All of my boys have been greatly blessed this summer with jobs to do for neighbors. Shiloh is 13 and even he has found work to earn n’ learn, stay busy and be productive. It can be challenging to find enough work for boys this age to do. We haven’t been this blessed every summer. Unlike God, a parent’s energy and resources have limits. Yet he still desires us to put all that we have into our work. (Col. 3:23)
This morning I went and inspected the weeding of the flower beds of some vacationing friends that Shiloh has been working for. He’s been extremely thorough, hasn’t cut corners, and has done all they asked. In fact, he’s done more than they asked. “Mom, I went ahead and got rid of their overripe vegetables too.”
Like God does, we often can and should add an abundance of care to the work we do for others. We can actually give more than what they ask for or deserve.
People with full and abundant hearts can give the way Jesus commands:
“give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38
People with empty hearts give only what’s required, and grudgingly. They even cheat one another by doing less than what’s agreed upon. Then, cheated people cheat others and mistrust grows.
We should train ourselves to put abundance into what we do, not being satisfied with the bare minimum of work. I’m applying this to myself too, in my own duties and sphere God has assigned me. When it’s time to work we should put our whole heart into it. Generously and abundantly.
I want to intentionally teach my kids that work is not simply a necessary evil required to gain money for a toy. It can be actually pleasurable to work, disregarding the hardship. I want to teach my boys especially to have a biblical perspective of work and they will learn it first from me, the one who they observe and speak with the most. I want them to have a habit of persevering effort because it is a useful and scriptural quality to have ingrained for the journey of life and what God has ordained for them later on. It will help them grow in many other areas too, if they learn early on to overcome the selfish nature in this area of their life.
“Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings, he will not stand before obscure men.” Prov. 22:29
Useful resources on this topic:
Teach Them to Work, Mary Beeke
Created for Work, Bob Schultz
Boyhood and Beyond, Bob Schultz
Raising Real Men, Hal and Melanie Young
Fitly Spoken 