True Freedom
TRUE FREEDOM
Read Proverbs 6:20-23.
Christina ran into her bedroom and slammed the door. How unreasonable could her mom be? Christina wanted to go to the slumber party at Sarah’s house, but her mom wouldn’t let her go. “You know the girls are much older than you are and rather wild,” Mom had said.
But Christina yelled, “You never give me any freedom!”
She was still sniffling when she heard a sound at her window. Looking up, she saw a bird beating its wings against the glass. It seemed to be trying to get inside. As she watched, her mom knocked on the door. “I have some clean laundry, Christina.”
As Mom set the clothes on the dresser, she saw the bird beating on the glass. “Christina,” Mom said softly, “open the window and let the poor bird in. It’s cruel to keep him out when he desperately wants to get in.”
“Mom, he wouldn’t know what to do once he got inside. He’d be trapped and scared and wouldn’t know how to get out again! He might get hurt.”
“But don’t you want him to have his freedom?” Mom asked.
“He’s got more space and freedom outside,” Christina said grumpily.
Mom smiled and nodded. “So by saying no, you’re really giving him freedom and protecting him,” she said. “That’s what I’m trying to do for you.”
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Do you feel that your parents are restricting your freedom by giving you rules and expecting you to obey? In love, they are actually protecting you from situations or things that could harm you. Trust their judgment and obey their decisions. True freedom includes living within bounds set up by God.
TO MEMORIZE:
Their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.
Proverbs 6:23
TRUE FREEDOM INCLUDES RULES.
From the book
