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obeying our masters

1 Timothy 6:1-2 (JDV)

1 Timothy 6:1 All who are under the yoke as slaves should regard their own masters as worthy of all respect, so that God’s name and his teaching will not be maligned.

1 Timothy 6:2 Let those who have believing masters not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers, but serve them even better, since those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly cared for. Teach and encourage these things.

obeying our masters

Paul the missionary is giving instructions to Timothy — the missionary — about how he should deal with the reality of slavery in the congregations he supervises. Paul had told the Galatians that in Christ “there is neither slave nor free” (Galatians 3:28). That suggests that Paul does not endorse the culture of slavery. But neither does he advocate revolution against that culture. Instead, he instructs Timothy to teach the slaves in the Ephesian congregations to respect and serve their masters.

Paul is passing on a command that Jesus gave the church. He commanded us to care for one another. By caring for their masters/employers, the slaves had an opportunity to obey and serve their greater master.

LORD, thank you for those you have called us to serve. Help us to care for them in obedience to your command.