“It’s a good day for my bad attitude!” If that slogan’s speaking your language right about now, perhaps you should consider joining me this week to discover what the Bible says about attitudes. Could be a ‘tude adjustment is in order!

Servitude

“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right…. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.” 

Romans 6:20-22, NLT

Years ago, when I’d ask a certain acquaintance to help me with various tasks, she would more often than not reply with the quip, “What do I look like, your slave? Do it yourself, I’ve got more important things to do!” These days, I hear people say, “I’m nobody’s slave!” Or, “I won’t be anyone’s slave!”

But the truth is, it’s impossible to be middle-of-the-road regarding servitude. Everybody serves a master, so everyone’s somebody’s slave! The question is whose? Read today’s Dose verses. Before we surrendered our lives to Christ Jesus, we were easily consumed by an attitude of idolatry and self-centeredness. We were free to do what we wanted, when we wanted, and how we wanted, because we were guided by the fulfillment of our own desires.

This type of freedom was a freedom from doing right because all we were capable of doing was wrong. Our behaviors were wrong because our motives were wrong. Our motives were wrong because our hearts were wrong. Our hearts were wrong because our master wasn’t God; it was sin. Serving the master of sin may have appeared effortless and fun for some time, but focusing on our own desires gets old after a while. We have no power from the Holy Spirit to change our hearts so we’re caught in the grip of serving self and neglecting to find a bit of concern for others. We easily modeled the old adage, “I’m not much, but I’m all I think about!” The result of this type of attitude was agony and destruction. We weren’t equipped to serve anyone with the love of God. 

But once we surrendered our lives to Christ, we experienced an attitude change. Mastered by God and following the desires He placed in our hearts, we turned from our idolatry and self-centeredness to serve Him ahead of ourselves. In turn, we are able to let His love show through us in service to others. This is an attitude of servitude.

Christ modeled the best example of serving others to the point of laying down His life for our sins. He served God, the Father, in perfectly obedience.  When we’re willing to serve Jesus Christ, we have the Holy Spirit’s power to serve others around us, with a godly heart. This is how our lives are rebuilt and attitudes changed. Love does not demand it’s own way (1 Cor. 13:5).

Serving the Master is the sole way to a life of holiness and eternity with God. Whose slave are you?

Servitude over self-centeredness,

Rita