Do You Want Freedom Or Safety?
Freedom and safety are topics that my partner brings up on a regular basis.
The wisdom that he has shared about freedom and safety has changed my thinking and my life drastically. He shares that governments have a tricky job between giving the citizens freedom… and safety. There is always a struggle happening… When the government tries to provide more safety because of public demand, the side-effect is freedoms must be taken away to create that safety. And then when the outcry for more freedom becomes loud, the governments let up on safety rules and laws; this intrinsically produces the side-effect of less safety. In other words, freedom ALWAYS comes with risks and less safety. All groups from Governments down to families or even friends struggle to find that balance between freedom and safety every single second of their lives.
The truth of the dynamic between freedom and safety was obvious when he shared this with me, but I had never had this idea so clear in words and thought before. This thought alone humbled me within the blink of an eye to have compassion. To have compassion for everyone who is trying to find for groups of people – from nations to clubs to families – the right balance between freedom and safety. All of a sudden, I was less harsh or judgemental of our governments, institutions, people who have let me down, and even myself. There was a weight that was lifted from my heart. I felt a healing allowing me to relinquish one of my old, strong patterns: It wasn’t my job to fix the world! I realized the complexity of trying to navigate humans, who are harder to herd than cats, into producing both freedom and safety for everyone.
I realize how courageous it is to choose freedom over safety. To be free comes with a huge responsibility to be in charge of your own safety. It means living in danger as you cannot control all the people around you to keep you safe since they too get freedom to do whatever they want.
To be free also means that you and you alone are responsible for what happens to you and what life you make. You have no one else to blame but yourself if things go wrong since you have the freedom to make whatever choices you want. Freedom equals more choices, more responsibility, and more personal accountability, and what feels like less safety. The Israelites coming out of Egypt had difficulty learning the responsibilities and difficulties that come with freedom (Start reading in Exodus 1:8 for that story).
Safety, on the other hand, feels like a worthy goal and many want someone else to keep them safe because they know that people go haywire when they are not constricted by rules and the consequences of not abiding by these rules. They know that they too run amuck in such a situation because most do not have the self-control to keep themselves from doing stupid things if they can ‘get away with it’. How about those bad habits you are hiding? Or how about those bad habits that are not illegal that you keep in the open? Ahem! Trust me- I’m not pointing fingers. We all are growing in our self-control.
Protection or prison? Freedom or safety?
If we make others responsible for our safety, then we give up ‘rights’ to do what we want.
And those we make responsible for our safety might not keep you safe the way you want them to because it takes away from your freedoms. All of our existence on this planet depends on safety measures, especially with the technology we have today and the amount of power each individual now has with that technology. There has never ever been a time in our human history where each individual has so much power to change the world. I mean each individual! It used to be that fewer people had the most power and ruled that power over others to subdue them. Now, the ability for each person to control and manipulate, or inspire mass groups of people is a power we in human history have never ever had before.
Not only are most humans able to contact more people and keep relationships with more people than ever before, but most humans have more power of time just from the luxurious inventions we use every day that give us more freedom to do more of whatever we want with our time. Time is definitely power! The washing machine, the tractor, the cooking stove, the refrigerator, autos, grocery stores, an international mail system, the computer, and the internet, just to name a few of the important inventions that have given us more freedom and power over our time. We live like kings and queens right now. Actually, most of us live better than most kings and queens over human history have lived! Let’s mention modern medicine where we definitely live longer than most generations before us did, and with more quality of life. Having time and being able to use it more the way you want it instead of being forced to use time the way you don’t want is definitely a commodity of freedom.
Freedom is power!
As Lord Action, an English Catholic historian in the 19th century appropriately explained, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” So governments have more power than they used to have, and each person has more power than they used to have. And we have the normal human struggle of trying to get governments to not abuse power like always, and for the first time, governments have never ever dealt with sooooo many people having so much power all at once. It’s a mess on this planet quite frankly, we have entered a new dilemma that we have never faced before.
The world we live in screams for a new cry for people who are willing to do the hard work of being careful with the new power they have, having more awareness of the damage AND the good they can wield with such power. That means being responsible for doing the hard work of growing in self-control and really thinking before acting. It means taking more responsibility than ever before for what happens with your choices to act with that power. It means that if you want to have freedom, you must be courageous like never before to use it in a way that does not destroy yourself and so many others around you, or even around the world!
Governments are run by people. People are ruled by governments, yes, real people actually. Even in a dictatorship, the government tries to find the right balance between freedom and safety; people in government are trying for good or bad or selfish reasons or mostly for a mix of all of them to find this very hard balance. So people and their choices are the problem here whether we talk about governments or you, or me.
Choose or not choose?
〰️
Choose or not choose? 〰️
Let’s bring this down to what can you and I do about this mess now. What significance can we make in this new world of everyone having so much power? If we don’t ask ourselves this question many times a day then others will make powerful decisions that you will have to live with because you used your power to not choose. Those who are weak in making choices definitely will be more controlled than ever before. Others will use their more expansive powers to push you around and have you do what they want you to do because you will not decide what you will do. And those who don’t like making decisions will probably continue to feel safe because there is safety in making other people responsible for what happens because you chose not to do anything, so you are ‘not at fault’. It feels safe that other people are making the mess but you are just watching so ‘you are not guilty’. The truth is that you are just as guilty by omission as those guilty by commission.
Man, I know no one wants to talk about these things and face themselves. This article makes me squirm looking at myself so I don’t expect you, the person reading this, to feel comfortable either. And maybe you will use the power you have to avoid difficult things to face by not reading more. I sure hope you stick with me here for the sake of seeking Love together because Love produces freedom AND safety.
Freedom and safety through love do not come cheap and do not come to those who will not struggle hard in every moment with these issues mentioned in this article.
We must face that our choices matter more than ever before in human history BECAUSE of the extra power that each person has, including yourself. You will live and die for something. It might be that you live a full life of choosing not to make choices to feel safer. So you will have lived to feel safe and be safer and therefore you die for that cause. Or, you choose to be courageous and be less safe by making choices and being responsible for what those choices do in the world. Then your life will have had the meaning of having tried to do something in the world and accumulating a life of effecting and then dying for this. Make no mistake, none of us gets out of this alive. Well, none haven’t so far but there might be a few that get changed in the twinkling of an eye as The Bible explains. But those people that get changed lived FOR something before they were changed. They were decision-makers in their lives.
Honestly, I hate writing this article. I already know that there will be very very few that have the strength of heart to really take a deep look within for an extended period of time (preferably for the rest of life). It is just so easy nowadays to look away and be distracted. There has never ever been the amount of distractions available to humans as you and I face in our lives right now. It is hard to decide to do the hard work of becoming more owned by Love (God). It’s just freaking hard! Lord, You said there would be those who make it to the end and this is the only thing that gives me hope because You are not a liar. But man! It is hard to consciously choose Your way of love under these circumstances of having so much power over our individual time and resources. Please help us!
Protection or prison? Freedom or safety?
It is not an accident that we were born right now for this time!
My loved fellow human who is loved no matter what decisions you make or do not make, I have said this before and I must say it again- We were born for such a time as this just as Esther was born for her time. The book of Esther in the Bible dramatically shows the struggle between freedom and safety that Esther faced. You can find the book of Esther by going to Psalms and then going two books back 👑😉.
Esther was given incredible power and freedom by becoming a queen even though she was married to a tyrant king. She made conscious choices to use that power and freedom for good even if it meant her death. She lived for something greater than just herself. She died living a life of service instead of using her freedom and safety to only protect herself. She really existed and really had to make those choices even when God was not giving ANY open revelations or prophecies to anyone during that time to tell her what to do. She made choices purely by faith to do good even if it was not convenient for her immediate personal safety.
It is very very hard to find the courage to make these types of choices that Queen Esther made. But we definitely are in a time on this planet where we MUST start right now to make decisions each moment to grow our courage and make decisions. We are called to make a difference. We are called to be a light on a hill that is not hidden (Matthew 5:14-16).
You have the power of a queen and king now. You might be under the power of a tyrant king or queen or government, but you have more power under that power than other humans in history have EVER had. And I mean you, the one reading this. With how you treat your friends, family, colleagues, bosses, community, and governments, you can either try and make a good difference by making good choices to act as a person owned by Love (God) OR be a part of the problem. You are being watched and have bigger effects on everything with the power you have with your smartphones, with the internet, with being watched by video cameras everywhere now watching you. Even if you give away your phone and do not have a computer, your new reality is that you are always being potentially watched by all those who do have those things. There is not the same ability to hide as there used to be and it does not seem that hiding will become easier with the world we live in now.
Will you choose to be a light in the darkness that does not burn out or fade? Will you choose each moment to grow in self-control and thoughtfulness of what you do and say? Will you choose to do the hard thing and make the choice of Love a high priority in your life for a consistent amount of time? Will you fight the distractions that are more fun than facing growing in being owned by Love? I’m asking all of us to make hard decisions for the rest of our lives. I’m asking us to make conscious choices in each moment to be owned by Love (God), and show we are by our actions and thoughts. It’s work. It’s no fun most of the time. But, it is super rewarding, AND it is something to live for and die for that makes the heart not regret making another choice. I personally hate regret. May it be more of a deterrent for us all than the luxurious life of running away through video games, shopping, eating, body image, friends, having two jobs, kids, Facebook, porn, etc.
Distraction or lifeline? Freedom or safety?
We CANNOT bring lasting healthy change to our governments, our communities, our jobs, our families, and friends directly by force, control, and manipulation!
WE must change inside of us and then there is one more person on this earth, namely you, who is HEALTHIER. Just being healthier inside and out dramatically brings change around you. When you are a different you, then everything around you MUST treat you as the different you that you become. Yeah- you might have to read that last sentence a few times to let that sink in a bit. Here, I will say it another way- couple with God to face yourself with His help to be changed and be a stronger vessel of His ways of love. THIS changes the world! You don’t want to believe me? Do you believe the Bible? Read the changes of Joseph who was a nobody but the youngest of an old tribal leader who became a slave (Genesis 37-50). Read the changes of the riff-raff of disciples that followed Christ (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and then keep going through the New Testament). The disciples and followers were the despised of society, the low-lifes, who followed Christ. I don’t just mean the 12 Disciples. I mean all of His disciples throughout the country. They became a huge movement where you, my fellow human, have been touched by the power that went into them through the changes into love that Christ inspired into them! Millenia later that movement is in YOU! You benefit from their choice to make the hard choices in their lifetimes. Now it’s our turn. We were born for such a time as this (Esther 4:14). God ordained it for every one of you who reads this and all those who are part of The Body of Christ.
May all that I write to you be infused with God’s love and life in them and make a difference. We must gird up our hearts now and walk with intent now. I hope this message does not become just a small moment of encouragement but instead, a whole life change for each of us going forward.
I’m changing as fast as I know how my fellow humans to be healthier in all ways, especially spiritually. I want you to know that I am not asking of you what I do not ask of myself. And I am only asking of you what God is asking from all of us through His Son. I am not the originator of any of these ideas. We bring glory to our God by choosing His way of love more and more in each moment! We are fulfilling prophecy by being the faithful Woman who prepares herself (Revelation 19:7). We must choose faithfulness when it is so easy to choose its opposite in our society right now.
All the content I produce on this website, the books I write, the YouTube channel, and Instagram, have the intent to give you tools that have helped me. I make it to help you be changed little by little with God’s help too. I don’t just want to share with you what one needs to accomplish in life but HOW to accomplish it. But it will take work and dedication on your part to get to where you really want to be. Becoming good at anything takes consistent desire, persistence, hard work, and a willingness to make mistakes and keep going. Why would we think that becoming good at being owned by Love would be any different
What to do, what to do?
Here is one thing that you can do and takes very little time to start the direction of being more owned by Love: Set an alarm to go off every hour or every two hours. Pause for just a few seconds and breathe. Say out loud or in your head, “God, I want to be more owned by Love/You. I want your ways written on my heart. Do what You have to do to get this accomplished. I already know this is Your will and I thank you for fulfilling this prayer!” Do this exercise every day. It takes less than five minutes of your day and not even one minute at once! (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 10:16, 2 Corinthians 3:3, Ezekiel 11:19, Hebrews 8:10).
The only way to have freedom AND safety is when everyone has love in their hearts guiding them.
We need to have the two greatest commandments written on our hearts (Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-28). When we have respect for ourselves and for everyone else for the love of God, then the world will have freedom and safety for everyone. WE are called to continue that movement that Christ started even in a world that does not see the value of respecting one another, respecting themselves, and respecting the God who created and sustains them. And it’s a dangerous calling. I won’t sugarcoat it. Deciding to live and die for this in a world that thinks we are crazy for believing in this is dangerous. You will be ridiculed, taken advantage of, and mistreated for putting God first and loving your neighbor as yourself. When we have the strength, we are called to put up healthy boundaries. When we are overpowered, we are called to do the best we can under that enslavement to live a proper life before God, just as Joseph, Daniel, Elijah, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo, Esther, Mordecai, etc.
Let’s do this together, my fellow human. Let us encourage each other on to good works to the glory of our Father! I love you all!
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but to exhorting one another: and so much more, as you see the day approaching.
Do you feel in bondage to fear? Do you want to find freedom?
👉 To get started on your journey of moving from fear to faith and love, I invite you to download my free E-Book “Turning Fear Into Faith” here.
What one reader had to say about this book:
“Katrina, you walk right up and address fear. Sometimes I’ll say “I’m scared” and proceed to walk myself out of it, so I thought your intro was surprising and to the point. Your book is fluid and full of potential, actually like you were right there, in a thoughtful conversational style.”
— CATHY EVANS
We Are Owned By Love,
Katrina
P.S. Consider sharing this article with others who you see struggling with feeling and being Owned by Love. Oh, what sweet love it is to help others get those breakthroughs in finally feeling loved!