Wisdom with Liberties, Part One: Let Love Guide Your Freedom
Let God's word determine what is right, and let love guide a genuine freedom. We can exercise judgment without making every preference a contest.
#361 — Wisdom with Liberties (Pt. 1)
Feb 10, 2025
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Ask the question beyond permission
Many ordinary choices need more thought than finding a verse that names the exact activity. Scripture gives us direction, and we must consider the setting, influence, and consequences of the decision before us. What you watch, where you go, how you spend an evening, and which invitations you accept can shape your life even when the immediate question does not fit a simple list of prohibitions. Small choices deserve serious thought because they can give a consistent direction to your attention and habits.
We need to distinguish God's authority from preference, then use freedom lovingly. A Christian needn't accept every invented rule, and needn't exercise every option that can be defended. The people affected deserve consideration too. A Christian should neither surrender judgment to every rule someone invents nor regard every defensible choice as an opportunity that must be exercised. The more fruitful question is whether a decision fits a life devoted to Christ and shows care for the people affected by it.
Give Christ's authority its proper place
Colossians 2:16–23 confronts human regulations and impressive-looking discipline that fails to address fleshly indulgence. Paul directs people toward Christ. Something can look religiously serious without possessing the authority it claims. Severe treatment of the body and a collection of prohibitions can look wise while failing to address fleshly indulgence. Religious seriousness, by itself, does not establish that a requirement comes from God or produces the spiritual benefit claimed for it.
The warning doesn't cancel Jesus' commands or apostolic teaching. It helps us avoid giving our own rules divine weight. Study carefully enough to explain what Scripture requires and where personal judgment is being used. Scripture may forbid conduct directly or govern it through necessary principles and teaching. A what we prefer cannot acquire the same authority merely because it is old, common, or strongly felt. Careful Bible study helps us explain the difference without dismissing sincere people who are still working through it.
Grow into thoughtful responsibility
Parents set boundaries fitted to a child's age and circumstances. Maturity includes understanding why they were chosen, then taking responsibility for decisions. Growth should produce thoughtfulness rather than an automatic rejection of everything once required. Growing maturity involves learning why a boundary was chosen, recognizing the biblical principle behind it when there is one, and accepting responsibility for present decisions. This development should increase thoughtfulness rather than produce a reflexive need to discard everything associated with parental advice.
A study with young men brought these questions close to home for me. Choices increasingly affect spouses, children, friends, and brethren. Freedom becomes an opportunity to use judgment with greater concern, rather than less. Listening to experienced believers can be valuable without treating every recommendation as revelation. A mature person can ask for counsel, examine it honestly, and make a decision he can explain from Scripture and sound judgment. Independence does not require refusing the wisdom of people who love you. A useful conversation might begin by asking which concern a family rule was intended to address. Was it safety, modesty, time with friends, or protection from a particular influence? Understanding the purpose can help an adult retain the good principle while deciding whether the original arrangement still fits. That is a more faithful use of judgment than either unthinking compliance or automatic rejection.
Be clear about the action being discussed
First Corinthians 8 concerns food associated with idols and the consciences of people who once worshiped them. First Corinthians 10:14–22 forbids idolatrous fellowship. We must not turn permission about food into permission for false worship. This context matters. The freedom to eat certain food cannot be stretched into freedom to share in an idol's religious fellowship.
Define the action before calling it a liberty. Disagreement doesn't automatically make it optional, and dislike doesn't automatically make it wrong. A clear reading helps us move past vague claims that everything is permitted or everything forbidden. A debate does not become a matter of personal choice merely because sincere Christians disagree. Likewise, an action does not become sinful merely because someone dislikes it. Examine the relevant teaching and distinguish an actual prohibition from a particular application or precaution. Clarity gives love something solid to work with.
Let love guide what you know
Knowledge can be used without love. In First Corinthians 8, an example of eating might encourage someone to act against conscience. Paul refuses to make his brother's spiritual welfare a smaller concern than his own opportunity. His willingness to refrain shows what love does with knowledge: it considers the person standing nearby rather than merely repeating the argument that establishes permission.
A stumbling block is spiritual danger in this setting, not merely an unwanted preference. Understand the concern. A needless option can become easy to surrender when we stop making it a test of independence. Ask whether your example could lead someone toward conduct he believes wrong, or whether a situation requires a patient conversation before you proceed. You may find that setting aside an unnecessary choice is easy once you stop treating it as a test of personal independence. Love can make sacrifice reasonable where pride makes the same sacrifice feel intolerable.
Cooperate without making preference divine law
In one local situation, our elders preferred moving into singing rather than applause after a baptism. They considered the people and concerns present. I offer that as an example of cooperation, not an answer to every worship question. It gave us an opportunity for considerate cooperation. It doesn't settle every question about applause, worship, or congregational practice. Those questions require their own biblical examination, and the account should not be turned into a blanket authorization for whatever a congregation chooses.
When leaders explain a practical judgment, we can listen respectfully without pretending it becomes a universal command. Hebrews 13:17 gives weight to their care. Honest explanation and thoughtful cooperation can help keep preference from producing continuing conflict. We can cooperate respectfully while still knowing the difference between an arrangement for this situation and a command from God. A person can discuss concerns humbly, seek clear reasons, and avoid turning an unnecessary preference into a continuing contest. Peace is served when authority is exercised honestly and received thoughtfully.
Use freedom for the good love requires
Galatians 5:13 tells us to serve through love instead of using freedom for the flesh. The chapter also warns about hostility and division. We can defend a choice while sinning in the way we treat someone. A Christian can damage relationships while defending a choice he considers permissible. The manner of that defense matters, because the Lord is concerned with the heart, speech, and treatment of others as well as the disputed activity.
Ask how a decision affects the people who trust your example. Can you explain it patiently and hear a concern fairly? A voluntary sacrifice may do more good than another detailed defense of an unnecessary preference. Can you hear a concern without assuming the person wants to control you? Would declining the activity allow you to encourage someone in a way that matters more? Colossians 3:17 directs our words and deeds toward the Lord Jesus. Freedom used in His service can include enjoyment, restraint, cooperation, and sacrifice. Its beauty appears when love gives it a faithful purpose. You can practice this in an ordinary disagreement before it becomes a major conflict. State what you believe Scripture teaches, acknowledge what remains your judgment, and invite the other person to explain the concern. When the choice is genuinely optional, make room for generosity. Often the relationship benefits far more from a calm and considerate response than from a detailed speech about what you are entitled to do.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What part of this decision comes from Scripture, and what part is judgment?
- 02Who could be helped by your willingness to set aside a preference?
- 03How can you explain your conviction with patience?
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