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From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: I’ve always been proud of the freedoms our nation has enjoyed, but I’m fearful that our freedoms are slipping away from us because of those who want to redefine freedom as their absolute right to disregard freedom that’s been won through the shedding of blood. What can be done? – F.C.

A: There’s no such thing in this world as absolute freedom. We cannot drive down the street at 100 miles an hour. We can claim we have a right to throw trash on the roadway, but law enforcement has a greater right to ticket us. We can say we want freedom to publish pornography, to push harmful drugs, to live loose lives, to lie, to cheat; but if we continue with that kind of permissive freedom, we will destroy ourselves.

People can remain free only so long as they have the moral power to restrain the appetite for pleasing self. Why? Because the basic problem is heart trouble. Our hearts need to be changed. Peace will never come until we have changed human nature, and this is the work of Jesus Christ.

The human race is about to take a fatal plunge. When we disregard authority and law, we become a lawless society. People say, “If we only had a code book that will give us the key to our dilemmas.” But God has handed down His book and people abuse it, misquote it, misapply it, and many ignore it altogether.

A terrifying spiritual and moral tide of evil has already loosed us from our spiritual moorings. Monstrous new ideas that could easily destroy our freedom are rushing into the vacuum. In Christ alone, there is a deliverance from people’s tortured thoughts and freedom from the sordid habits that are destroying so many people.

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17, ESV).

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

©2026 Billy Graham Literary Trust. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

(c)2026 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.