Colossians 3:14-25
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Rules for Christian Households
18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. 22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters,[f] not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.
The staff at FBC Weslaco does self-evaluations each year as a part of our performance evaluations. We score ourselves with a 5 being the highest and a 1 being the lowest. There is no expectation that anyone will be all 5’s. In fact, if you increased from a 3 to a 5 in one area, there is a good chance that you decreased somewhere else. I suppose it would be possible to score all 5’s at work, but there is a pretty good chance that you would be scoring 1’s at home with your spouse and kids. Or maybe you’re all 5’s on your work output at the expense of your spiritual and physical growth. Ironically, we have no section of our evaluation covering our spiritual lives. We plan on updating that for next year!
I would imagine most places of business don’t see the importance of Sabbath and self-care, and spiritual disciplines in a job evaluation. Yet, Paul exhorts God’s people to work in everything as for the Lord two times (v. 17 and 24) within just a few sentences of one another. For Paul, there are not secular jobs and spiritual jobs because Paul sees everything we do as part of our spiritual lives. When we can see our physical life as our spiritual act of worship, and spiritual worship as a physical act of life, then we can truly work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. With that frame of reference, it should be easier to walk away from the office at 5 pm, prioritize family, and set time aside for Bible study, prayer and devotional readings.
Take time to do a prayerful Self-Evaluation of your life. Rate each from 1 to 5 and ask God to help you live in a way that sees our entire life as our spiritual act of worship, and spiritual worship as a physical act of life:
I put on love each day.
The peace of Christ rules in my heart.
I am thankful.
The word of Christ dwells in me deeply.
I do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.
I aim to please the Lord in my relationships (Husband/wife, parent/child, boss/ employer).
I am not a people pleaser, but instead seek to please the Lord.
I do everything heartily as for the Lord and not for men.
Dear God,
Very few of us will obtain 5’s on this Christian Self-Evaluation. Help us to please you in everything we do. Thank you for the grace you give us when we fall short.
Amen!
Pastor Ray is the Pastor of Worship and Administration at FBC Weslaco. Most of his life he has aimed for 5’s in everything but mainly as a way to please the people around him. Now, he is much more comfortable with 3’s and even 2’s and 1’s if it means maintaining a healthy balance that prioritizes his family and his spiritual life. Recently, he realized he needed to drop the 2’s and 1’s from his schedule.