Slaves and Masters

Posted on March 12 2008

Have you ever thought and wondered how Ephesians 6:5 applies to us living in America? Ephesians 6:5 (NIV) reads, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.” How many of us know of a traditional slave that needs to obey their master. I don’t know of any. I believe it goes past that thought.

In 2 Peter 2:19 (NIV) Peter wrote, “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.” Look around and see what many are enslaved to? Debt! Many of us are enslaved to debt. We have signed a contract agreeing to pay something back with no real guarantee that we can live up to that contract. We have given our word and now indebted ourselves to a certain debtor. This would make us a slave to the debtor.

Often times I hear of clients calling and complaining of being charged outrageous interest rates and ridiculous fees. I also hear people talking about how they are considering stopping all together paying back the debt because they don’t feel the arrangement is fair. I understand where they are coming from, but the bottom line is you signed the agreement agreeing to pay back what you owed. You are now a slave until you are released from your agreement. This is the trade-off though. You now fall under Ephesians 6:5 as being obligated to obey your earthly master with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart just as you would obey Christ.

In many cases it is easy to look around and see the unfairness in society. Yes, we do live in a broken and fallen world, however we each make decisions on a daily basis that ultimately determines our earthly freedom. This should serve as a constant reminder that many of us are slaves and will be slaves until we pay the price. We also have no room to complain. As tough as it may be, we need to treat our creditors with respect, fear and sincerity of heart just as we would obey Christ.

I will leave you with Romans 13:7 (NIV) “Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” Continue to seek God for your strength each day. No one ever said being a slave would be easy.

Joe Larson -FLCS Certified Credit Counselor