Training in Righteousness Character traits addressed in the book of Proverbs: The Importance of Wisdom The Fear of the Lord The Purpose and Danger of Anger Sex and Beauty The Value and Danger of Money and Wealth The Importance of Work The Danger of Pride The Importance of Self-Control Mending Broken Relationships Your Plans; God’s Plans The Power of Our Words Dealing With Prosperity and Adversity The Marks of a True Friend

The Importance of Work Proverbs The Book of Proverbs The Importance of Work Proverbs

The Purpose of Work The book of Proverbs (and the rest of the Bible) makes it clear that God expects us to work in order to provide for our basic needs and desires and to meet the needs of those around us: All hard work brings a profit… (14:23a NIV) He who works his land will have abundant food… (12:11a NIV) He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. (10:5) Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. (Eph. 4:28)

The Purpose of Work All work requires a certain degree of skill. Proverbs tells us that those who become very skillful in their work will reap great benefits: Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. (22:29)

The Purpose of Work Because we live in a fallen world, everything around us has a tendency to wear out, break, fall apart, become messy and overgrown, etc. It is only through work that we can counteract this natural tendency of things in our fallen world to go “downhill”: I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. (24:30-34 NIV)

The Biggest Obstacle to Work While the fall of man brought many external obstacles to our ability to do work, the biggest obstacle to work is the internal obstacle that comes out of our own sinful hearts - the sin of laziness: Laziness brings on a deep sleep, and the idle person will go hungry. (19:15 NET) The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. All day long he craves and craves... (21:25-26a) The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway. (15:19 NIV)

The Biggest Obstacle to Work God in his kind providence has arranged our world in such a way that a man must work in order to meet his needs. Because God has set things up in this way, all men have a natural incentive to work and not become lazy: The laborer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on. (16:26 NIV) Well meaning Christians sometimes interfere with this natural incentive by giving financial help to a person who is lazy and unwilling to work because they see that person is poor (and perhaps hungry). By giving to such a person, though you have good intentions, you may actually be hurting the person that you intended to help!

The Importance of Work How does this apply to our kids? Teach your children the value and virtue of hard work. Teach your children skills and encourage them to develop skills on their own. Give your children responsibilities at an early age. Teach them how to tidy up after themselves and leave things better than they found them. Incentivize your children to work for the things they want. Don’t just give them everything. Train [your children] to a habit of always redeeming the time… I believe that idleness has lead to more sin than almost any other habit that could be named… It is the still waters that become stagnant and impure: the running moving streams are always clear… The active moving mind is a hard mark for the devil to shoot at. (J. C. Ryle)

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