Americans celebrate our independence on July 4 every year. John Adams, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman formed the Continental Congress and drafted the final Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
We as the United States joined with five people as they signed for our freedom. Thirteen colonies supported the Declaration of Independence and became thirteen states.
John Adams wanted to use fireworks to celebrate, and the first celebration was on
July 4, 1777. So 240 years later we are still using fireworks to celebrate each July 4th.
In the Declaration of Independence, it states “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” And “that these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.” As referenced in the Final Declaration of Independence (US 1776)
We were and are a free country. But how did we become this way? Was it because some men decided we need to make our own decisions. Or was it because some people decided they were freemen according to the word of their Creator?
I use the word men because all of the people who wrote the declaration were men. We have come so far today. Women are free also and in the US live as free as most men do.
Because it is time to celebrate our independence, I want to inspire all people to have freedom of heart. It is not just the nation as a whole who are free to make their own decisions and have free speech; it is each one of us as individuals.
We celebrate with the sparkle of fireworks because we have the freedom to love, live and have a free heart. But so many of you do not realize that your heart is where it all begins. The men who wrote the Declaration had to know their hearts were free. They had to think with their heart to set each one of us on a new path. If these men founded the declaration for purely selfish reasons, we would not still be celebrating it today.
You have to set your heart free with forgiveness. Then you will be able to love with unconditional love to have a free life.
If you just say “I am free” but you are bound to your own life with hatred and unforgiveness then you are not truly free to lead your life. As I have said before, forgiveness is not for the other person but you so you can be untangled from the vine of hatred.
To forgive one time is good but it takes a repeated effort to let go of some things people have done to you or someone you love. So often you forgive only to think about the problem again and again. It is false teaching to believe that you can forgive forever and ever.
The Lord has given a measure of forgiveness to some. It is much easier for those to forgive. I am not one of those people. You and I will have to forgive until it becomes a situation of the past.
As you celebrate this beautiful day of freedom, allow your heart also to be set free as a new day dawns with the sparkle of independence.