I Choose to Believe in Free Will

Posted on March 16, 2026 by mitchteemley

Choose to Believe in Free Will

Thought for the Week: I Choose to Believe in Free Will

There are those who do not believe in free will, of course. And they are free to believe that, if they wish (see what I did there?). But I do believe in it. In fact, I believe choosing to believe in free will is, in itself, an act of free will. But I also believe it is, as C.S. Lewis implies, the hardest and gravest thing we shall ever do. And that in the end — no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in — how we choose to respond will define who we are forever. So, if I may offer this bit of advice, which you are free to ignore, if you choose: Never surrender your free will.

Choose to Choose.

⇔

About mitchteemley

Writer, Filmmaker, Humorist, Thinker-about-stuffer
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30 Responses to I Choose to Believe in Free Will

  1. Andi says:
    March 16, 2026 at 10:58 am

    I have never seen that quote before. It makes total sense. I believe as you do.

    Reply
  2. joyindestructible says:
    March 16, 2026 at 11:24 am

    Choice is what got us into this mess and it’s choice that can get us out…when we choose Jesus and learn to obey…choice is our super power!

    Reply
  3. Fifienne says:
    March 16, 2026 at 11:43 am

    Choose to choose and make it count💫

    Reply
  4. Karima Hoisan says:
    March 16, 2026 at 12:30 pm

    I sort of believe in both but not in equal parts…much is free will in out lives…a few “markers on our highways” are destined..They seem to have worked just fine together…at least in my life:)

    Reply
  5. Anonymous says:
    March 16, 2026 at 12:45 pm

    Indeed!

    Reply
  6. Daedalus Lex says:
    March 16, 2026 at 1:34 pm

    Hey Mitch. Here’s a post I did on Boethius (late classical/early Medieval), who sees free will and an apparently pre-ordained providence as viewing the same reality from two orientation points. You might like it (and may or may not like the tangents I throw out from that center 🙂 ) Gary https://shakemyheadhollow.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/from-boethius-to-blake/

    Reply
  7. Andrew McDowell says:
    March 16, 2026 at 2:04 pm

    That’s one of the reasons why the concept of predestination troubles me, especially when someone chooses of their own free will to follow God and turn away from sin.

    Reply
  8. Victoria says:
    March 16, 2026 at 2:27 pm

    Oof! “Choose to Choose”. Thank you for this Monday booster shot, Mitch. 💝

    Reply
  9. G.W. says:
    March 16, 2026 at 4:33 pm

    I choose to follow Jesus. He has it all worked out between Him and His Father, who is also our Father.

    Reply
  10. L.G. says:
    March 16, 2026 at 6:44 pm

    Amen

    Reply
  11. M. says:
    March 17, 2026 at 2:06 am

    ❤️

    Reply
  12. Krishna says:
    March 17, 2026 at 2:20 am

    I enjoyed reading this ❤️ Beautiful thoughts dear Mitch

    Reply
  13. tulacelinastonebridge says:
    March 17, 2026 at 5:05 am

    Danke für dieses schöne Zitat!
    Der freie Wille. Es ist schwierig, sich auf diesen Denkprozess einzulassen oder das Gefühl des freien Willens zu ergründen.
    Ich habe mich oft darauf eingelassen, bin aber zu keinem Ergebnis gekommen. Sind wir frei oder unfrei, also frei im menschlichen Sinne, unfrei in göttlicher Demut oder beides gleichzeitig? Ist alles nur der göttliche Wille, der alles bestimmt? Sind wir alle Sonnenstrahlen, Gottes Hände und Füße? Aber sind die Hände und Füße in Wirklichkeit die Sonne, die Strahlen und die Wärme der Sonne? Können sie nicht eigenständig denken und handeln? Oder können sie es doch? Ist das alles ein Paradox?

    🙂🕊☕

    Reply
  14. kwholley63 says:
    March 17, 2026 at 7:59 am

    It is a nice concept and depends how you look at it. The minute you are forced into any decision or made to conform in any way that is not Free Will. To be free will you would have to live off the grid and be 100% independent from everything.

    Reply
  15. Gemerald says:
    March 17, 2026 at 8:33 am

    Hello Mitch and all

    We may set our boat to sail yet its course is determined or set by the wind.

    How did any of us humans come to be?

    Along with the specious amd mythical doctrines of eternal hellfire, free will or free moral agency is the fallacious and delusional teachings propagated by the many multitudinous orthodox Christian economic denominations.

    Can anyone, if you so claim to have free will, absolutely tell us what really is coming or befallen in the next tick or minute to come or tomorrow?

    God the Supreme or Ultimate Author of All that be. ONLY SOVEREIGN free moral Author God is working all things after the counsel of His own will.

    Friends, the first truth is ‘Get the log out of your own eye first.’

    Freewill or free moral agency of itself does not save anybody. Sadly, those who hold this man-made dogma are too blind to see it for what it is, as the word “freewill” is not in the Scriptures,

    Unless and unti we are dragged into Christ and taught by Him OF Him, no man is ABLE to do a thing. Yet you do not believe that. And you call yourself a ‘believer.’ What you ‘believe’ is what you have been taught. I have had many tell me what they ‘believe.’

    Choices are CAUSED.

    No one can come to me unless the Father draws him” (John 6:44).

    Reply
    • mitchteemley says:
      March 17, 2026 at 5:53 pm

      “Unless and until we are dragged into Christ and taught by Him OF Him, no man is ABLE to do a thing. Yet you do not believe that.” Yes, I do, Gemerald. In fact, I choose to believe it. Salvation is a gift that must be received.

      Reply
  16. The Oceanside Animals says:
    March 17, 2026 at 10:31 am

    Lulu: “Our Dada is over here playing air drums and singing ‘I will choose a path that’s clear, I will choose free will!'”
    Java Bean: “We have no idea what he’s talking about, as usual.”

    Reply
  17. Gemerald says:
    March 18, 2026 at 6:01 am

    Again the orthodox Christian economy also known as the “many / multitudes” as called in the Scriptures argues, dead in hearing and seeing, with their own Creator that ‘It IS in man himself to choose what steps he will take. It IS in man to freely decide whether to obey God.’ What happened to that orthodox Christian teaching of man’s ‘free will’ here in this verse? Where is the scripture for such a doctrine? Is it to be found in these Words of Truth?

    Pro 20:24 Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?

    Pro 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

    Reply
  18. Gemerald says:
    March 18, 2026 at 2:31 pm

    And HE is SOVEREIGN Lord and King. Nobody negotiates with Him. He IS King. A King means His words become precepts and law when He speaks them. Our opinions mean nothing. I AM WHO/THAT I AM.

    Reply
  19. Dawn Pisturino says:
    March 18, 2026 at 4:35 pm

    Exactly. Everybody can choose how they respond to the world around them. Everybody can choose right from wrong. Everybody can choose to believe or disbelieve.

    Reply
  20. C.A. Peterson says:
    March 18, 2026 at 5:16 pm

    Well, you had to do that.😂

    Reply
  21. Anonymous says:
    March 18, 2026 at 10:28 pm

    I choose to choose!

    Reply

  22. Pingback: I Choose to Believe in Free Will – QuietMomentsWithGod

  23. Shahbaz Ashraf says:
    March 19, 2026 at 8:11 pm

    Yes, never surrender your free will. Believing in yourself makes all the difference. Not everything is pre-ordained, we are free to make certain choices and define our lives.

    Reply

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