Today’s Verse:
I am a child of God (Romans 8:16).
In Context:
So, you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful
slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own
children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”
For his Spirit joins with our spirit to
affirm that we are God’s children. (Romans 8:15-16)
Fearful slaves. These are powerful words. How many of us
feel like slaves to someone else on a daily basis? It could be a boss at work,
the people we serve at our job (if we are in a service industry career), a
co-worker who has been with the company for many years, someone in our family
who depends on us or who just doesn’t respect us and expects us to take care of
everything for them, OR it could be a time from your past or your culture’s
past. Point being, most of us have felt
at one time or another what it was like to be a “slave” to another, and even
possibly a “fearful slave.” Thankfully,
in today’s American workplace, we can report the “slave driver” who is treating
us inappropriately to a supervisor, union, or the EEO (Equal Employment
Opportunity), but it doesn’t take away that fearful feeling we once had at the
hands of another. It doesn’t take away the degradation we experienced from
someone who was entitled or was put in a position of power over us.
So, here’s the good news…the “renewing your mind” kind of
news….It’s not a natural state of mind for us, that slave mentality. Some people are better at remembering that
than others. They always stand up for themselves and their rights, and they
never let anyone walk over them, but others of us are not so good at it. Some of us have a hard time drawing that
line, and we just want to please, even at the expense of our confidence and
self-esteem. It’s during those times
that we need to remember we are not slaves to anyone. We were made by a mighty
creator, all equal and loved the same.
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