A Servant by Choice

The apostle Paul often referred to himself as a bondslave or a doulos—a voluntary servant. Doulos is a Greek word often used in the New Testament for a slave or servant. It describes a unique class of servant, someone who was not made that way by constraint or by force. A doulos was someone who had been freed, but chose to serve his or her master out of love. Thus, this servant would be called a doulos—a bondservant, a servant by choice.

As Christians, that is what we are. Christ has paid an incredible debt for us. He has pardoned us. He has forgiven us. And now we should become His voluntary servants, serving Him not because we have to but because we want to. We serve Him because we love Him, recognizing that He has instilled certain gifts, certain talents, and certain resources in our lives that we are to use for His glory.

The Bible says, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s" (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).

Jesus said, "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:33). The words forsake all mean surrender your claim to and say goodbye to. This doesn’t mean taking a vow of poverty; it simply means recognizing that it all belongs to God.

Our lives belong to God. Everything is the Lord’s. We as Christians will stand before God one day and give an account for what we have done with all that He has given to us.