“The destinations are different, but everyone’s on the train…
Freedom isn’t free/But I still, I still believe/In my, freedom, so my mind can see/Please let me be free, please let me….”
–Lecrae
Freedom. What does it mean to you?
I’ve been cognitively perplexed by this question for weeks. In my perplexity I’ve realized I have been subconsciously trying to answer it for years.
So large and vast a concept, yet an obtainable reality we chase every day.
Freedom is a destination and a journey; physical and spiritual; subjective and objective. It is desired by all, and kept from many. Most work hard to obtain their freedom, but acquiesce the essence of it’s transcendence.
Land of the Free
America was built on the foundation of freedom. Men fought and won a war because the opportunities freedom could afford them. Yet, they contradicted themselves before they ever won the war, because they did not fully believe they were free. They seemed to believe that to be free, they needed power, control, and ownership, which included image-of-God-bearing Black bodies from Africa.
The embodiment of America’s contradiction walked, built, and tilled the soil of the North American continent for generations; and subsequently, they hoped and fought for similar – yet morally different – freedoms as their captors did before in the American Revolution.
I’m Free
As I learn more about African American history, I realize the necessity for my own freedom. I need to be free to be me. I need to be free to be – to exist, to live, to love, to feel. God has given me all of these freedoms to draw closer to him and glorify him.
Freedom is part of humanity’s design. We were made to be free. But we can never be free unless we know and obtain truth.
Here’s the truth about me: I am a son. I am loved. I am wanted. I have value. I am strong. I am accepted.
Because I am all of those things, I am free. I am free to be loving my wife. I am free to enjoy being with her rather than work.
I am free to be Black. I am free to be a writer. I am free to be a coach. I am free to be a teacher.
I am free to have my work critiqued without shame. I am free to receive praise for my work without giving false humility.
I am free to be a thinker. I’m free to be culturally different in socially homogenous surroundings. I’m free to grow or cut my hair.
I am free to be a fan of hip hop and country music. I am free to listen to Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons. I am free to speak out against injustice and serve the poor. I’m free to write about racism, sexism, classism, politics, and sports. I am free to write devotionals.
I am free to have skinny legs and wear shorts and no-show socks. I am free to express my emotions and admit when I’m wrong.
I’m free to create and enjoy aesthetically appeasing online content. I am free to invest in my own website. I am free to encourage, challenge, inform, and love people through my creativity.
Why I’m Free
I’m free, not because I’ve resolved to be free, nor because of governmental legislation. I’m free because Yeshua, God’s Son, has set me free (John 8:36). I am free because Yeshua’s truth has set me free (John 8:32). I am free because God has sent the Spirit of his Son into my heart and made me his child (Galatian 4:6–7).
I am free because I “have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). Nothing can stop me.
Get Free
What’s holding you back from being free? What are the things you won’t do or say because you’re afraid of what people might think? What ideas are you withholding because you’re afraid they might not work?
What’s keeping you from being free?
Join me on this freedom journey here at Timothytt.com. I will be exploring and expressing my spiritual, physical, and cultural freedom regularly through various articles, resources, devotionals, and personal stories. My hope is that we can encourage each other to be free.
I look forward to you reading, engaging, disagreeing, and sharing your thoughts with all the content that can be found here. Together, let’s trust in God, hope in Christ, and walk by the Spirit, being who God has made us to be.
In Christ, we are Free To Be.
