Freedom Is Not For Free!

History has certainly proven to us that freedom is not for free. As we celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday of this week, I was reminded of this fact.

Our founders mutually pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to establish a nation with liberty as one of its ideals. They knew their declaration of independence from the tyranny they suffered under Great Britain would cost them dearly. Many early settlers of the United States lost their lives and fortunes in the fight for our nation’s freedom!

Jesus Christ died an excruciating death on a cross to set His followers free from the bondage of sin and its consequences of eternal death. Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Our freedom from sin and eternal death cost Christ His life!

Our nation’s finest who serve in our military risk their lives daily to preserve the freedom we enjoy. Many of them pay the ultimate price by being killed on the field of battle. They are a source of inspiration and a reminder to us all that freedom is not free!

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement.[1] He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other nonviolent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and stopping the Vietnam War. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. The fight for freedom also cost Dr. King his life!

As we commemorate Dr. King on this day, I would like to leave us with ten of my favorite quotes by this great civil rights leader. They are:

1. “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”

2. “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

3. “At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.”

4. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

5. “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

6. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”

7. “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

8. “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

9. “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

10. “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

Thank you Dr. King and all who have fought in this fight for freedom! You remind us that freedom is not for free! I pray that your example and sacrifice would compel us to serve others with the freedom we are so fortunate to experience.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:13