Differences Between Freedom and Free Will

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Very commonly, people assume that "freedom" means being able to do whatever one wants. Being free means much more than this. "Real freedom comes from recognizing the truth and choosing to live in it." In John 14:6, Christ says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." We must realize that there is an objective truth: "a reality that we cannot change, separated from what we think or feel about it." Morality is not subjective. Christopher West says, "God created us to choose between good and evil, not to determine what they are."


Freedom is defined as "the ability to desire and to choose the good." For there to be freedom, there must also be boundaries that exist. Look at it from the standpoint of a relationship. If you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, you can freely choose to be faithful by choosing to avoid cheating. You set that boundary for yourself and the choice will enable you to love that other person. You chose "the good" for your relationship. St. Pope John Paul II said that, "Freedom without responsibilities is the opposite of love."

Freedom is not about liberation from external constraints - "the laws of God or society that protect us from abusing our free will and hurting ourselves or others." To be truly free, we must accept and know that we are children of God created for communion and love (from Theology of the Body for Teens). It is the internal constraints ("distractions or disordered desires within us that steer us away from choosing the good") that we must remain free of.

Free will is different than freedom. God gives us free will so we have the opportunity to freely choose to love Him. Our freedoms are directly related to our ability to love others. Free will is "the gift given to us by God that allows us to choose between good and evil. This God-given ability allows us to be the authors of our own choices, thus allowing us to determine our own destiny." 

The major difference to remember is this: Free will is the ability to choose between good and evil, and through it, we have freedom - the ability and desire to choose that which is good.


References:

Theology of the Body for Teens
By Brian Butler and Jason and Crystalina Evert