What is the value of freedom and liberty?

It is the very thing at center stage in the epic struggle for minds that took place in the premortal realms. And yet, freedom and liberty of themselves are no guarantee of happiness or exaltation. For that, righteousness is required.

This is the time of year when patriotic celebrations in the United States mark the victory for independence. Many other nations have similar celebrations during the year to mark their own victories. Often, these commemorate freedoms won in violent battles, with many lives lost.

The cost of freedom can be steep, indeed. But the cost of misusing that freedom to do wickedly is steeper, still, and has eternal consequences. The struggle for spiritual independence from evil is ongoing, and its battles are waged daily in every life.

More than a decade ago, Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve made these observations on the growing level of wickedness in the world:

"Today, lust openly parades as love," he said. "...Evil even calls itself good and often gets away with it!

"While I would not shrink the circumference of freedom, the size of that circle is not the sole measure of social well-being" (Conference Report, April 1993).

He said in that same talk. "Only reform and self-restraint, institutional and individual, can finally rescue society! Only a sufficient number of sin-resistant souls can change the marketplace. As Church members, we should be part of that sin-resistant counterculture."

In the Book of Mormon, Captain Moroni understood this concept as he rallied his people in defense of liberty. It wasn't only the physical independence of his people that he worried about. He fashioned what he called the "Title of Liberty" from a piece of his coat and wrote on it, "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children" (Alma 46:12). He worried about the correct use of liberty to follow God.

Later, he had this title raised throughout the land. "And thus he was preparing to support their liberty, their lands, their wives, and their children, and their peace, and that they might live unto the Lord their God, and that they might maintain that which was called by their enemies the cause of Christians" (Alma 48:10).

The Book of Mormon offers vivid examples of how freedom and liberty can be misused. At one point in the record, the Nephites made some particularly poor choices under a political system that gave them freedom.

"For as their laws and their governments were established by the voice of the people, and they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted" (Helaman 5:2).

Regardless of its political system, a nation cannot long guarantee its people liberty if a majority of its citizens insist on misusing their freedoms. Without the checks and restraints of a moral code based in the commandments of God, chaos will result, followed by a destructive backlash.

Too often, the world uses liberty to search for fulfillment in the wrong places. Some recent surveys have shown that, despite popular belief, obtaining a lot of money does not equate to obtaining happiness or joy. Neither does fame or notoriety, nor an endless pursuit of entertainment and self-indulgence.

Joy, happiness and fulfillment come only as we follow the Savior's example and keep His commandments. "Then," as He said, "are ye my disciples indeed;

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).