“Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” – Philippians 1:1-2 NKJV

Four words in the passage above disclose a profound image of the character of God and His will for His people, in that they help us to catch a glimpse of what He sees in us, while revealing how we are expected to live. The words that I am referring to are as follows:

• Bondservants
• Saints
• Grace
• Peace

Now that we know what these words are, let’s take a closer look at them so that we may discover how they all fit together to portray what God wants to reveal to us. We will begin with bondservants.

Bondservants

The Greek word for ‘bondservants’ is ‘doulos’. On the surface it denotes the idea of slavery; however, it essentially means much more than this. A bondservant wasn’t a slave in the sense that most people understand the term today. This wasn’t the kind of slavery that constituted oppression of liberty; rather, it was servitude which represented a choice to be subjected to a life of security. In other words, a person who chose to serve another in this way did so because they knew that by carrying out tasks assigned to them by their masters their basic needs would be met. Hence they believed that their labor would ultimately bring about pleasure rather than pain. In this sense a servant would entrust their entire life to their master.

With that said, we are expected to subject ourselves to the authority of Jesus Christ, yielding our lives to God in such a way as to acknowledge that He knows what’s best for us, and will put us on a path that ultimately leads to pleasure. It’s important to note here that the emphasis is not merely placed on service, but character development. That is, Jesus doesn’t expect us to toil and labor for His benefit; instead, He wants us to learn to foster the right kind of thoughts, works, and attitudes for our benefit in that in so serving Him in this way we will be spiritually enriched, and thus blessed. Keep in mind that God’s blessing will not be secured except through obedience to the teachings of Jesus Christ; we must seek to fulfill the kind of life that He has called us to live.

But what kind of life does Jesus expect us to live in order to receive God’s blessing?

He described it when He had said,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:3-12 NKJV)

Jesus wants to bless us, but unless we subject ourselves to His authority without holding anything back, the ‘Blessed’ life will not become a reality for us. There is no such thing as true satisfaction of life outside of God’s will. Those who try to secure happiness outside of God’s will are trying to reach for the stars with a ruler. In other words, they are reaching for quality of life that they can never obtain without God. And so they will go on feeling unfulfilled because they’re merely giving God bits and pieces of themselves in service when they ought to be giving Him everything that they’ve got.

How much of your life have you given to God? Do you really exercise complete faith in Him? If not, why?

• Go to the next part of this lesson: Part 2