One of the most precious terms of the American Republic is liberty. This Republic’s founding documents are rooted in expressing and protecting individual freedom. In the Declaration of independence, Jefferson argued as a “self-evident truth” that we are “endowed by our Creator” with certain “inalienable rights” and among those are “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The Bill of Rights (the Constitution’s first Ten Amendments) articulates and guarantees a set of rights each citizen enjoys. “Liberty” is indeed a precious and unique dimension of this Republic. But, in 1992, Justice Anthony Kennedy, in the famous Casey abortion ruling, posited a re-definition of human liberty: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.”

Jesus teaches on the spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting.

In early December 2025, President Trump’s administration issued its “National Security Strategy” (NSS) document. The 33-page paper is the Administration’s most complete attempt so far to explain its thinking on national security. Editorially, the Wall Street Journal observed: “Eight years ago, in his now-distant first term, President Trump laid out a national security strategy recognizing the new world of great power competition. It was a welcome effort to articulate emerging global threats. The new strategy . . . is an all but explicit retreat from that competition. It will please China and Russia but discomfit America’s allies. The strategy isn’t an isolationist document that you might read at a libertarian think tank. But it is clearly a declaration that America can no longer afford to, and shouldn’t in the national interest, bear the burden of global leadership.”

Jesus completes His interpretation of the Law and now gives focus to the practice of righteousness.

In early December 2025, Australia began enforcing a ban on social media apps for children under the age of 16—becoming the first country to do so. “I’ve always referred to this as the first domino,” Julie Inman Grant, who leads Australia’s online safety regulator, said in remarks. The major platforms have “pushed back,” Grant said, in part because Australia could serve as a proving ground for an approach that has begun to draw interest elsewhere.

Jesus’ interpretation of the Law focuses on the call to internal righteousness, not the facade of external righteousness alone.

In late December 2025, President Trump loosened the regulation of marijuana in the US. The Wall Street Journal editorially argued, “Reclassifying marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act doesn’t legalize the drug under federal law. But it does let marijuana sellers deduct expenses from their taxes like other companies. It also sends the signal to young people that marijuana isn’t all that harmful, despite mounting evidence that it is.”

Jesus completes His review of kingdom virtues and issues the challenge to be salt and light for Him.

Robert P. George, McCormick professor of jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, asks these penetrating questions: “What should the conservative movement stand for? What should conservatives dedicate themselves to conserving?” As we begin 2026, it is clear that people describing themselves as conservatives do not agree on the answers to these questions.

As Jesus begins His Sermon on the Mount, He gives focus to the virtues of the Kingdom, sometimes called the Beatitudes.