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Ephesians 6:5-8 (JDV)

Ephesians 6:5 Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ.

Ephesians 6:6 Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s preference from your heart.

Ephesians 6:7 Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to humans,

Ephesians 6:8 knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.

the secret to service

At the time Paul wrote this, as much as 50% of the economy in the Roman world involved some kind of slavery. Almost everyone’s livelihood depended non it. Paul’s purpose was not to abolish it, even though that would eventually happen. The subject he was dealing with was how to practice mutual submission if one finds himself a slave.

In our modern world, slavery rarely occurs, but Christians are often found in situations where they must do the bidding of others. How can a Christian serve as an underling? Two adverbs sum up Paul’s instruction: respectfully and sincerely.

What is the secret to respectful and sincere sevice? One answer: the Lord. We can serve in the right attitude if we always remember that who we are really serving is Jesus.

Lord, make us servants who bless our masters, because we want to honor you in everything.