For many people, work is a “4-letter word.” They would never consider work to be one of the great things that happen in homes because they could never consider work to be a great thing.
I truly believe that work is one of the great things that happen in homes. At an early age, children begin to realize how good it feels to put their toys away, many times while singing the song:
Clean up! Clean up!
Everybody, everywhere!
Clean up! Clean up!
Everybody do their share!
Kids love to mimic their parents by sweeping the floors, cutting the grass with toy lawnmowers, helping to stack firewood, painting a fence, or fixing the car.
Work gets things done. Work utilizes our physical strength and motor skills to accomplish tasks. Work requires us to use our brains to solve problems. Work makes us feel good when a job is done well.
Many people think that work is a result of the curse experienced by Adam after he and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, but in actuality Adam and Eve were assigned work to do by God (see Genesis 1:26-31) before they disobeyed. The difference was that their work was more enjoyable before the fall, with much less toil.
To be productive, we need to acquire knowledge and skills, then apply that knowledge and those skills to the tasks at hand. This begins in the home and continues in other arenas of life.
Parents instill good work habits in their children by setting an example and then giving age-appropriate chores for their children to do. This discipline and these work habits will carry over in the children for the rest of their lives.
There is something very rewarding about showing your child how to use the lawnmower and trimmer, how to wash the dishes, how to keep their room clean, how to use a hammer and nails to repair a fence, and how to hang a picture on the wall at just the right spot.
Parents and older siblings would do well to always look for ways to pass down knowledge and let those younger than them try out new tasks. In this way, the younger ones will grow and develop and continue to do this for the rest of their life.
So don’t bemoan having to do work. Be grateful for the strength to do it. Be proud of jobs well done. Be productive, but don’t let work become an obsession. There will be another post on another of the great thing that happens in homes: rest!
The Bible says, “Whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto men.” Everything we do should be with a good attitude and in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.
Happy working!
Work – as unto the Lord – with thanksgiving.
Drudgery as unto the world – with despair.