What comes to mind when you hear the word slavery? Do you think of someone owning someone else? Have you thought of it in a different way? Have you considered you may be a slave? Have you considered there may be something that is controlling you?
People have been enslaved for thousands of years, perhaps nearly from the beginning of time. We typically associate slavery to one person owning another, people being sold on a slave market. That is certainly one type of slavery. Yet, there are other types for us to think about.
The Apostle Paul talks about slavery of the spirit in today’s passage. It is not a physical slavery but our spirit being controlled by negative, or evil, forces. The negative thoughts of fear, anxiety, and even depression take over and control us. They are caused by outside forces. Some of those are further exacerbated by social media, peer pressure, or family disfunction. We must understand that all of these are due to evil in this world.
What can we do about these negative forces? Often, we look for a quick fix. We look to medical solutions. Those medical solutions can often treat the symptoms, but not the root cause. To truly rid ourselves of the negative forces we need to pray and turn our spirit over to God’s Holy Spirit. We need to remind ourselves of what Paul tells us—we have received a spirit of adoption into God’s holy family.
As we continually remind ourselves, we can rely on medicine to treat the symptoms. Yet, our goal should be to rid ourselves of medicinal treatment over time, relying more on God. Please understand, this may take months or years to accomplish. It is through prayer and continual reminding of ourselves, or a loved one, that God has both adopted us and he is in control. As we increase our belief and faith in God, convincing ourselves we are his, we are set free from the forces of evil.
I pray we all know we have been given a spirit of adoption. I pray we know that God has given us his Spirit. I pray each one of us we have been set free by the gift of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Know you belong to God. Know he is in control. Know that you have been set free.
Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.
Marty Pressey 