THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE

THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE Fr. Luke A. Veronis “Know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) This is one of the most profound and revolutionary statements ever spoken.  Freedom is something that all people desire. Yet, what does freedom truly mean? For many in our society, freedom means doing whatever I want, whenever I want, with whomever I want. Freedom is defined by the absence of restrictions. But that’s not the freedom Jesus Christ offers. In fact, that kind of so-called "freedom" often leads to slavery - slavery to our passions, to our ego and pride, to our insecurities, and to our selfishness. Christ offers us something greater: true freedom. As we heard in today’s epistle reading, “you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God for your sanctification and its end, eternal life.” Christ does not offer us freedom from something, but freedom for something. Freedom for holiness. Freedom for healing. Freedom for a new life of love. Freedom for becoming who God created us to be - sons and daughters of the Most High. We live in a world obsessed with proving worth—through appearance, achievement, social status. But what if we no longer need to earn love? What if we no longer need to fear rejection? In Christ, you come to realize that we are His beloved, deeply and passionately loved. Saint John puts it this way: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God.” (1 John 3:1) We are free from our insecurity because we are anchored in the truth of our identity as God’s beloved. Our failures won’t define us. The world’s standards will not determine who we are. In the arms of Divine Love, we find ultimate freedom. Fear is one of the great enslavers of our time - fear of not being good enough, fear for the future, fear of death, fear of rejection, fear of whatever we have suffered from the past. Yet, God declares clearly, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” (Isaiah 41:10) Christ has trampled down death by death. He has conquered sin and evil itself. He is Emmanuel, God with us. So, what can we possibly fear? As the Psalmist David declares: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.” (Psalm 23:4) In a world growing increasingly divided and angry, we embrace the freedom to love even those who appear on the other side. “Love your enemies,” Jesus teaches us. "Do good to those who hate you.” (Luke 6:27) This is possible when Christ lives in us. When He dwells in our hearts, there is no room for hatred. His love heals every point of bitterness, every grudge, every seed of resentment. We are free from hatred when we allow divine love to become the compass of our lives. As St. Silouan the Athonite once said: “Where the Holy Spirit is present, there is love for our enemies. Where the Holy Spirit is absent, there is no love for enemies.” So many of us carry wounds. Some deep. Some fresh. Yet Jesus doesn’t simply ask us to forget our past trauma. He offers to heal us. “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” He comforts. Through His own experience of suffering through the Cross, He conquers all hurt and pain and evil through His victorious Resurrection, Christ transforms our wounds into lessons of wisdom, our bitterness into compassion, our anger into peace. He invites us to stop living in the past and step into the freedom of the present. This freedom includes becoming free from our addictions and destructive habits. Whether it’s substance abuse, porn addiction, lust, greed, or pride, we all know the chains that bind and enslave us. The Good News of Jesus Christ, however, offers us hope. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36) Christ doesn’t just forgive our sins - He liberates us from the habits and addictions that keep us enslaved. Through the power of His grace, we can live differently. Not perfectly, but faithfully. Not self-indulgently, but with purpose. He reveals to us a life of deep meaning and significance through living a life of joyous love and humble service to others. We live in a time of moral confusion and spiritual distortion. Right is called wrong. Wrong is called right. Truth is treated as relative, and meaning seems to slip through our fingers. Yet, the Church proclaims the eternal truth of Jesus Christ, who says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” (John 14:6) The Orthodox Church, in her timeless beauty, proclaims truth not as a concept but as a Person. Jesus Christ is the Truth. And in our relationship with Him, we find the freedom of clarity. In our intimacy with Him, we find our direction. In following Him, we rediscover our purpose. Of course, the greatest freedom we discover is freedom from ourselves. From our egos. From our entitlement. From our endless need to be right, or to be praised. Christ frees us from the tyranny of self so that we may be filled with Him. St. Paul summarized his freedom by declaring, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) Thus, when Christ says, “Know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” He isn’t offering a philosophy or a vague idea. He’s inviting us to know who He is and enter into a more intimate relationship with Him. Thus, true freedom isn’t about doing whatever you want. It’s about becoming who you were created to be. True freedom isn’t a life without restrictions, but a life in living as His beloved, without fear, as a true and whole human being. We are free to love, free to serve, and free to shine with the light of God’s glory. As Saint Paul exhorts us, “Stand fast, therefore, in the freedom by which Christ has made us free.” (Galatians 5:1) And may we truly walk in this freedom as sons and daughters of the King. “Know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”