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

“Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eye–service, as people–pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With goodwill render service, as to the Lord, and not to people, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive this back from the Lord, whether slave or free.”

—Ephesians 6:5–8

We may not be slaves of earthly masters, but we can think of this as the responsibilities we have in our lives, whether to our employers, friends, or families. How do we serve the people in our lives?

If we’re doing it begrudgingly or so that others will think well of us, we’re missing the point.

Our duties toward others should be performed as if that person were Christ himself.

The Bible makes it clear here and in Matthew 25:31–46 that whatever service we do for others is done as to the Lord.

It also makes it clear that our reward will come from the Lord, not the people we’re serving. Those people are fallen, and we may never get the desired response of gratitude or the same amount of effort and service in return. They may even fall into the category of “evil masters,” as spoken of in 1 Peter 2:18.

The Bible doesn’t change its requirements even for those evil masters. We must serve them with diligence and integrity, taking Daniel, Esther, and Joseph as our examples.

If we perform our service and work “as to the Lord,” the reward from him will be greater than any we would’ve received from that earthly master.

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