Each member of this human race has specific strengths and abilities and contributions to make. So whether you make them in a pair of military boots, or you run for office, or maybe you just love a child, or teach a class, or pull the weeds out of the garden — there’s so many ways. It might look very different from the person next to you, and isn’t that beautiful? We cheer each other on, and we encourage each other and respect the fact that our paths will look very different, but our purpose is the same. We’re here to build up the kingdom of God on the earth, whatever that looks like. It doesn’t mean you have to be the bishop.
Jennie Taylor, Episode 38, Church News podcast, July 6, 2021. https://www.thechurchnews.com/podcast/2021-07-06/episode-38-jennie-taylor-infuriating-unfairness-revelation-patriotism-218764
Maybe it's because the 4th of July just came and went, but I've been pondering on the many freedoms I have and why it is that I have them.
To me, our freedoms aren't given to us, or afforded to us, because we happen to live in America and because our Constitution protects those freedoms. Sure, this is the promised land and it is for a reason, but these freedoms that we enjoy were established long before the earth even existed. These are freedoms written in the annals of God's Law. Our Constitution is inspired based on God's Law. God's Law! Eternal laws, not earthly laws.
Sometimes I find myself treating God's laws and our mortal laws as two separate things. They are not. Well, the divinely inspired mortal laws are not different from God's laws. Some laws are strictly from the minds of men and women, or from the "arm of flesh", as the scriptures say.
To me, defending those liberties and freedoms means defending the Kingdom of God on earth. They are one in the same. When the Savior comes again, that is what our government will be....the Kingdom of God. That isn't some government with varying ebbs and flows of rules and priorities, based on what's important at any given time. The Kingdom of God is a government that is unchanging. What's important in that Kingdom will never vary.
Freedom and liberty to all men and women, bond and free, black and white...every single person on this earth, is what's important in the Kingdom of God. That is why we must defend these freedoms and that is why I am so grateful to those who sacrifice to protect those freedoms.
This is an outstanding podcast to listen to. I recommend spending 45 minutes doing just that. I learned so much about myself, mainly about how short of the goal I find myself. And about what kind of a legacy I want to leave and where I'm at in establishing that legacy. I gotta ways to go. 😊