For modern man, to be free often means throwing off all constraint and all authority-- 'Neither God nor master.' For Christianity, on the other hand, freedom can only be found by submitting to God, in the 'obedience of faith' that St. Paul speaks of (Romans 1:5). True freedom is not so much something man wins for himself; it is a free gift from God, a fruit of the Holy Spirit, received in the measure in which we place ourselves in a relationship of loving dependence on our Creator and Savior. The is where the Gospel paradox is most apparent: 'Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it' (Matthew 16:25). In other words, people who wish to preserve and defend their own freedom at any cost will lose it, but those willing to "lose" it by leaving it trustingly in God's hands will save it. Their freedom will be restored to them, infinitely more beautiful, infinitely deeper, as a marvelous gift from God's tenderness. Our freedom is, in fact, proportionate to the love and childlike trust we have for our heavenly Father.
-from Interior Freedom by Jacques Philippe
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