Theophylact of Ohrid, on 1Tim 6:1

“Whosoever are servants under the yoke, let them count their masters worthy of all honour; lest the name of the Lord and his doctrine be blasphemed.”

“Teach them, he says, and exhort them, so that even though their masters are unbelievers, they should obey them, showing them every honor in both words and deeds. For do not think that you are free because you are a believer: you are free in spiritual nature, you freely approach the Lord, but you are a slave in body. Freedom itself, I say, consists in serving in the name of Christ. And an unbeliever, if he sees a prideful slave, will revile the teaching as inciting rebellion. But if he sees that a slave obeys with love, he will rather marvel at the teaching, which corrects even slavish habits that are difficult to reform.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.