Working With All Our Heart In Everything We do By Larissa Wright
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." - Colossians 3:23-24
I’d love to be able to admit that I am a perfect example of an amazing Christian business woman, wife, mother, friend. That I am always trusting in God. I always put God first in everything. I desire His ways always and am committed to living for him in all I do. This would however be a lie...
I will be the first to admit I am a completely fallen person. Sinful and constantly desirous of my own outcomes and not his. In life, business, marriage and well everything. As we all are...
THANKFULLY God as we know is forgiving. He desires to bless us in life, family and business. He is the Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end. So… Despite my many failings he holds me up in all I do and is committed to my wellbeing.
As I reflect on Colossians Chapter 3. I am reminded of who the Lord is and as a result how this impacts us all… Let’s start with some of God’s qualities.
- Genesis 1 tells us that God created everything. Hence he is the Sovereign creator. By his word creation came about and had its very being. This shows both his power and creativity.
- Genesis 1:27 explains creation of man and woman. He created humans and he created them above to care for the rest of creation. We were made for him. We were made special and to be in relationship with him.
- God is Holy. He is set apart from humanity and is to be revered as such. As he is holy he calls us to be holy also… But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct 1Peter 1:15 - God is gracious and merciful.
The Lord is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in loving kindness. (Psalm 145:8)
- The Lord is loving and compassionate.
We know this because of his ultimate act of sacrifice of sending his son to this earth. Jesus who gave himself on the cross as a living sacrifice. The Holy Spirit remained our earthly counsellor, teacher and comforter.
How does God’s qualities and character impact us?!
Back to Colossians 3…
‘… Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart…’
The focal word here really is Whatever.
The implication is that in everything we do, we should do it for the Lord. It’s not a pick and choose kind of emphasis. You can work at some things and not others. I can’t choose to work really hard at my business and then neglect my family. I can’t build my relationships with my family and then just do a half hearted job at my business.
It’s pretty clear in Whatever I do I am to work at it with ALL my heart. It’s a command.
How well do you do this? Ever fall short ? I do.
Often it's easy to feel:
Complacent - to just let things roll along in life. With no passion. No desire to do our best. To just do stuff with little thought.
Fear - I know I am not the only one to feel fearful a lot. To decide I can’t do this or that because I allow worry to overtake.
Lack of motivation - I often just can’t be bothered in life, marriage and work.
But again the next part of the verse is clear we are working for the Lord, not ourselves or human masters.
Someone once described God as our CEO. I like this. As God is our ultimate Master when it comes to life, business everything - the way we live and the way we look at what we are doing. Our motivation is that we are working for the Lord. So… we will be doing everything with all our heart.
This means: