slaves to righteousness

Romans 6:15-23

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Of course not!
16
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
17
But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted.
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Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.
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I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your nature. For just as you presented the parts of your bodies as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness for lawless ness, so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.
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For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.
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But what profit did you get then from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
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But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life.
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For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.



slave?! wait a bit... i'm no slave! I want to be free! fly like a bird! you know, be happy, so i can do what i want, when i want, how i want.

however, there's a problem with that. everytime i've said, no i'm gonna do this, because this is what I want, it just happens to be that i end up hurting myself. and i realize, how stupid! Not only did i hurt myself, and God had warned me about it.... most of the time I end up hurting someone else and above all.... I hurt God. It might be in the little things-- like losing temper with my family, or saying something unkind (which it happens to be a bit more often than it should be).... and I hurt people, and I hurt God, the good God who holds me in my bad times and the same One who pours out blessings and good things. and i never mean to hurt God or others, I just do it out of selfish desires.... or to let frustration out... things of the sort.

but there is an alternate route-- becoming a "slave of God".... it sounds so harsh, but think about it. we're all "slaves" to something-- ("there's just 2 ways to lose yourself in this life... and neither way is safe..." Switchfoot, economy of mercy)... we're all attached to some idea or someone or something. we ALL are. when we submit ourselves to god and His will, we submit to BECOMING HOLY AND GAINING ETERNAL LIFE. we're ALL called to holiness.... every one of us. we have a choice to make, surrender, or carrying an unbearable weight on our back. when we choose to carry it ourselves, it's impossible. we can't do it. so we ask Christ, the ultimate "slave of God" to help us... through His slavery, we become new, and we also become slaves. through that slavery, we are free.... free of worries. we are called to grow "vertically" and thus, we come closer to Heaven. and what is Heaven? Heaven is having God as our eternal friend. when we submit, we prove we love Him. if we fail, we repent, and He will forever make our repentance valid through Christ's blood. so our worries? they all become a little speck of dust... a grain of sand in an infinite universe.... our sins are drowned in the blood of Christ, which covers the infinite universe.

why am I saying this? because i'm human. i sin. i do have worries, but i know my worries, they're absolutely nothing. i trust because God is faithful. whatever He says becomes LAW, and His promise is never to leave me. His promise is not for me not to struggle, but He promises eternal so life, so all my worries and fears, they're 1/100000 second worth. they're a blink of the eye. that kind of mindset saves you a lot of worrying, it saves you a lot of thinking. and it cause you to grow vertically, it really really does. you start thinking abour (phil. 4:8) things that please God.

ok now back to doing my homework!