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A POST-SUMMER ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: WISDOM FROM PAUL

September 1, 2014 By Sarah Christmyer 2 Comments

Labor Day is always bittersweet, a last hurrah before school and work begin in earnest.  As you stow away the beach towels and say goodbye to summer — do you find yourself, like me, dreading the “daily grind”?

I find Colossians 3, Paul’s chapter on our new life in Christ, to be a great attitude adjuster.  It lifts my mind from drudgery, reminds me that I can choose my attitude and be at peace.  And when work is hard, it never fails to get me moving forward in joy.  For this Labor Day and the year ahead, I offer you some wisdom from St. Paul:

“Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:23).

Don’t miss that “whatever.”  It covers everything you say and do.  You can’t always control your situation–your job or lack thereof, your boss, your health, the difficulty of the task ahead–but you can control the way you do it.

So whatever you do, Paul says, “work heartily.”  Another translation says “work at it with all your heart.”  I love that.  It’s hard to work with all our heart at something we hate or fear or find boring, but what Paul says next makes that possible:  “as serving the Lord and not men.”  In other words, do it as though Jesus himself–and not your boss or someone else–asked you to do it.

Maybe I can’t stand the thought of facing another demanding customer today, or I can’t bring myself to mop another floor, or I dread writing another report that my boss won’t use anyway — but I can do any of those things for Jesus.  We are in good hands with him, and he will make even drudgery or painful toil work in our lives for good.  There is value in doing work humbly and well, whether we like it or not, whether it is recognized on earth or not.  We serve the Lord, and will be rewarded by him for our faithful service.

 

Filed Under: Holidays and Holy Days, Scripture Reflection Tagged With: Labor Day, Work

Comments

  1. Arlita Winston says

    September 2, 2014 at 8:15 am

    These words are like a fresh spring, bubbling up. Thank you. Sarah.

  2. Wendy Prest says

    September 1, 2019 at 11:36 am

    Thank you, Sarah. For many years I worked at jobs I did not enjoy. Now that I’m retired I get to be an artist, which makes it easy to work heartily! I’m appreciating life as I never could before, but it is good to remember the goal and all those years which were actually good for something after all.

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Sarah Christmyer writes and speaks about Scripture and the Catholic faith with the goal of helping people meet Jesus in his Word. “The Bible isn’t just a book about God or instructions for a good life; it’s a place to meet God and be changed by him,” she says. Her love of Scripture fuels her writing of Bible studies and related books; her teaching of Philadelphia seminarians; her speaking at conferences and retreats; and writing for blogs such as this one. “Come Into the Word” draws people into the Bible and encourages and equips them to explore it on their own.

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