Titus (6)—Bondservants (Employees) - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2024

Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.
Titus 2:9–10 NKJV

Titus (6)—Bondservants (Employees)
What! Is it possible that the Bible addresses slaves, and gives them the directions we have above? Yes, though God did not institute slavery. Sinful man did this, but God recognizes what is, what man has done to his fellow man. He never tells Christians that they must attempt to reform or improve the wicked world system. In a day to come, the Lord Jesus will rule the world righteously.

Where men have often treated their slaves harshly, even cruelly, God showed His love to them. By His grace, He would save them in the very same way He saved their masters: by the work of His Son, who became man, took the form of a bondservant, humbled Himself, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross (Phil. 2:5–8). Bondservants, or slaves, were now blessed to have the high honor to “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things”!

How were they to do this? They were to obey their masters. We see elsewhere that it did not matter whether the master was kind or cruel, a believer or not; they were to seek to please him, and not talk back to him. They were not to steal nor to help themselves even to little things. They were to be faithful, loyal, and entirely reliable, a good testimony in every way.

While slavery is no longer legal, employees today can learn from this and other passages how God wants them to conduct themselves on the job in relation to their employers. Titus was a servant of the Lord. Paul, James, Peter, and Jude all termed themselves bondservants of Jesus Christ. Are we willing to be the same?

-- Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.

Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim,

And publish abroad His wonderful name.

-- Charles Wesley