II Thessalonians 3:12
“Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.”
A couple of entries ago this passage was the focus. The topic was work and the quiet life. Today, it will be work and eating one’s own bread. The topic of work is enormous in the Bible. It begins with God working on the first day of creation and continues all throughout.
Galations six gives some insight in two verses that seem contradictory. Verse two says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ”, then verse five, “For each one will bear his own load”. These are our responsibilities, to help others and to take care of ourselves. Today’s passage has us taking care of ourselves.
It is a big deal to eat one’s bread. This says that someone worked, earned money, shopped for food and partook of that. Our culture addresses the development of self esteem. Working and providing for one’s self is half of the Bible’s recipe for healthy self esteem. To be self sufficient goes a long way towards making one feel good about oneself.
Parents instill this in their children. Once the room in clean and in order, the child looks at that accomplishment and glows with pride. That’s building self esteem.
Conversely, if one is devoid of work and accomplishments, then that healthy pride is absent. Their is an ache within. This is sought to be soothed in a number of ways. If not by work and accomplishments, then they are most likely poor substitutes.
Living with this ache is painful. This may be the reason why many struggle with addictions of any kind. These contain those we deem healthy, such as exercise to those that are obviously hurtful, drug abuse and alcohol.
The “healthier” addictions are too much time in hobbies, codependent relationships, over exercise and so on. These can bring some relief, but if one isn’t working or if they are out of balance, then the ache will return.
There is a great deal of healthy satisfaction when one works and sustains one’s self and a family. We were all created this way. It’s a baseline. The Lord wants us to be even more responsible. Thus, we gain a greater sense of positivity.
Lord, thank You for work and the part You’ve created it to play in our lives. Help us to have a healthy balance of it.