Slave Mentality

The parable of the prodigal son is found in Luke 15:11-32. It is one of the most common within religious circles. Many people know it by heart, but a few understand the true message behind its teaching. It talks about two brothers, but if we go beyond, we can find two attitudes and two mentalities.

The word mentality is defined as a set of beliefs and customs that make up an individual's way of thinking, judging, understanding, and acting. In this parable, we see that the initial mentality of the older son is that of a slave. He never understood that he was also an heir in the father’s house. This lack of understanding made him, despite being a son and an heir, feel and act like a servant or a slave.

Many times, there are attitudes, negative thoughts, and mental obstacles that limit our flourishing or blooming again in our spiritual walk with God. This happens when we assume and act as the oldest son, we act and feel like servants or slaves, instead of acting as children of God, who have an inheritance. When you think and act this way, you walk in a spirit of competition, you believe that you must do many things to earn recognition or you must do things to earn points with God. The thing is, that by His grace we do not have to do things to earn points with God because Jesus Christ already won all the points He could for us. The greatest prize of salvation and forgiveness of our sins was bought by Jesus when He died on the cross of Calvary, and the Father raised Him from the dead.

Therefore, when you walk the Christian life with the mentality of a servant, and a slave, you do not know your true identity in God. You are not honoring, obeying, or showing gratitude to God. You are demonstrating an identity that is unclear, and you are confused because you are not considering yourself to be a child of God. You ignore the truth that the Bible says- that we are His children by divine will. (John 1:12)

God’s grace is a gift that we did not deserve. This grace is the one who opens the door to being close to the Father and having an intimate relationship with Him. That is why, it was this grace that opened the door of forgiveness and restoration for the other son, the prodigal son. He had to face his past, let go of his pride, and decide to return home to his father.

For this reason, if we want to bloom again, we must change our slave mentality into the mentality of a child of the Kingdom of God: one who has an inheritance. We need to understand that we must learn to obey God and His instructions, which often translates to forgive, forget, and let go of the past in order for you to flourish and bloom into the new life of the spirit God has for you.

Reflection:

In your moment of intimacy with God, take a pencil and a piece of paper, begin to answer each of the following questions, and allow God, by his Holy Spirit, to whisper into your heart His answers for you.

• Which thoughts of past mistakes have limited you?
• What does God say in his Word about forgiveness and the past?
• Which attitude do you understand you should leave behind?
• Do you consider yourself a slave of the flesh or a child of God?