Slave to Righteousness

Romans 6 is such an amazing chapter. I have always been aware of the phrase "slaves to sin" that is repeated several times in the chapter. The Bible admonishes us to no longer be slaves to sin and to stop offering our body to the tools of wickedness. Reading this chapter again, I saw the phrase, "slaves to righteousness". When you are a slave to something, you have no choice but to do what enslaves you. Of course, when we are mastered by sin, we become enslaved and in bondage to the demands of the enemy. On the flip side of the coin, when we are slaves to righteousness we are enslaved to what is holy, pure, and ethical. I have never thought of myself as a slave to righteousness, but that is what Paul asks us to be. I truly want to be at the point in my relationship with Christ, that when i am tempted by sin, I will not give in, because I can't, because i am enslaved to righteousness and not sin. I am dead to the old self (sin) and now alive to the new man (Christ). The word slave brings about a negative connotation in our society, but I want to be a slave to God. Being a child of God brings with it acceptance, grace, love, discipline, and protection, but being a slave to God, brings about commitment, perserverance, dedication, sacrifice, and a martyr atittude. Thank-you god that you chose me to be your child; now I choose to be your slave.