Whenever people are forced to do things, it can lead to them resenting the one that made them do it.  Also when people are forced, they are not owning what they are doing.  If they don’t own it, they are not accountable for what was done.  That is why we have free will.  Jesus came and gave His life in order to redeem us.  From His actions, we have the opportunity to accept or reject what He has done.  Why? Because The Lord will not force himself on us.

When I think about this, the letter Paul wrote to Philemon comes to mind. The letter was asking Philemon to receive back Onesimus without harming him. Onesimus was Philemon’s slave who ran away and stole some items from him as well. If a runaway slave was captured and brought back to his owner, he could be killed.

The real question is why would Onesimus agree to go back to his owner?  While Paul was under house arrest in Rome, Onesimus accepted Jesus Christ.  After this, he began to serve Paul and their relationship grew.  Onesimus shared his story with Paul.  I don’t know how long before Paul encouraged Onesimus to go back to Philemon, but he did. He went back, not by force, but through the love of Christ. He wanted to do the right thing and return to Philemon, even if it cost him his life. Therefore, Paul wrote the letter to Philemon asking him to receive Onesimus, not by force but through the love of Jesus Christ.

Philemon was a Christian and Paul was asking him to accept Onesimus back as a brother in Christ. Paul made him aware that Onesimus was now his child in Christ, he was useful to Paul and will be the same to Philemon.

Are you owning what you do for The Lord, or are you doing it because somebody told you to?  If you are doing it because someone told you to, then you are not accountable for what takes place. Today, I want you to embrace and love what you do for Christ, because He did it out of love for you.