Are You A Doulos?

The NT Greek word for SERVANT, sometimes also translated SLAVE, is doulos (doo-los). In Titus 1:1 the Apostle Paul uses two primary words to identify himself. One of them is doulos, "Paul, a servant of God..." In Paul's day the doulos was the bottom rung on the social ladder. The doulos was totally given to fulfill the will of another. He was often a household slave.

There is nothing lowly about being a doulos of GOD. It means, as it did for Paul, to be totally given up to the will, the wishes, the commands of God. No longer Paul's will...but God's will. However, we need to remember that Paul's slavery to God was WILLING. This willingness to submit to the will of another when all of life was about PAUL was the result of the gospel in his life. Here are some of the things Paul wrote in his letters about what it meant to be a doulos of God (and what it will mean for US):

• Galatians 1:10: being God's servant or Christ's servant means we live to PLEASE GOD not man. As we serve our heart's eye is on God...will HE be pleased with what I am about to do, say, think...?
• Philippians 2:7: being God's servant means to IMITATE JESUS. Jesus was the supreme doulos...the one who descended from the worship of angels to be made in the form of servant. No one could humble himself further than Jesus. I must remember that the next time I think that some service is BELOW me.
• Romans 9:19: being God's servant means that I WILLINGLY make myself a servant of OTHERS. The true test of being God's doulos is how I serve those around me, not how passionately I worship or pray or how much I devour the Word alone. And the ultimate service of others is becoming like them in every way I can to WIN them to Christ.
• Colossians 4:12: Paul uses Epaphras to give the Colossian church a picture of a real servant: he WORKS HARD and STRUGGLES for the growth of others in Christ. The doulos of God will often be found working hard in prayer and supplication and intercession for the discouraged brother and the wandering sister and the bitter fellow saint and for the new believer who is a natural target for Satan.
• 2Timothy 2:24f: God's servant is: gentle, not quarrelsome, kind to everyone, and patient.

To Paul, being God's servant meant all of these things and more. Being His servant will mean the same things for us. How's your "doulos-ity"? How do you measure up?

Why are we servants of God?

• Christ died and rose that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him: 2Corinthians 5:15
• We have been bought with a price, the blood of Christ. We are NOT our own: 1Corinthians 6:20

Are YOU a servant of God?