Enslaved but Free

Sometimes, as Christians we tend to use our freedom with disregard. We don't remember that with freedom, comes responsibility. Freedom is defined as, "the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint; enslave is defined as, "to cause someone to lose their freedom of choice or action."
So... as followers and disciples of Christ, are we free or enslaved? Last week at Dream School, we learned about who we were and who Jesus is. In Philippians 1:1, Paul and Timothy are described as servants of Christ, or more literally, slaves. We discussed how slaves are without rights, choice, privilege, position, or status; they are in essence, a "nothing" in society. Their position (or title) is characterized by their obedience. This really hit me. Am I living as a slave for Christ, or is my rebellion and sin saying something else about me? As followers of Jesus Christ, we are slaves, and our actions must speak such, through obedience. I have really struggled with obedience over the years, especially in the last few. Something that stuck my heart so definitively was this: "By rebelling we are saying to God, 'I don't trust Your judgment. I don't trust that You have my best in mind.' " I can see this so clearly in my own life. So many times I have said, through my actions, that I don't believe that God has my best in mind, and that my understanding is beyond His. But, Proverbs 3 tells us to "Trust in the LORD with all our heart, lean NOT on our own understanding, in ALL your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (emphasis added) My own understanding is not enough; God knows what he is doing, and He will work everything to my good, because I love Him and have been called according to His purposes.
For me, the idea of being a slave to Christ opened my eyes to just how much I rely on my own strength; how much I mistrust God and His priorities. With the desire to change from my old habits and behaviors, came this new desire to be enslaved to Christ, to see Him as my Master and align my life according to His rules. I feel much remorse over all of the times that I have said, "God, I am taking my life in my own hands, and am going to decide for myself what I think is right and wrong." I truly seek to make Jesus the Lord -master, king, head- of my life. I want to make decisions based on what my Master tells me to do, not what I want, but what He wants. Honestly, I just want to walk in obedience to Him. I want to have the form -possessing the attributes that make it what it is- of a slave of Christ.


I may be free from sin, but I am enslaved to Christ, because He is my Master, and what He says, goes.