Toward a More Humane Future – Article 4

Toward a More Humane Future is a devotional study on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for use by individuals or groups.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Scripture

For freedom Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a   yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1

Reflection

  • In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he laments their backsliding and return to their previous habits of idolatry as if they were enslaved by it.  Consider ways that your habits and prejudices may hold you captive.  How might you find you find freedom through Christ?
  • If inner servitude to idols of our society, addictions and desires that keep us from loving God and all of God’s creation challenge us, consider injustices in the world that equate to modern day slavery: child prostitution, pornography, and human trafficking, child soldiery and exploitation of children as farm and factory workers, abusive employment or false promise of employment to immigrants. What do you know about these issues? What do you need to know?
  • Visit Free the Slaves to learn about modern day slavery.
  • How can we combat human tendency to sin and societal tendency to exploit through our Christian mission to love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with God?

Action

Prayer

God our creator, you make us for freedom yet we oppress one another.  We are grateful for our lives and our bodies, but we are willing to exploit the lives and bodies of others.  Help us stop our return to sinful ways and make the world a safer place for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and violence.  We ask especially for safety and security for our children, for all your children across the globe, that they might live full lives free from sexual abuse, forced soldiery, forced servitude at farms and factories and from slavery of all kinds.  Christ, Jesus, hear our prayers.  Amen

Share your reflections and actions with the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.

Thanks to Ellen Clark Clemot

 




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