Why Does God Give Us Free Will

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Respect the others’ free will

Just as God respects our free will, we also must respect the free will of others. Does that mean that we have no responsibility for anyone else? Of course not. Just think of children. If a child is very young, his parents cannot simply think, “Well, children have a free will too, so they should only do what they want to do.”

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Parents are responsible for the upbringing of their children. However, as their children grow older, they must find a healthy balance between the child’s free will and the parents’ responsibility to bring that child up. We have a great deal to learn in this area. For example, as parents, we should not dominate or provoke our children; neither should we attempt to turn them into copies of ourselves. Instead, we should be examples for them, bear them on our hearts, and pray for them! We should maintain contact with them, and help them understand things clearly, instead of burdening them with a lot of rules.

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Paul as an example

This also applies to our relationships with other people. It is instructive to read how Paul conducted himself toward Philemon with regards to Onesimus, the slave, who was in Rome and had been converted. “Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you …. . .” Philemon 1:8-9. He continues: “But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.” Philemon 1:14.

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