and do it is such a way as to make all people know that they are loved.
FAITH ACTION: Ask God for the grace to live responsibly so that you may be a good example to others.