Holy Work

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Col. 3:23-24)

As a mother of four young children, there is a lot of busyness with caring for the children and household tasks. Some days I feel so bogged down with all of it. I start one task and then get distracted and question how much I got done at the end of a long day. Many times household work and caretaking can also feel mundane, repetitive, or even somewhat meaningless. That being said, deep down I know with all my heart that this is my first calling in life, to care for my family and my home.

Recently I was feeling overwhelmed and discouraged by everything I had to do, and then I probably prayed something like, “Lord, give me strength.” And then all of a sudden I had the sense that the Lord was smiling down on me and was so very proud of me, as I faithfully completed my tasks for the day. I also had this sense that He was sanctifying me through the process. 

I’ve heard before that taking care of the mundane duties of the home is “holy work,” and that phrase really stuck with me. I thought more about it and felt impressed that it is for several reasons why it is referred to as “holy work.” 

For one reason, it requires being obedient and faithful each day to the Lord and what He has called you to do, whether you feel like doing it or not. And whenever we are obedient and faithful, I believe He then honors us by changing our characters more into His likeness. And one day, in heaven, we will be honored for our faithfulness to Him. We can claim the scripture, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward…” (Col. 3:23-24)

Secondly, serving our family and our home often requires laying down our own wants and needs. Whether we are hungry but feed our children before ourselves, or we are tired but do the dishes before going to bed, or we are feeling sad about something but choose instead to uplift and encourage the atmosphere of the home, or we just sit down to relax but someone starts crying and needs our affection or attention, and the list goes on and on. 

In laying aside our own wants and needs, we are fulfilling the scripture, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.” (Phil. 2:3-4) God sanctifies our characters and makes us more holy as we choose to put others above ourselves. 

Lastly, whenever we serve our family, we are ultimately serving Jesus Christ. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is speaking and says, “The King will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matt. 25:40) Many times we think this Bible verse only applies to poor or homeless people, but I think “the least of these” would also apply to young children, discouraged husbands, etc. Additionally, in Colossians 3:24, Paul goes on in the verse to say “It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” 

When we serve our family, we are not only participating in service with Jesus, but ultimately we are serving Jesus Christ Himself, and thus engaging in His holy, life-changing work. 

As a result, the next time that you are feeling overwhelmed or discouraged by doing chores or caretaking, let’s make a choice to be faithful in our actions AND in our thoughts. Let’s not give in to the devil’s lie that our work is meaningless or mundane, but let’s choose to think of our work in a new way, as a high calling, a sanctifying work, and ultimately, a way to please the Lord and to make Him smile 🙂