It’s time to be more direct in our message here.

In a prior newsletter I talked about why I feel the need to do so. If you missed it, it’s available here.

What is Personal Freedom?

Let’s start with the very foundation of personal freedom.

Personal freedom means the ability to choose for and have control over every aspect of our lives.

There are two issues at hand here as it relates to personal freedom, and it is important we make a proper distinction between them.

• The freedoms that citizens are afforded by its government.
• The freedom we individually have or don’t have based upon our own decisions.

I believe this gift of personal freedom (or agency) comes directly from God and is foundational to the growth of His children.

And, unfortunately, we live in a world where leaders of nations – as well as imperfect individuals - desire to usurp God’s will and steal that most precious gift (freedom) from others. This is a topic we will discuss further in another newsletter.

Even if we are fortunate enough to have political freedom (like we do in the United States - even though that is quickly changing) those freedoms can also be lost/abandoned by us through the choices we do or don’t make.

We hold more power than we realize. We get to determine how much personal freedom we want to have.

We get upset when we see politicians passing laws that steal our freedom, but are we holding ourselves to that same standard?

Here is the hard truth: We are ALL personally Enslaved by the decisions we are making, the only question is, to what extent?

And if we really want to be free, we must be willing to ask ourselves, “what do I need to do to gain more freedom in my life?”

Becoming Free Individually

You have heard me say many times, if we want to defend our freedom as Americans, it starts with being free individually. That freedom gives us individual power. That power strengthens our families and communities. And those things lead to a strong and free country.

So, what do I mean by personal freedom?

There are five primary areas that impact nearly every aspect of our lives.

We call these areas The Freedom Elements, they are: Spiritual, Physical, Financial, Emotional, and Mental

These are areas we are going to cover in detail as we move towards this message with a more direct approach.

To illustrate what we are talking about with personal freedom, let’s look at our finances as an example.

This example is simplified and is being used to help illustrate this concept of personal freedom.

Money and Freedom(or Slavery)

Money is one of the prime examples of freedom/bondage.

If our money is where it needs to be it creates freedom.

Conversely, if it isn’t, it creates bondage.

Debt is a good example of this.

If you owe someone money, you no longer have full freedom of what to do with that money – you owe it to someone else. They are a master over at least a part of your finances.

The interest they charge adds to that burden and further takes away your money freedom. This creates a negative compounding affect to our loss of freedom.

While there are good and reasonable ways to use debt, and some of those ways can even increase your freedom with money, debt is still an obligation.

It becomes even more dangerous when it is used unwisely.

Not only does debt steal the future use of your money (causing loss of freedom) it has other detrimental effects that also steal freedom.

It affects marriages, as it is reported to be the leading cause of divorce.

It steals precious time with loved ones - as we must work more hours to pay back those obligations.

It affects our health thru: stress, lost sleep from worrying, emotional turmoil, etc.

It really steals a portion of who we are. That burden is being borne by us and will affect every aspect of our lives.

This bondage from debt causes us to live our lives as a fraction of what we are capable of.

Conversely, if we have money freedom, we see better health, healthier family relationships, freedom of time, emotional freedom, etc.

The sad reality about financial bondage is that it is often caused by us feeling the need to be or live a lifestyle that isn't authentic - keeping up with the Joneses. 

Growing Your Personal Freedoms

To really become free we have to understand this component of personal freedom. We may think that just because we live in the United States, that we are free. 

Nothing could be further from the truth...

If we are not careful, we will become enslaved in our own lives; and because we have the control, we get to decide if we will act as the liberator or tyrant of our own personal freedoms. 

If we don't take it seriously, and use proper care, we will only experience a fraction of the freedom that available to us. 

It really is within our power to decide what level of freedom we want to experience. 

The sad reality is that we may not even realize how enslaved we really are!

This makes it really hard for us to make progress if we are unaware.

My objective is to expose these areas of bondage and help us ALL realize the chains we are carrying. 

I personally believe this area of personal freedom is even more important than the political freedom we talk so much about. 

We will continue to set the foundation of personal freedom in the coming weeks as we send out the Freedom Elements Newsletter, and then will dive further into each specific area: Spiritual, Physical, Financial, Emotional, Mental.

It is my goal to provide resources and that will help us as Americans to become more free individuals. This really is our only chance of protecting the freedoms we love. If we are enslaved, we will be easily controlled.

It is my goal to have as much freedom in my personal life as possible, and I hope you will follow me on this journey.  

God bless, 
Darron Rowley