The statement was made that we each choose how we will react to any given situation. We cannot control how others treat us but we do control how we react.
It seemed logical but as I thought about it, doubts began to come to mind. I remembered an occasion among people I trusted when I had been “stabbed in the back” as we say. Outwardly I controlled my reaction, because it was good manners to do so.
But no logic dictated how I reacted internally. I could not control my internal reaction, I was utterly crushed, my sense of loyalty and integrity was outraged. The things I valued had been violated, and my inward turmoil was a reaction to an assault on deeply held beliefs.
I was not controlled by some mechanism of choice or logic, I was controlled by my beliefs.
Which raises the question, just what freedom do we really have? Where do our controlling beliefs come from? Whose beliefs are they? And what is “the truth that sets us free”?
Paul is adamant that we have no freedom. Shockingly, he said we are all slaves. Did you know that? We were slaves to sin, he said, but we have been set free from that slavery. It sounds good but then he wrecks it by saying we are still slaves. The only difference is that now, he said, we are
“slaves to God.” (Romans 6:20-22).
Jesus put it another way and went even further. He said the choice is limited to just one of two slave owners. We have one of two fathers, God or the devil, John 8: 42-44. So my controlling beliefs come from either God or the devil because I am a slave to the one I obey. (Romans 6:16.)
Joshua gives us the good news that we get to choose which one controls us. He said: “…choose for yourselves whom you will serve … as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15).
Will you join the slave queue with me now that you have free choice of Slave Master?
Elizabeth Price