The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

—Colossians 3:23–24

Many of us may work hard jobs with difficult supervisors and unreasonable expectations. The people Paul was writing to wouldn’t have been strangers to a poor work environment. Many of his readers may have been slaves to cruel masters.

The message is the same for us as it was for them—that we do our duty faithfully and with integrity, not with that harsh supervisor in mind, but as if we are doing our work for the Lord . . . because we are.

We’re ultimately serving him, and though bosses, supervisors, and slave masters may not deserve our best, the Lord does. He gave his best for us when we did not deserve it, and we certainly are not greater than he is.

This doesn’t mean we must stay in the difficult situation if there is a way out. First Corinthians 7:21 says of slavery, “If you are also able to become free, take advantage of that.” We can work to find a better job in an environment with healthy, godly leadership.

However, should our circumstances not change despite our best efforts, our integrity and work ethic should remain above reproach, because our service is always to the Lord.

Others don’t determine the level of right actions expected from us; our actions must be right before the Lord.

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