In Alma chapter 61 verse 9, Pahoran, the Chief Judge over the Nephites, said in a letter to Captain Moroni, "My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free."
That phrase stood out to me for two reasons. One, it showed that Pahoran had diligence and dedication, and two, I wasn't sure which freedom he was talking about - physical or spiritual.
Spiritual freedom is freedom from sin. Sin is habit-forming. Indulging in sinful behavior can cause an addiction to it, limiting your freedom. Thankfully, God teaches us which kinds of behaviors to avoid to stay out of the trap of sin, and the Savior provided an Atonement to help us become free of our past sins. In those two ways, God has provided for our spiritual freedom, and it would be wise to "[stand] fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free."
Physical freedom is freedom from physical bondage. Had the Lamanites over-powered the Nephites at any time, the Nephites would have been put into bondage by the Lamanites, but the Nephites were protected time and time again, and frequently given the strength, or at least the cleverness, to defeat the Lamanites and remain free. When this country was formed, we were blessed by God during the Revolutionary War to become a free country. We had a great deal of freedoms promised to us, and inspired laws were put in place to protect those freedoms. I don't want to get political on this blog (again), but I'm starting to think it would be wise to "[stand] fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free."
Whether we're talking about physical or spiritual freedom, freedom is important to God. The War in Heaven was fought over whether we would maintain the freedom to make our own choices. Satan was the great enemy in that war, and he's the great enemy of freedom now.
I was about to write "God always has, and always will, provide for the physical and spiritual freedom of the righteous," but I had a bad feeling about it, like maybe it isn't true. Maybe being righteous isn't enough to guarantee physical freedom. Perhaps we have to "get political" in order to "[stand] fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free." I was hoping not. Getting political requires courage and brains. I'm not certain I have much of either. I suppose I need to go get some. Pahoran and Moroni certainly had plenty of both, and they both "got political" pretty strongly during those war chapters. Captain Moroni has always been a good role-model for me. Maybe I should work to gain his trait of fighting for political freedom. I'm not excited about that.
But spiritual freedom, though. That, I am willing to fight for. And I can certainly use Moroni's and Pahoran's examples to do that.
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