Free People Require Morals & Spiritual Values to Stay Free -

free people require morals

FREE PEOPLE REQUIRE MORALS. In the current push to revise constitutions, many are finding tried and true values worth keeping. For instance, the Preamble to the Belize Constitution has a profound statement that qualifies our freedoms. It says “men and institutions remain free only when freedom is founded upon respect for moral and spiritual values and upon the rule of law.” Let’s unpack this very pregnant statement.

We have freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, and freedom of expression. Also we have freedom to pursue happiness, safety and property. But our freedoms operate within the rule of law. The law puts limits on freedom so that individuals can live together in peace.

We have freedom of expression, but not freedom to bear false witness. And we’re free to pursue property, but not free to steal someone else’s property.

Like the Preamble says, we “remain free only when freedom is founded upon respect for moral values.” The law can’t force us to love our neighbor, but it can force us to respect our neighbor. Laws enforce respect for moral values of what is right and wrong for everyone.

The moral values in the Ten Commandments include: thou shalt not steal or kill or bear false witness. That’s the flip side of loving your neighbor. Morals show the difference between right and wrong. So respect for moral values means that we do right to others and not wrong to others. And the law should be on our side when we do.

Without spiritual values we get material costs

What does respect for spiritual values mean? The Bible says that the fruit of the Spirit consists of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc. No law should every work against these. The fruit of the Spirit include not actions, but attitudes behind the actions.

We should value these attitudes. If we value true love, true joy, true peace, we show spiritual values. If people don’t respect love and joy and peace, they get the opposite, the deeds of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-22). They include immorality instead of love, jealousy instead of joy, outbursts of anger instead of peace. These aren’t crimes but they can lead to crimes that cost us much grief.

Freedom won’t last unless we respect moral and spiritual values. And enforce those values by the rule of law. So we should not only keep that in the Constitution, but promote moral and spiritual values. Our freedoms depend on them.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash