Freedom has three dimensions. The first dimension is your conscience. Your conscience should be clear; you should not experience any guilt or shame.
The second dimension has to do with your standards. Your standards should be set on Christ; your standards should be set in stone, in the Rock [Christ]. You can do what you want to do and are not controlled by something else. You are not free if you are controlled by something else and are not able to do what you want to do. You are not free to live up to your standards. These standards may even be opposite to or in conflict with the standards of the entire world. St. Athanasius was told that the world was against him, but he replied, “And I am against the world.” That is why we call him, “Athanasius contramondum,” which means “Athanasius against the world.”
The third dimension of freedom is your behavior. Your actions should not betray your words but should rather match your words. A discrepancy between your actions and your words means that you are not free. Your words give a message, but your actions show that you are not free to do what you say
The three dimensions of freedom are: 1. Your conscience is clear 2. Your standards are set in stone 3. Your actions do not contradict your words
Excerpt: H.G. Bishop Youssef (2022). The Three Dimensions of Freedom. Counseling Series II: Marriage, Book 1, Considering Marriage (pp. 67-68). Sandia, TX: St. Mary & St. Moses Abbey Press.
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