More than any other man, Paul knew what it was to be free. He was born a free Roman citizen. Then he was born again and received the revelation from God that he had been made free from the authority of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. Yet he bowed his knee to Jesus and said, “I give away my freedom. I give away my will. I give it all away to serve You. I’ll live for You and I’ll die for You.”

Jesus Himself set the pattern for such servanthood during His earthly ministry, and Philippians 2:5-7 exhorts us to follow His example.

As a servant, or handmaiden, your attitude will be like Jesus’ attitude: “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). You’ll say, “I don’t care what it takes, I will obey God. If He wants me to lock myself up in my closet and pray for eight hours every day, that’s what I’ll do, because I’m His bondslave!”

Some people like to argue that God would never require such sacrifices from us.

That’s just proof that those people aren’t servants or handmaidens, because servants and handmaidens aren’t interested in doing only what God requires. True servants and handmaidens want to be totally committed to God and His Word. They want everything they do to be governed by Him. As a result, God rewards them. He entrusts to them the gifts of the Spirit. He anoints them, and He uses them to do great exploits in His Name.

If you want God to entrust His gifts to you, if you want to do great exploits in His Name, then you’ll first need to become a servant, a bondslave…one who goes beyond the requirements.

Speak the Word

I choose to be a servant, a bondslave of God. I will do whatever it takes to please God in every area of my life. (Philippians 2:5-7)