I Have to Do it Again? A Lesson in Diligence

When little Lucas first started school, he didn’t seem to think it was a big deal. He did not understand why his parents and others treated it as though it were. That is, until his parents woke him up the next morning too.

“You mean I have to do this again?” he asked, confused. He apparently thought that school was a one-time event or that he had learned everything in one day. No wonder “starting school” didn’t seem like a big deal!

Yes, dear Lucas, you must return to school and keep going for a long time. It’s a matter of duty and responsibility and we all have them, even little children. This means that you must continue to do it, even when you don’t want to. And this takes diligence.

The good of diligence

Dictionaries define diligence as the constant and steady effort required to accomplish a task.

Without it we would still think like Lucas, and never learn or achieve much in life. Therefore, we should work diligently – and want to do it – because it’s the right thing to do and it’s good for us.

We may laugh at Lucas’s childlike simplicity. But we often share his lack of enthusiasm for responsibility. Like him, we ask: Do I have to clean my house again? Go to work again? Cook again?

It seems that we are not hardwired to love work for its own sake, or to do the right thing simply because it is right. We dislike being told what to do, even when it’s beneficial and necessary.

So, we must ask ourselves: how can we overcome our lazy, procrastinating tendencies? One way is to remember that hard work pays off!

The Scriptures contain some excellent lessons on diligence. One of my favorites is in Colossians 3:18-25.

This passage is often referred to as ‘the rules for Christian Households.’ After all, it is in the family home that we first learn to love, to serve, to work hard, and to respect authority. It is through our families, in fact, that we learn to work responsibly and with diligence, whatever we are doing.

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.

Colossians 3:23-24

It’s not always easy. It often means going to school even when we don’t want to. It means going to work even when we don’t like our jobs. It means serving our family members no matter how unpleasant they may be at times.

But the beauty of diligence lies in the rewards we reap. In his second letter, Peter instructs us to grow in our faith by cultivating godly qualities such as: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:8

Lucas stayed in school, grew to enjoy it, and reaped the rewards of learning to read, write and do maths. Similarly, when we work hard and diligently, we reap the rewards of a clean house or money to pay our bills, for example.

But are things always so simple? Does hard work always guarantee success? Does diligent service guarantee a pleasant work environment? Does unselfish love guarantee a happy home and loving family? Not necessarily, because the outcome can also depend on external factors or the people involved. However, we reap rewards in many other ways.

5 rewards of diligence:

1. The satisfaction of a job well done.
2. Peace of knowing that we’re doing the right thing.
3. The joy of seeing our light shine brighter at school, at work, or wherever we are.
4. The gratification of seeing our character become more Christ-like.
5. The pleasure of knowing that we’ve pleased God.

But what really makes the difference is who we’re doing it for. The satisfaction of pleasing our heavenly Father really should be reward enough. Nevertheless, the Lord promises to faithfully reward those who earnestly seek Him — perhaps just not in the way we expect.

We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work but the love with which it is performed.

Brother Lawrence

📷 Image credits: school supplies; pencil; colored pencils.