Slavery is the condition in which one person is owned as property by another and is under the owner's control.
I hear the word “slavery” and shudder. The concept of owning or controlling another human being, who is my equal in the eyes of God, is hard to fathom.
While most people think slavery is a thing of the past, modern day slavery is alive and well all over the world. Thousands of adults and children are sold into sex trafficking and forced labor every single day. But beyond physical enslavement, each and every one of us is a slave to something mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.
Romans 6:16 says: “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”
What are you a slave to? Your job or your social media following? Your boyfriend or losing those stubborn five pounds you just cannot seem to shed?
Perhaps you are slave to sin, whether it be secret or out in the open. The truth is, when we are slaves to such things, we are owned and controlled by them. If we are owned and controlled by those things, we cannot be used by God.
Ephesians 2:10 says: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
God has plans for each of us to serve and help build his kingdom, but we cannot accomplish those plans if we are not submitting to God and are slaves to something else. He does not want our divided hearts, He wants all of us!
As hard as it is to submit, to willingly place yourself into slavery, into ownership or control of someone else, it is only through submission to Christ that we can find true freedom.
Whatever it is that is holding you hostage, God can and will free you from it if you choose to take that first step and put in the work.
I encourage you to start today. Recognize the shackles Satan has so carefully twisted around our wrists and allow the ultimate emancipator, God our Father, to shatter them! Call on him, even in your distress. He will answer you and he will set you free! Psalm 118:5.
You can connect with Marissa on IG and learn more about her upcoming book, Her Exodus, a story about a young woman enslaved by her past who finds freedom in the most unlikely of circumstances.
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