Ephesians 4:28
“The one who steals must no longer steal; but rather he must labor, producing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need.”
Our focus will be on the second part of the verse, "but rather he must labor, producing with his own hands what is good". God demonstrated work for us at creation. Genesis 2:2-3 says, "By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."
Work is an important part of our lives. God models the work/rest ratio as 6 to 1. We should be working much more than resting. Part of the reason is in the verse, "producing with his own hands what is good". That is the majority of self worth. We feel good about what we've done. Even before others recognize it as good, we know we've done well.
Working hard would cure many ills that one has. Depression, lack of money, lack of respect from others and so on. Part of this is because we are going against the way we've been created. Just as we could use a wrench as a hammer, we may damage the tool. It wasn't designed to be used that way. We were built to work. Going against that leads to unhappiness and more.
Another positive of work is recognition of others. It is appropriate to be recognized for our efforts. Even God enjoys praise. God deserves praise. We do as well. God wants to recognize His children that follow Him. Psalm 23 says, "Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of my enemies." God honors those that honor him.
Lack of work can lead to evil. It's not in the bible, but the principle is, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop." Proverbs 18:9 says, "Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys." There have been stories of lottery winners whose lives were ruined by it. The majority of this is that they were not working, but had too much money and ventured into evil.
Lord, thank You for work. It's Your will for us. It makes us feel great, it provides a good income, it keeps us out of trouble and so on. Thank You for this reality in my life.