Goodwill -Jan 2003

My pastor just completed a series of lessons on relationships by going through the book of Ephesians. The obvious relationships were covered of course, marriage, husband, wife, child, and parent. The final week was on work relationships. The text of the message was Ephesians 6:5-9, with a large amount of focus on v.7 as the key to the work relationship.

Ephesians 6:5 (AMP) Servants (slaves), be obedient to those who are your physical masters, having respect for them and eager concern to please them, in singleness of motive and with all your heart, as [service] to Christ [Himself]--
6 Not in the way of eye-service [as if they were watching you] and only to please men, but as servants (slaves) of Christ, doing the will of God heartily and with your whole soul; 7 Rendering service readily with goodwill, as to the Lord and not to men, 8 Knowing that for whatever good anyone does, he will receive his reward from the Lord, whether he is slave or free.

9 You masters, act on the same [principle] toward them and give up threatening and using violent and abusive words, knowing that He Who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no respect of persons (no partiality) with Him.

He ended by defining a few terms in ancient Greek for us, one was benevolence. It turns out that benevolence is “with goodwill freely giving without expectation”, and the rendering or doing service means that you are working like a bond-servant (one that chooses to serve but is not forced to comply). Obviously this is difficult to do, and sometimes work is the hardest place of all to have this attitude, but the really transforming thought would be to carry this into ALL your relationships. What if in every relationship in your life you acted like you were serving God and not just your boss, your co-worker, your spouse, your child, your neighbor, or a complete stranger.

When was the last time your did something for your mate, your child, a friend, or a neighbor without grumbling and with no expectation of some reward. I am not talking about without expectation of a monetary reward, but I mean no reward at all, no kiss, no hug, no “I appreciate that”, or not even a “thank you”. Most of the time we do something with a motivation of some reward, be it large or small, driving us. That is the selfish component of human nature. If we do not receive a reward, or even a thanks, we get frustrated and/or mad. How many times have you said to yourself, or maybe even those around you, “I will never do that again, because they don’t appreciate me and all that I do for them.” We grumble if our mates do not thank us for daily chores that we should do without prompting anyway. We grumble if our kids do not appreciate the roof over their head, food on the table, and the better lives that they have then we had when we were young. We grumble if anyone ask us to do something for them while we are enjoying a activity we like - TV, sports, hobbies, etc. If our neighbor borrows something and does not return it as quickly as we think they should we grumble. Basically, we grumble and complain at home, at work, at play, and probably even in our dreams, if people do not thank us for things, appreciate our service, appreciate our sacrifice, and understand how important our time and how personally important we are to the world.

Of course we are important, God tells us that over and over and shows us that daily in providing for us. He cares for us deeply and longs for us to understand as much of His love as we can. His most obvious sign of love for us was sending His son to die for our sins. It is also only fair, and good manners, that we should be thanked for what we do, the sacrifices we make, and the time we spend helping others, but what if we served in a fashion that did not expect a reward. What if we just served out of the call Christ puts on our lives to be like Him.

Christ was the ultimate servant, He thought of others before himself daily, He lived to serve, He died in service, and rose from the grave to serve as our intercessor at the right hand of God. That is a high standard, and one that no human can succeed at, but that does not mean we should not strive for it. It is impossible to accomplish many things we work toward - the perfect home, the perfect job, the perfect marriage, perfect children, perfect health, etc - yet we continue working toward them. Why should the pattern of a perfect goodwill / benevolent bond servant that Christ set for us be any different. Maybe it is because we would rather receive the glory on earth then in heaven, the Bible is clear that those that seek earthly rewards will receive them, but that is all the receive. These earthly rewards bring no heavenly rewards, and yet that is actually the thing that Christ always lived and acted for. His goal was never for earthly or human praise, His goal was heavenly and divine praise. That should be our goal as well. In the coming weeks try to let Ephesians 6:7 - Rendering service readily with goodwill, as to the Lord and not to men - color all your relationships and actions, and see if your heavenly rewards do not multiply.

A Striving Bond Servant

1CO 13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

1CO 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Return to Main January Page		Open Team Swap Main Page In New Window
	My pastor just completed a series of lessons on relationships by going through the book of Ephesians. The obvious relationships were covered of course, marriage, husband, wife, child, and parent. The final week was on work relationships. The text of the message was Ephesians 6:5-9, with a large amount of focus on v.7 as the key to the work relationship. Ephesians 6:5 (AMP) Servants (slaves), be obedient to those who are your physical masters, having respect for them and eager concern to please them, in singleness of motive and with all your heart, as [service] to Christ [Himself]-- 6 Not in the way of eye-service [as if they were watching you] and only to please men, but as servants (slaves) of Christ, doing the will of God heartily and with your whole soul; 7 Rendering service readily with goodwill, as to the Lord and not to men, 8 Knowing that for whatever good anyone does, he will receive his reward from the Lord, whether he is slave or free. 9 You masters, act on the same [principle] toward them and give up threatening and using violent and abusive words, knowing that He Who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no respect of persons (no partiality) with Him. He ended by defining a few terms in ancient Greek for us, one was benevolence. It turns out that benevolence is “with goodwill freely giving without expectation”, and the rendering or doing service means that you are working like a bond-servant (one that chooses to serve but is not forced to comply). Obviously this is difficult to do, and sometimes work is the hardest place of all to have this attitude, but the really transforming thought would be to carry this into ALL your relationships. What if in every relationship in your life you acted like you were serving God and not just your boss, your co-worker, your spouse, your child, your neighbor, or a complete stranger. When was the last time your did something for your mate, your child, a friend, or a neighbor without grumbling and with no expectation of some reward. I am not talking about without expectation of a monetary reward, but I mean no reward at all, no kiss, no hug, no “I appreciate that”, or not even a “thank you”. Most of the time we do something with a motivation of some reward, be it large or small, driving us. That is the selfish component of human nature. If we do not receive a reward, or even a thanks, we get frustrated and/or mad. How many times have you said to yourself, or maybe even those around you, “I will never do that again, because they don’t appreciate me and all that I do for them.” We grumble if our mates do not thank us for daily chores that we should do without prompting anyway. We grumble if our kids do not appreciate the roof over their head, food on the table, and the better lives that they have then we had when we were young. We grumble if anyone ask us to do something for them while we are enjoying a activity we like - TV, sports, hobbies, etc. If our neighbor borrows something and does not return it as quickly as we think they should we grumble. Basically, we grumble and complain at home, at work, at play, and probably even in our dreams, if people do not thank us for things, appreciate our service, appreciate our sacrifice, and understand how important our time and how personally important we are to the world. Of course we are important, God tells us that over and over and shows us that daily in providing for us. He cares for us deeply and longs for us to understand as much of His love as we can. His most obvious sign of love for us was sending His son to die for our sins. It is also only fair, and good manners, that we should be thanked for what we do, the sacrifices we make, and the time we spend helping others, but what if we served in a fashion that did not expect a reward. What if we just served out of the call Christ puts on our lives to be like Him. Christ was the ultimate servant, He thought of others before himself daily, He lived to serve, He died in service, and rose from the grave to serve as our intercessor at the right hand of God. That is a high standard, and one that no human can succeed at, but that does not mean we should not strive for it. It is impossible to accomplish many things we work toward - the perfect home, the perfect job, the perfect marriage, perfect children, perfect health, etc - yet we continue working toward them. Why should the pattern of a perfect goodwill / benevolent bond servant that Christ set for us be any different. Maybe it is because we would rather receive the glory on earth then in heaven, the Bible is clear that those that seek earthly rewards will receive them, but that is all the receive. These earthly rewards bring no heavenly rewards, and yet that is actually the thing that Christ always lived and acted for. His goal was never for earthly or human praise, His goal was heavenly and divine praise. That should be our goal as well. In the coming weeks try to let Ephesians 6:7 - Rendering service readily with goodwill, as to the Lord and not to men - color all your relationships and actions, and see if your heavenly rewards do not multiply. A Striving Bond Servant 1CO 13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1CO 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.