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While I continued to work hard, my motivation, my Audience changed. Paul wrote “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23).
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Talk about disappointment and de-motivation!Īs the years passed, I began to learn a better approach. From a human perspective I found that sometimes this was successful, and sometimes my hard work was simply greeted by indifference and expectations for more. I worked to please and/or to gain their favor and approval. During my career, particularly in the early years, my motivation to work hard was to impress others, be they clients, coworkers or supervisors. This runs counter to what we often experience in the workplace. Our work for the Lord is in response to His love, not an attempt to earn His love. Faith precedes work, not the other way around.This is part of normal Christian growth or maturity.Īs I pondered this passage, I realized Paul had an intended order in mind. Further, as our Christian faith, hope, and love increase we may expect commensurate increases in our work, labor and endurance. Work, labor, and endurance are the output, the normal result of faith, hope and love. In this instance, then, believers’ faith, hope, and love result in work, labor, and endurance. Paul complimented the Thessalonian believers for:Īs an engineer (it’s both a blessing and a curse fellow engineers and their spouses will understand!) I frequently think of things in terms of cause and effect. “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.” “Faith, hope, and love” is not a catchy one-off in scripture it’s a foundational tenet.ĭuring my study recently, 1 Thessalonians 1:3 leapt off the page at me, arresting my attention. But the greatest of these is love.” (NIV) Other references to these virtues can be found elsewhere in Paul’s epistles, Peter’s writing, and in Hebrews.
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Many people the world over are familiar with 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. The holy triad of faith, hope, and love is found multiple times in the New Testament.