Happy Birthday To America, Freedom, & Liberty

This past weekend we all had the opportunity to celebrate the fourth of July: Independence Day. This holiday means much more to me than a day off from work, time with family, and an opportunity to shoot off fireworks. It’s a time to remember how blessed we are to live in this country. It’s a time to remember the sacrifices made by so many to secure and protect freedom and liberty and it’s a time to think about what freedom and liberty really mean and what we can do for the advancement of these sacred principles.

In my pondering over the weekend I thought of 3 specific freedoms that we are in constant battle for:

1. Freedom from sin. Moses 7:26 reads: “And he beheld Satan; and he had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced.” We read many times in the scriptures that Satan’s desire is to make us his slaves which he accomplishes only if we give into temptation and sin. Every time we sin we literally give away a portion of our freedom and liberty to Satan as he tightens the chains to bind us down. Let’s fight for our freedom by following the commandments and choosing the right.

2. Freedom from debt. Debt is a trap that should be avoided at all costs. It’s not always possible to avoid all debt as most of us can’t out right buy a house or even a car but again it should be avoided like the plague. Debt can take over your life and destroy your freedom. Let’s fight for our freedom by living within our means, maintaining a savings account, and buying something only when we have the money to do so.

3. Freedom from abuses of power. Yes, I am mainly talking about abuses of government power and control. Now obviously we all disagree on what constitutes an abuse of government power and control and I’m not going to try to convince everyone of my definition here but the important thing is that we all recognize these abuses do exist. Obviously we can all agree that slavery and tyranny are abuses of power. We should all be involved in anyway we can in putting just and righteous men in government positions to help limit and reduce these abuses of power. A lack of involvement, at least in voting, is literally turning over some freedom and liberty to abuses of power. Let’s fight for our freedom by being involved in our governments, studying candidates, and voting.

It is my hope that we will all remember Independence Day for what it is and use it to remind us of what we can do each and everyday for the advancement of liberty and freedom. I would also encourage everyone to take the time to read The Declaration of Independence again and would like to end my rant with a quote from that document:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government”

Happy birthday America, freedom, and liberty.