A Bible Verse About Work:
“We Continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:3
My dad passed away almost 8 years ago. While he was still with us, he was fond of telling me, “Just work harder.” Regardless of the issue I faced, that was his answer.
Work gives us the opportunity to earn a living and to provide for our families. It allows us the opportunity to develop ourselves and to offer glory to God. Almost as important, work provides us the chance to aid each other.
The faster life becomes, the less it seems that society appreciates the effort required of “a hard day’s work.” Now, efficiency is prioritized. Accomplishing the most with the least amount of effort and time is considered a valuable trait.
Likewise, a generation of hardworking, blue-collar careers are now retiring. These fields are currently experiencing a workforce shortage.
People simply don’t gravitate towards laborious careers anymore. Who can blame them when you see influencers earning millions by making simple videos, writing articles, or TikTok-ing.
For most of us, work encompasses a vast majority of our lives, whether we like it or not. My dad passed away before he got a chance to retire. Many of us experience the same fate.
Not only do we spend the majority of our lives in the workforce, for some of us the percentages are greatly skewed.
Understanding the Relevance of Bible Verses in Career Transformation
In all aspects of life we should rely on the Bible for inspiration and guidance. It’s just as relevant for us today as it was for the authors who wrote it. The circumstances might have changed, but the essence remains.
Not only does the greatest book on Earth contain timeless wisdom, it also has practical, actionable insights into some of our most troubling experiences. Work can certainly be troubling, so it’s advisable to seek wisdom at the source.
A simple Google search can provide a plethora of verses that are applicable to whatever problem that we’re faced with. While that’s helpful in the moment, I submit that it lacks the wisdom provided by reading the Bible cover to cover with continual study.
Reading applicable verses is great for memory and recall, but without the whole story we lack context and background. The stories are intertwined, so by reading only a small piece, we deprive ourselves of the whole story; we lose some of the significance, wisdom, and meaning.
What these singular verses are great for is memorization for recall at pivotal moments. Since work has troubling aspects, it would behoove us to memorize some of these verses about work.
Simply recalling a verse regarding a subject at hand can have a dramatic effect on our outlook. In terms of work, not only can a verse make your perspective, outlook, and overall day better, it can also change the course of your career development.
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To that end, I present 1 Thessalonians 1:3
“We Continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This is one of the letters that Paul wrote to the early churches. These “Pauline” letters comprise much of the New Testament. They serve as warning, admonishment, and encouragement to the respective churches.
This was early in the Christian churches. They faced continual persecution. They wavered in their faith. Some of them fell into sin and old practices.
Yet, in this example, Paul sought to point out the good works of the Thessalonian church: work. What does it all mean, and how can work be a positive encouragement?
Unpacking the Meaning and Implications of the Verse
When reading the verse, it’s quite apparent that Paul tactfully wrote it. In fact, creating an outline for this article was done for me by the Author himself.
The key points, or takeaways from this verse are: work produced by faith, labor prompted by love, and endurance inspired by hope. Let’s break those down a little further.
Work produced by faith
Life without faith must be a dark place. Faith is the cornerstone for Christian life. In all aspects; at all times; in all circumstances, we must prevail with faith.
Faith is the belief in something that cannot be demonstrably, scientifically proven. Scientifically, we can prove that Jesus Christ was a human being. We cannot prove that he was the Son of God. Faith allows us to still believe it.
However, faith differs from belief because of its depth. I can believe that the Vikings will win the Super Bowl this year, but that is not faith (my subconscious never really agrees with me).
Faith prevails when belief fails.
To that end, any good deed that we accomplish in this life must be based on faith. What exactly is the faith that we are to hold? That Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he died for our sins, and that we will be reunited with Him in Heaven.
With that kind of faith, any calamity that we face on Earth pales in comparison to the eternal glory we are allowed to experience.
Therefore, faith has to be the cornerstone of our lives; faith has to shape us in a way that it is readily apparent that we are believers in Christ. Faith requires that we become “like Christ,” emulating Him to the best of our extent.
How does this apply to work? With faith in Christ, we can overcome obstacles. We can serve those we lead with compassion and humility. Through faith, we can recall further verses for encouragement.
Let’s now explore the next takeaway from this verse.
Labor prompted by love
Matthew 22:37-39 reminds us of the importance of love. I’ve talked about it on many occasions, and I’m certainly not the only one, but love is the greatest subject in the Bible.
Not only in frequency, but volume. So for those of you that like to compare quality vs. quantity, love wins in both regards.
It’s quite simple to see how this applies to our work lives. Love your coworkers, love your bosses, love your customers. Regardless of the type of job that you have, it’s likely that you have one, if not all three of them.
Love your boss by being a dutiful employee. Work diligently and thoroughly. Furthermore, work for the purpose of God’s glory demonstrated through your action as directed in 1 Corinthians 10:31.
Show love and respect to your coworkers. Be helpful to them; promote positive and encouraging atmospheres for their benefit. Help them grow and develop, and use your proximity as an opportunity to witness your faith in Jesus.
Love your customers by being respectful and compassionate. We can’t understand why some people are rude, spiteful or belittling. We don’t know the circumstances of their day or life. But we do know that they were created by God and equal to us in His eyes.
Therefore, treat them with love. Provide them the best service that you can, regardless of how they treat you. Be courteous and polite, and strive to over-perform. Exceed their expectations in every way possible.
Endurance inspired by hope
Life in the workforce is not a short game. The average American spends 30-40 years working. That amount of time requires endurance and perseverance.
How do we climb the corporate ladder? How are we able to prevail until retirement?
First, don’t seek the goal without enjoying the ride. Life is a journey, and remember that the destination is the end. If we only seek retirement, imagine that, in the blink of an eye, a vast majority of your life has disappeared. Enjoy it for what it is along the way.
More importantly, hope provides this endurance to prevail. Working 40 hours a week for 40 years is difficult: mentally, physically, and emotionally. Sadly, the “regular” 40 hour week is hardly regular anymore.
With growing competition, hyper-focused expectations, and an ever-increasing reliance on speed, many employees are now required to work double that amount of time.
In some fields, this time commitment is justifiably warranted. How can we possibly prevail?
With Hope.
Instead of looking forward to retirement, hope for the real goal: Heaven.
Recap
The Bible is full of wisdom that we can grasp at a moment’s notice when required. Recalling a pertinent verse at the precise moment can shape the course of our lives. This certainly applies to our perspective on the value of work.
While memorizing a verse about work can help us recover from setbacks, deal with work-related crises, or strengthen our relationships, remember the importance of continual Bible study.
To get the full value that this text provides, we need to understand the context of the entire story; we need to see how the individual stories are interrelated and aligned. Then, we can grasp a microscopic amount of the wisdom that is present.
By studying the text, we gain insight into the Word of God; we can see how it is for our benefit. Chances are, you and I can both become better employees. Perhaps we can treat our coworkers with more respect. Maybe we can become more compassionate to our customers.
At the end of the day, it’s for our own benefit, and verses like this will aid our career development. Nay, verses like this will assist our entire lives.
What are your thoughts about this verse or work in general? I’d love to hear them in the comments below!
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