Freedom

Having just celebrsted Veteran's day, I feel inclined to write about something that has been on my heart regarding freedom. On Friday, I attended an assembly held in remembrance of our Veterans'. Several children were asked to get up and speak about what they believe freedom means. The most popular response was, "Freedom is getting to do what you want." As I sat there hearing this said over and over, I started to cringe. Is that really what freedom means? Or have we just dumbdowned our teaching and explanations of this word so much that this is what are kids truly think? I guess one could argue that freedom truly IS getting to do whatever you want, as long as you also teach them that there are consequences to some of these wants. I.e. I guess you have the freedom to kill someone, but then you'll also have to go to jail. I guess you have the freedom to cheat on a test, but then you'll also fail that test. And I guess you have the freedom to bully someone, but then you chance scarring that individual for life, etc Yes there are many, many great freedoms that we in this great country have! We have the freedom to vote, to worship, to own and sell property, to become educated, to have families, to have BIG families, to not have families, to go outside, to go to the park, to take vacations, to go to the library, to explore the country, to voice our opinions, to disagree with others, and so on and so forth. But we really need to be specific on how we train up our kids in their learning. The bible says, "Everything is permissible-but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible-but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. So as you're teaching your kids about FREEDOM, please make sure they know that freedom is getting to do what you want, but there are civilized guidelines in those wants that we have to follow. AND some of our greatest freedoms were made possible by very LARGE sacrifices. L