Why do we have free will? Why did God set up this world so that we would have to choose to do good, to follow Jesus, to love our neighbor as ourselves?
One thing is certain, if God is all powerful, then He could have designed everything differently. God did not have to allow Satan and his demons to fall from Heaven. He did not have to allow Eve to be tricked by the devil, nor did He have to allow Adam to follow suit. Why has God allowed history to play out in the way that it has, with so many evil decisions being made by human beings? Why do we have free will?
What good would faith be if there was no free will? How meaningful would love be without free will? If we had no choice but to be obedient, would it matter? Free will is the human characteristic which makes us capable of choosing to accept God’s gift of salvation. We know from the Bible that all people are given plenty of evidence of the truth of God’s word, but many will choose their own destructive path instead. We all would prefer to be gods ourselves, but because we have been given free will, some will choose to follow Jesus, despite the temptations of this world, and some will choose otherwise.
Perhaps the most important reason we were created with free will is because we are created in the image of God. The Bible tells us that even more than angels we were created in God’s image. Like God, we can create, and make decisions. The difference of course is that we can make incorrect decisions, because we are not God!
Of all our God-given attributes, free will may be the most important when it comes to fellowship with God. While God could have forced all his creations to have fellowship with Him, instead he gave people the ability to choose fellowship with Him. Our ability to grow in our faith also stems from our free will.
Free will is the characteristic that makes us able to love the Lord, and our neighbor, with all of our mind, which in turn makes us capable of loving them with our heart and our soul. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of free will.