Published 08/15/2026 | by Dr. Daniel T. Lewis

Why does this matter?  Freedom provides an essential framework for the pursuit of human flourishing.

How can I apply it this week?  You can begin to understand the essential role of freedom for the pursuit of human flourishing.

Introduction

Human agency describes the power of individuals to make independent choices, think for themselves, and take actions that shape their own lives and the world. Freedom enables choice. Divine revelation communicates to us the course of action that optimizes our potential for attaining a state of human flourishing (Lewis, 2022). God gives each of us the free will and freedom to make choices about which course of action we pursue. The choices we make always come with natural consequences. Liberty safeguards the realm in which individuals make their choices. Through empowerment, individuals develop the knowledge and abilities to act effectively on those choices. Research supports the important role of freedom in the pursuit of happiness, well-being, and human flourishing (Gaston-Breton et al., 2020; McKenzie, 2024).

Freedom: The Capacity to Make Choices

Freedom enables choice. Freedom describes the essence of human agency. Human agency includes the capacity for deliberation and for making choices based on that deliberation, rather than acting under the determination or control of another individual or a group. When individuals or groups use coercion, force, or the threat of force to compel others to take a certain course of action, they infringe upon individual freedom (Bastiat, 1998; Hayek, 1944; Mises, 1949). The non-aggression principle calls for the abstention of the use of force, except in the defense of life, liberty, or property.

At its broadest level, freedom concerns human agency: the ability to deliberate, choose, and act rather than being completely determined or controlled by another. Freedom begins with an individual’s capacity to choose their own course of action. However, freedom differs from simply doing as one wants or pleases. The classical Christian understanding of moral freedom frames it as the pursuit of the good course of action rather than the evil (Lewis, 1952; Schaeffer, 1972). This stance proposes acting on an absolute standard of good and evil. In Christianity, evil embodies the absence of good, not the opposite of good. Similarly, in the physical world, darkness occurs as the absence of light, not the opposite of light.  God reveals the essence of good and evil to us. A problem arises when individuals assume the role of determining what is good and what is evil on their own. Correctly placed faith gives an individual the most effective orientation toward freedom by clarifying the truth, the good, and the meaningful and worthy pursuits.

Liberty: The Protection of Freedom

Liberty actively protects the exercise of freedom. Liberty produces the condition for the optimal exercise of individual freedom and emphasizes the absence of unjust coercion or restraint. Liberty aligns with the implementation of the non-aggression principle. As an ethical framework, the non-aggression principle (NAP) prohibits individuals or groups from commencing or threatening physical violence against another person or legitimately owned property. The NAP strictly limits the use of force to self-defense against prior aggression. Liberty also allows individuals to refrain from using force against others if they so choose. The NAP serves as a social, political, and legal framework that allows individuals to make meaningful choices. Liberty allows individuals to make choices and act upon their conscience without unjust interference. The NAP further clarifies how liberty allows individuals to make choices and act upon their conscience without unjust interference. These differences between liberty and freedom align freedom with an individual’s agency and liberty with the protection of that agency. An individual might possess the internal capacity to make a choice while lacking the liberty to carry it out. For example, someone may possess the intellectual capacity and desire to express an opinion but live under a government that prohibits that expression.

Empowerment: The Capacity to Make Freedom Effective

Empowerment is particularly important because it provides individuals with the knowledge, confidence, resources, skills, authority, and opportunities necessary to translate choices into meaningful action. Empowerment assesses how well equipped and capable an individual is to transform choices into meaningful and effective action. Freedom gives individuals the ability to make choices. Liberty protects those choices. For example, Individuals possess the liberty to pursue any type of career, but without knowledge, skills, confidence, or access to opportunities, that freedom produces little practical effect. Education, discipleship, and training empower the individual to transform possibility into achievement.

The Relationship of Freedom to the Three Dimensions of Human Flourishing

The relationship among freedom, liberty, and empowerment produces a coherent, integrated developmental process that moves individuals toward human flourishing. The importance of individual liberty and resistance to coercive authority has deep roots in the literature on freedom (Lane, 1943; Thoreau, 1849, 1854), while empowerment provides the capacity to translate individual agency into meaningful action (Lewis, 2022; Spreitzer, 1995). Freedom grants individuals the capacity to make choices. Liberty then allows individuals to make those choices without unjust coercion. Empowerment means individuals have the capacity and resources to act effectively and with meaning. Empowerment optimizes the effectiveness of freedom and liberty. Empowerment without freedom risks becoming paternalism, in which someone else decides the best course of action for the individual and provides the means to accomplish it. In politics, paternalism takes the form of the nanny state that oversees every aspect of an individual’s choices. Without empowerment, freedom becomes theoretical. Theoretically, and perhaps constitutionally, an individual enjoys the freedom to attain human flourishing, but in reality, authorities and rulers often erect a multitude of barriers to prevent the pursuit of human flourishing.  Evil leaders establish schemes to devour the fruits of an individual’s labor. Agency allows individuals to pursue worthwhile goals. The process culminates in a state of human flourishing: a sense of purpose, purposeful personal expressiveness, and effortful engagement (Lewis, 2022; Spreitzer. 1995).

Sense of purpose. Freedom allows individuals to choose the purposes and goals around which they organize their lives rather than having those purposes imposed upon them. The exercise of individual agency regarding sense of purpose matters greatly because the individual knows best what truly gives them a sense of purpose. The goal might begin with a general objective, such as making disciples, but personal agency allows the individual to determine how to make disciples in a way that provides them with a sense of purpose. Attention to one’s sense of purpose acknowledges that God created everyone with a unique one. God guides individuals in discovering the best way to find their sense of purpose. Since finding our sense of purpose aligns our life with who God created us to become, finding our sense of purpose and acting upon it, brings glory to God.

Purposeful personal expressiveness. Freedom allows individuals to express their identities, abilities, gifts, convictions, and callings through meaningful activity. Personal agency allows an individual to approach a general objective, such as making disciples, and approach that task in a way that manifests purposeful personal expressiveness. God created everyone with a unique way of manifesting purposeful personal expressiveness. God guides individuals in discovering the best way to express their purposefulness. Since finding our path to purposeful personal expressiveness aligns our life with who God created us to become, finding our path to purposeful personal expressiveness and acting upon it, brings glory to God.

Effortful engagement. Freedom allows individuals to commit themselves voluntarily to difficult and worthwhile pursuits, while empowerment provides the capabilities necessary to persevere toward those goals. As our creator and designer, God knows what sorts of activities give us a sense of effortful engagement. This allows God to guide individuals toward the specific tasks that foster effortful engagement. The ways God leads us to find activities that generate effortful engagement for us give glory to God.

Freedom as the Framework of Human Flourishing

Freedom acts as the fundamental framework for the pursuit of human flourishing. While faith provides the foundation for human flourishing, freedom provides the framework for actively pursuing human flourishing. Importantly, freedom allows individuals to make choices, such as selecting a path for their development, that facilitate their pursuit of human flourishing.

References

Bastiat, F. (1998). The law (D. Russell, Trans.; 2nd ed.). Foundation for Economic Education.

Hayek, F. A. (1944). The road to serfdom. University of Chicago Press.

Lane, R. W. (1943). The discovery of freedom: Man’s struggle against authority. John Day Company.

Lewis, C. S. (1952). Mere Christianity. Geoffrey Bles

Lewis, D. T. (2022). The impact of followers’ sense of empowerment on their perception of eudaimonic happiness [Doctoral dissertation, Trevecca Nazarene University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.

Gaston-Breton, C., Sørensen, E. B., & Thomsen, T. U. (2020). “I want to break free!” How experiences of freedom foster consumer happiness. Journal of Business Research, 121, 22-32.

McKenzie, K. (2024). The pursuit of happiness: Freedom and well-being in positive psychology [Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.

Mises, L. von (1949). Human action: A treatise on economics. Yale University Press.

Schaeffer, F. A. (1972). Back to freedom and dignity. InterVarsity Press.

Spreitzer, G. (1995). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: Dimensions,

measurements, and validation. Academy of Management Journal, 38(5), 1442-1465

Thoreau, H. D. (1854). Walden; or, Life in the woods. Ticknor and Fields.

Thoreau, H. D. (1849). Resistance to civil government. In E. P. Peabody (Ed.), Æsthetic papers (pp. 189–211). G. P. Putnam