Life in the Holy Spirit An Empowerment Bible Study using the readings from Catholic Daily Mass for the Season of Easter (any year) © 2003 by Terry A. Modica

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
The difference between slavery and friendship

What's the difference between a slave and a friend? Which one are you?

Servanthood is an essential aspect of true Christian living. Jesus emphasized it during the Last Supper, saying that He came not to be served, but to serve, and that likewise we should serve one another. In His parables, He often referred to believers as "servants" of the Kingdom. But in John 15:9-17, Jesus says that He wants us to be His friends, not His slaves. Is this a contradiction?

Not at all! A servant of God's Kingdom can be either a slave or a friend. Friends serve each other because they care -- it's based on love. Slaves serve out of obedience, based on duty and obligation and the fear of punishment if they fail.

To determine if you're living as Christ's slave or His friend, ask yourself: "Do I eagerly and happily jump into doing the will of God or do I complain about it?" Maybe the complaint comes in the form of excuses not to do it or rationalizations that God isn't really asking us to.

When God requires a task that's unpleasant or the Church teaches a law that's inconvenient, a slave will obey only because He's been told to. There's no joy in the service because it's not a gift of love. To trade this for a real friendship with Jesus, we have to provide the service as a "favor" for our Beloved. Only then will we discover the benefits of the task or the law we don't like. Trying to analyze it first won't help, because we can always find logical reasons to disobey. Understanding comes from doing it in love.

When we obey God because we love Him and desire to please Him, and because we appreciate all that He's doing for us, we're in a healthy give-and-take friendship. Then, when He asks us to "love one another" (as Jesus commands in verse 17), we desire to love everyone, even those who are difficult to love! We love them because we love God adoringly, and thus we desire to love whomever He loves. What's important to Him becomes important to us. WHO's important to Him becomes important to us.

When loving others seems impossible, God makes it possible so that we CAN obey Him. Jesus nourishes us with compassionate love and the Holy Spirit gifts us with supernatural love to give to those we don't feel like loving. Take time to meditate on this wonderful friendship. Recommit yourself to being one of His best friends by loving others as He loves them.

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See also Holy Living: A Bible Study covering the Sermon on the Mount.