![\"Why](\"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4805350199_313b90cc89_k.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A reader asks:<\/p>\n
The Lord\u2019s Prayer begins with the words \u201cOur Father.\u201d God is our Father, and we are His children. The Scriptures speak of this clearly, both in the Old Testament and in the New.<\/p>\n
Why, then, do Christians call themselves servants of God? A son cannot be a slave to his own father.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Artemy<\/p>\n
Answered by Protodeacon Sergiy Epifantsev, teacher at an Orthodox gymnasium:<\/em><\/p>\n Hello, Artemy.<\/p>\n I am very fond of this question and hear it often. The answer seems simple to me, though it touches on something quite deep. It is worth noting, incidentally, that this question is often taken up by modern neo-pagans, usually accompanied by emphatic remarks such as, \u201cMy god never called me a slave.\u201d<\/p>\n Let us begin by recalling how Christ Himself speaks of us.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are My friends,\u201d He says, \u201cif you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you\u2026 This I command you, that you love one another\u201d (John 15:14\u201317).<\/p>\n At first glance, the question seems unavoidable: if the Saviour Himself says that He no longer calls us servants, why do Christians persist in using this term at all? Why adopt a title that many today instinctively hear as degrading?<\/p>\n When the early Christians used the word servant, they did not have in mind the image we often associate with the word today. They were thinking in terms of the Roman world. Rather than entering into historical detail, let me try to convey the inner meaning\u2014the way this word was felt.<\/p>\n To say \u201cI am a servant of God\u201d was to say something like this: This is not a low position. On the contrary, it is an extraordinarily high one\u2014far higher than that of a decorated official sent to represent an emperor, or even a trusted secretary close to power. It is not humiliation, but exaltation.<\/p>\n There is, however, another dimension to this question.<\/p>\n Think of the parable of the Prodigal Son. When he comes to his senses, starving and broken, what does he resolve to say? Here, I believe, the answer becomes complete.<\/p>\n A son cannot be a servant to his father\u2014but a son can become a betrayer, someone who knows he has made himself unworthy of sonship.<\/p>\n If I am honest, I am not a servant of God. I am a servant of my sinful passions\u2014the very passions symbolised in the parable by the swine the Prodigal was sent to feed. And so I come to confession with a painfully modest hope: to cease being enslaved to the ugliness in which I have become entangled, and at least to begin serving the God Who loves me\u2014the God Whom I have betrayed.<\/p>\n And there, at confession, I am met by a Father Who runs out to meet me. A Father Who restores my sonship with tears of joy. And in the face of such mercy, I feel my own unworthiness even more sharply; shame overtakes me. He leads me to the feast. He seats me among the apostles. He feeds me with heavenly food\u2014the Eucharist. And still I struggle to believe that forgiveness can truly be this complete.<\/p>\n So I repeat the prayer of the publican: And then I turn to my former masters\u2014the passions that once ruled me\u2014and I say: It is here that the words \u201cservant of God\u201d sound on the lips of a Christian like a sharpened blade. I serve God, and I refuse to serve my passions.<\/p>\n This is how it should be. In reality, we are often weak-hearted, and after confession we return once again to the same old bondage. Yet the heart of the matter is this: again and again we return to the Father, asking for forgiveness. And again and again, He calls us His sons and daughters.<\/p>\n And we, in turn, remind ourselves that we are servants of God\u2014if you will, soldiers of the Heavenly King. We desire to fulfil His good will, not the will of the enemy who seeks our destruction.<\/p>\n In this spirit, I sincerely wish both myself and you grace and steadfastness, servant of God Artemy.<\/p>\n May the Lord keep you and guide you.<\/p>\n Translated by the Catalogue of Good Deeds<\/em> A reader asks: The Lord\u2019s Prayer begins with the words \u201cOur Father.\u201d God is our Father, and we are His children. The Scriptures speak…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1100,"featured_media":41880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-qa-with-an-orthodox-priest"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4805350199_313b90cc89_k.jpg","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paPyw9-aTt","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41879"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41883,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41879\/revisions\/41883"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalog.obitel-minsk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cI belong directly to the Creator of the universe. I answer to Him alone. I am free from all other powers and claims. In my dealings with people, I am guided by the laws He has given me; I obey human laws only insofar as they do not contradict His will.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI will arise and go to my father and say to him, \u2018Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants\u2019\u201d (Luke 15:18\u201319).<\/p>\n
\n\u201cGod, be merciful to me, a sinner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI am a servant of the living God. I serve Him. I am no longer your servant, and I will not serve you again. I renounce you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nSource: https:\/\/spzh.eu\/ru\/istorija-i-kulytrua\/84330-izbrannyj-sosud-bozhijej-materi-zhitije-afonskogo-starca-ijeronima<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"