That’s pretty much exactly why I think it’s more about a lesson on how to treat others. Humans fundamentally believe they’re free to choose things, regardless of their religious affiliation. We always tell ourselves we want this and that, and decided x and y, etc. Regardless of the reality of free will, we all think we have it.

The only genuine purpose of saying Free Will is a gift from God I can think of is simply to make the dummies that want to force behavior on others hesitate about stepping on “God’s domain”.