Today's Prayer:
Lord, you are our great Father.
You are our great master. Our Lord.
Whether in Roman culture or early American culture, we have a tragic past in the handling of Your image bearers, and those who are siblings in Christ, as lesser beings.
Father forgive us.
As Paul confronts this, He points both slaves and masters to You as our great Lord and master.
We all answer to you.
The concept of slavery has changed in our Christian language, as so often it now relates to our bondage to sin.
How ironic it is for us to consider slavery to YOU as freedom, for Paul says to the Romans, “You have been set free from sin and slaves to God.”
It is in submission to you that we find true freedom.
May you deeply teach us what this means as our independent spirit wrestles against the concept of slavery.
As a Father, a people-pleaser, a man who has looked at others as less than, and a man who has found himself in bondage, I am convicted in these verses.
God, how often I want things to look good or do well... for me.
Yet, you call me to have a sincere heart.
That I trust in you.
That I bear the burdens of those in my life.
That I would love my brother as myself.
And that I would love you with my whole heart.
This, I believe is the sincerity of heart. Would you convict us and challenge in this today.
For the moms and dads, I pray for patience in this space as they wrestle with the souls of their children, like you wrestle with us.
For the children contemplating what honor means, may you give clarity.
For the fathers seeking your peace, may you provide it.
May we listen to these words with refreshed ears to hear you speak to us again.
Amen.
Episode 43