Work Ethic for Christians

Chuckle: I've started a new exercise program. As I wake each morning, I always say sternly to myself, "Ready? Now up and down, up, down." After two strenuous minutes I tell myself, "OK, now let's try the other eyelid!"

Quote: "Not teaching your son the value of hard work is like teaching him to steal." --Unknown source

THE VALUE OF HARD WORK

"Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people" (Colossians 3:23 NLT).

It seems to me that in the past much more of people's self-esteem came from the quality of their work -- their pride and joy. Whatever they did, they wanted to give it their best effort so that their work would reflect positively not only on their abilities and skills but, more importantly, on their character. Pride in our work should be a major source of satisfaction in our lives. It is dangerous to generalize, but it seems to me that many of us have lost much of what was once a respected work ethic.

In my own life, I have observed many who did not care how well they did their work as long as they received a paycheck. They did just enough to get by, but were not overly concerned about what people might think of them and the quality of their work as long as they did enough not to get fired. This should never be the attitude of a Christian. We are to be Christ's representatives wherever we are and whatever we are doing. That includes our workplace. We should be the most dependable, productive, and pleasant workers around as we honor our Lord with our labor.

It has been God's plan from creation that we should work in order to provide for ourselves and our families. God's word has much to say about the value of work and the destructive nature of laziness. "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (infidel)" (1 Timothy 5:8 NIV). "If a man will not work, he shall not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10b NIV).

If we could see our work as an act of worship and service to our Lord, our whole attitude about work would change. It would take the drudgery out of our toil, give us greater self-satisfaction, increase our productivity, and give us greater joy.

Here Paul is admonishing slaves to work hard in order to please their masters -- to work as if they are working for their Lord. Paul is not advocating slavery but is making the point that our work should always be given the best of our abilities. Although Paul was talking about working for earthly masters, the same principles apply when working for The Master, our Lord Himself. We should pray for God to bless the work of our hands and mind and work wholeheartedly to bring glory to our Lord as we reveal Him to others by our character as shown by our work ethic

Love, Jerry & Dotse