Personal freedom and boundaries

A fashionable statement to make these days is, "Everyone has a right to believe what he wants." This sounds right, fair and logical, and that is why many people accept it at face value. But very few seem to think about what it implies. The implications go beyond personal rights. What we believe impacts our life and the practical choices we make in different situations. It is not only what impacts us, because our choices and subsequent behaviour impact people around us too, even though they did not choose those directly. We can say that what we believe will have consequences, and even if some of those consequences are not what we would choose, once we believe something, certain consequences will be unavoidable. So, even though theoretically we have the ability to believe whatever we choose, we must understand that our choice is not entirely free, because of consequences.

Another related statement that is popular these days is, "I have the right to define my own truth." In other words, 'truth' is now being defined as being open to individual choice, and by that definition, there is no truth that is absolute.

Such statements have an appearance of being wise and smart, but they are not true! Think of white versus black. As long as we understand the meaning of these words, it is easy to see that if something is black, it cannot be white at the same time. These are opposite in nature, and both cannot be true about some object at the same time. If hair is black, for example, whatever someone believes, it is still black. Then, if someone believes it is white, he is deceived about it. Jesus said He was the only way anyone could reach God, the Father. If this is true, it cannot be that those who believe that all ways will ultimately lead to God can also be right. If a boy believes he is a girl, that does not make him a girl. If something is true, the opposite is not true, no matter what someone believes.

So, it is very important to make sure that something is true, before we believe it. If we believe what is actually false, obviously we cannot get good results. We cannot change reality by what we believe. When personal freedom of thought is extended beyond reality and people think it is alright to believe whatever they like, those people will suffer dire consequences and will also cause others to suffer (Ga.6:7,8).

Another way to look at this is to examine if what we believe is going to produce good or bad for us. We have to choose our belief depending on this. To apply this to our practical life, we must look to God because He is the One who defines good and bad. If we go according to what He says, it will go well for us, and the opposite is also true.

Even though this is such a simple truth which everyone can understand, many people have not thought much about this, and that is why they still believe that they can choose to believe whatever they wish. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived about this.