Slave to Righteousness

Posted on February 11, 2009 12:00 AM MST by Sara Richardson

Sometimes I struggle with feeling like a slave. Each morning I start out ready to serve my family, but there are some days that I am weary of the demands, the chores, meeting everyone else’s needs by midmorning. Feeding hungry mouths, soothing woeful tears, wiping faces, cleaning up toys when there’s an explosion in the playroom, washing the dog after the daily accidental spill, changing diapers, doing dishes, cooking dinner, running errands, making lists. I don’t do these things for myself. It’s all for someone else—usually the one who happens to be complaining the loudest. I. Am. A. Slave. But that’s exactly what I’m supposed to be.

As a Christian I am, by the very definition, a slave. The official definition of a slave is:

- “A person who is the property of and wholly subject to one another.”
- “One bound in servitude as the property of a person or household.”
- “A mom.” Oh, wait, I added that one in.

When I made a commitment to choose life over death, joy over despair, grace over self-redemption, I indentured myself to a life of servitude. And I’m still learning how to cope with it. It’s not easy. I don’t think it was supposed to be. I don’t think it’s a commitment to be taken lightly.  Think about what Jesus said to his disciples in Mark chapter 9: “Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.’” I imagine that’s not exactly what they were expecting to hear. I imagine a couple of them whispered under their breaths, “Wait a minute. That’s how Jesus is going to make things right? He’s gonna stoop to the same level as a slave?” It’s a bit counter-intuitive, but that’s exactly what he did…all in the name of sacrificial love. We’re called to that same love—a love that goes beyond discovering what’s in it for me.

According to the Bible, being a slave—serving others at the expense of serving yourself—is the highest calling, the most important thing a Christian can do. And yet it goes against everything in us. All you have to do is spend a few minutes in a room full of two-year-olds to see inherent selfish tendencies surface. Just like them, there are times I feel like yelling “Mine!” That’s MY breakfast, no you can’t have any. Those are MY pots and pans, stop banging them! Naptime is MY quiet time, how dare you wake up! At times like that I have to talk myself down. Repeat Jesus’ words over and over until they break through the chaos.

Because, when I really stop to think about it, I know that being a slave is worth it. I know where I would be without the hope to which God has called me. I know the alternative and I don’t want any part of it. “Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.”  (Romans 6:18 NLT)

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