Gal.3:26-29 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
People yearn to be free in their lives. It stems from the fact that we are designed by God in his image to be free moral agents able to make value judgments and choose of our own free will. Our free will causes us to desire to be autonomous and not dependent on someone else for our life, health and happiness. We see it in little children who want to do things on their own as soon as they figure out how. They want to dress themselves, get in and out of the car seat by themselves, get their own spoon. We are born wanting to choose the things that please us and that grows into wanting to please and help others. Kids want to choose their own clothes, books and cereal and very shortly they want to share those things with their playmates. Those are our natural inclinations. We have to be taught to be selfish and self centered. That of course comes from the evil influences around us.
In a perfect world we would always be considerate of others and care for the condition of every other soul. But evil has gotten in and caused us to narrow our focus to our own needs and desires. That has caused some to believe that rules and regulations will solve that issue so that all people have equal opportunity. The problem is that we are not equal. We have each been given a unique set of desires and skills which draw us in many different directions in life. We are not equally smart or equally ambitious. We have different interests and things we enjoy. We all want to be happy, but we have different definitions of what that looks like and how to achieve it. What makes one person feel a deep soul satisfaction is not the same as what satisfies the next person. This is all by design. Some are hands, some are feet, some are eyes, some speak, some have compassion, others have a sense of duty. It is the diversity that has the potential to make sure all needs are met. It makes us both interesting and unique. When we realize that and allow all people the freedom to pursue their dreams we all benefit. When we all do what we were uniquely designed to do it is mutually beneficial.
There are many definitions of freedom. It can either be freedom for something or freedom from something. Most would point to the freedom to make their own decisions based on personal preferences, or to be able to live without interference of another’s will, or to be free from oppressive forces. Freedom is the ability to pursue a passion and explore the possibilities without fear of consequences imposed by others. Sometimes we fail, sometimes we succeed. Both make us better because of the knowledge learned and the wisdom gained. When we are free to pursue the desires that God has inspired in us we become soul satisfied and others benefit from our effort. This is when we thrive. We don’t thrive when we try to fit into a mold whether ours or someone else’s image. We are unique. Equal opportunity is the freedom to explore the possibilities given our abilities, desires and our circumstances. It won’t be the same for everyone. Some have more starts and stops than others, but given the freedom to explore we can all find our success (Joh 21:20-22). The key in life is not to lament our circumstances but to figure out how to maximize them. Even our struggles are not the same, but we all must strive to overcome and not let circumstances stand in the way of pursuing the desires God has given us.