1Pe 2:11-20 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thank worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
Liberty in the broad sense is the freedom to do as you please. Everyone wants to be free to make their own decisions and control their own destiny. Nobody really wants to be controlled by someone else. Paradoxically most people also want protection from failure. That means they want a safety net when plans go awry. Where would that protection come from? In secular society people look to parents, employers or governments. When someone else steps in to create protection that also includes some measure of control in terms of qualifications or requirements in order to obtain the protection. That control, whatever it is, reduces individual freedom. The person has restraints imposed on him or her by someone else who may or may not have their best interest in mind. The freedom to do as you please is gone. The boundaries are biased by what the imposer believes is best. Other than a parent the imposer most often doesn’t actually know what is in our best interest either from our perspective or God’s.
The alternative is to exercise self restraint. That is to create a set of personal standards that we choose not to violate. The freedom comes in being able to set personal boundaries rather than having someone else impose boundaries and restrictions. There are still restraints, but they are self imposed based on personal choice and principles rather than externally imposed based on someone else’s preference.
Proverbs talks a great deal about the wisdom to avoid many things that would cause someone to get caught up in bad situations. The examples are often contrasted against the fool who doesn’t recognize the trap of doing as you please and gets caught up in something destructive or hurtful. Wisdom is to know where to draw the line so that God can provide the protection. He has our best interest at heart and won’t impose artificial boundaries or restrain us only for his benefit. If we create personal boundaries based on his guidance he can spiritually protect us from the snare of evil.
There is a maturation process involved in learning how to set appropriate personal boundaries. When we’re young physically or spiritually we look to our elders as examples of what our boundaries should be. Theirs may or may not be appropriate for what God has called us to. But we try them out anyway because its all we know. If we are thoughtful, after trying them out we will be able to discern whether those boundaries are right for us or not. As we grow and gain life experience we are able to determine the right boundaries that provide for our own benefit and self expression. In part we do that by learning to extend the results of our past experiences to similar situations and avoid future problems. This is how we develop the self restraint that helps us mature spiritually so that we are bound by God’s principles only. Mature self restraint gives us the freedom to be exactly the person God designed us to be and have the stability and protection that we desire.