I’m struggling with freedom. While this will come across as a political post, it really isn’t. This is my personal struggle with wanting all the things with country promises life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and knowing those wants can make life more difficult for others.

I believe everyone deserves the opportunity to work and earn a livable wage. I want to have enough income to enjoy things like travel and golf. I support capitalism and entrepreneurship as a means of fostering innovation and growth. At the same time, I want my tax burden to be lower. However, I also want my taxes to help those who need extra support—whether it’s for basic needs, healthcare, or education.

I believe in the right for individuals to own firearms if they choose to do so, but I also want children to feel safe in their schools, without the need for metal detectors or locked doors. I want veterans to have access to the healthcare they deserve, and I want universal access to healthcare for everyone—without the fear of sacrificing the quality of the care I currently receive.

Yet, I’m struggling with freedom. It feels as though my freedom is built upon the suffering or inequality of others. The tension between wanting more for myself and the realization that it may come at someone else’s expense is hard to reconcile especially as I read this scripture.

⁹ Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰ For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? ¹¹ So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. ¹² When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. (1 Corinthians 8:9-12 NIV).

As we approach our celebration of freedom from tyranny, I recognize that I also participate in it in its current forms. Lord help me. Help me to see your people and your ways above my own wants and desires.

Are you struggling with freedom? Do you wrestle with your wants versus God’s command to care for the weak? Share your story here and breathe life and bring hope to others.