Thankful? I must be out of my mind, right? Actually, I would be out of my mind not to be thankful. Read on to see why.

One of the greatest apostles of Jesus was Paul, who had this to say to slaves and their masters:

"Servants, be obedient to those who according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Christ; not in the way of service only when eyes are on you, as men pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men; knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is bound or free. You masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him." (Ephesians 6:5-9, WE (Please note: "Servants" in this passage means "slaves," as some Bible translations have it.)

Regarding slavery, here's what Jesus said:

"If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. And if you want to be first, you must be the slave of the rest. The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue many people." (Matthew 20:26-28, CEV)

"Whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else." (Mark 10:44, NLT)

Indeed, the slavery Jesus and Paul spoke of is a very different type of slavery we know. The slavery they condoned is serving people with absolute selfless love, regardless what positions we are in: doctors, teachers, employers and employees, parents and children.

Jesus taught that the two most important commandments are 1) love God, and 2) love others as you love yourself: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31, ASV)

Therefore, Jesus never condoned the cruel and ruthless slavery that humans have brought upon one another.

In the Old Testament, God did permit slavery for Israelites, but that slavery was also very different than the horrible treatment of slaves we know today. For example, God ordered male slaves to be set free after six years of service; but if the slaves loved their masters and didn't want freedom, the masters could have them for life. If girls were sold as slaves, the masters should care for them as wives; the masters should treat them as daughters if they married their sons. The penalty for kidnapping and selling people would be death. (Exodus 21)

But why didn't Jesus stop the oppressive form of slavery? To answer this, we must understand why Jesus came to Earth in the first place. He came down here to fulfill very specific missions in a short span of time. Simply put, he was command-oriented. That means he was set to accomplish only what he was commissioned to do by Jehovah God Almighty.

Jesus' coming was to 1) teach people about God's Kingdom, and 2) die in order to save us.

And by accomplishing his mission, he really in turn abolished slavery for good (but this won't be fulfilled until God's Kingdom is established on Earth). Once the Kingdom begins to reign, there will be no more tears, pain, suffering. Everyone will be happy and in peace for eternity. So Jesus accomplished everything and ended all evil simply by being command-oriented. To learn what salvation is, and why specifically Jesus had to die to save us, read my article: tinyurl.com/ylaafno

Right now and to all eternity, we are the slaves to righteousness, of Jehovah God and His Son Jesus, our Messiah. We serve Them with gladness selflessly, for They are the two best Masters anyone could ever have. If you ask me, we would be crazy not to rejoice over this privilege we have!

About the Author:

Shirley Cheng (b. 1983), a blind and physically disabled award-winning author (with 21 book awards, including nine Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Awards), motivational speaker, self-empowerment expert, poet, author of nine books (including "Do You Love Jehovah? God Almighty's Infinite Love & Wisdom to Propel You to Greatness"), contributor to nineteen, and a parental rights advocate, has had severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since infancy. Owing to years of hospitalization, she received no education until age eleven. Back then, she knew only her ABCs and very simple English; other than that, her book knowledge was non-existent. However, after only about 180 days of special education in elementary school, she mastered grade level in all areas and entered a regular sixth grade class in middle school. Unfortunately, Shirley lost her eyesight at the age of seventeen. After a successful eye surgery, she hopes to earn multiple science doctorates from Harvard University. Visit www.shirleycheng.com for more inspiration.

Do you have questions about the Bible? Something you don't understand? Do you need a bit of guidance in developing a relationship with Jehovah? Then Shirley would like to help you! Please contact her via her site at www.shirleycheng.com and she would be more than glad to do her best to answer your questions! Never hesitate to ask questions, for no question about the Bible is ever too small or stupid.

(This article was written in response to a question about slavery posed by Mark Hoewing, who is an experienced nonprofit executive with superb skills in writing, public speaking, public relations, marketing, and organizational management.)