Slave vs Sub

i recently had a conversation with a woman about the difference between being a sub and being a slave...this is often a hotly debated topic in th D/s world--just recently a sub/slave/bottom forum i am on had a hotly debated posting about just this topic...

the woman i was discussing this with and i have the same Master...He calls us His slaves...how she and i view that title is where we disagree. i feel that Master is being kind and complimenting me when He calls me His slave...to me it is like He is saying "I believe you have the capacity to fulfill my needs and desires" and i LOVE that He is willing to call me His slave...but i do not feel i have EARNED that title in terms of referring to myself. Yes, i will call myself Master's slave, but i always refer to myself as a sub...i am not GOOD enough, sub enough to categorize myself as a slave. i guess the best way i can explain it is like this...let's say all animals in the cat family are born the same but all also COULD become a LIONESS versus just a housecat if the individual cat works hard enough to, now in the family of cats, let's say the LION of the pride is pleased by a housecat and decides to take the housecat as a member of His pride...He may refer to His housecat as His lioness--a sign of the level of responsibility, love, commitment, a sign of how precious the housecat IS to the LION...does that immediately turn the housecat INTO a LIONESS?? no...but the housecat is DEFINITELY in a better position to BECOME a LIONESS with time, training, and the LION's patience.

she seems to think that someone is EITHER a sub OR a slave and that i am disrespecting my Master by referring to myself as a sub rather than a slave....if my Master was to ORDER me to refer to myself as a slave, i would immediately begin doing that...i do not think He will though because i think He understands that submission is a process, a journey that i hope to improve along the way on...someday i will refer to myself as a slave versus my Master's slave...some day i will be submissive enough for that...until then, i am thrilled to have a Master who wants me to become that person and sees a potential in me that i sometimes struggle to see.

So that is my two cents worth!

slave s.