In truth there is only one freedom - the holy freedom of Christ, whereby He freed us from sin, from evil, from the devil.
It binds us to God.
All other freedoms are illusory, false, that is to say, they are all, in fact, slavery.
(St. Justin Popovich,
Ascetical and Theological Chapters, II.36)
Only faith that all does not end with this earthly existence gives us power not to chain ourselves to this earthly life by all means, and for its sake to come into all manner of baseness, degradation and humiliation.
Only man of deep and sincere faith can be truly free.
Dependence on the Lord God is the only dependence that does not degrade a man, nor turn him into a pitiful servant.
But, on the contrary, it exalts him.
(Martyr Alexander Medem,
Letter to his son, 1922)
Some people by the word freedom understand the ability to do whatever one wants ...
People who have the more allowed themselves to come into slavery to sins, passions, and defilements more often than others appear as zealots of external freedom, wanting to broaden the laws as much as possible.
But such a man uses external freedom only to more severely burden himself with inner slavery.
True freedom is the active ability of a man who is not enslaved to sin, who is not pricked by a condemning conscience, to choose the better in the light of God's truth, and to bring it into actuality with the help of the gracious power of God.
This is the freedom of which neither heaven nor earth are restrict.
(St. Philaret of Moscow,
Sermon on the Birthday of Emperor Nicholas I, 1851)
The Lord wants us to love one another.
Here is freedom:
in love for God and neighbor. In this freedom, there is equality.
In earthly orders, there may not be equality, but this is not important for the soul.
Not everyone can be a king, not everyone a patriarch or a boss.
But in any position it is possible to love God and to please Him, and only this is important.
And whoever loves God more on earth will be in greater glory in His Kingdom.
(St. Silouan the Athonite,
Writings, VI.23)