Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Parenting from Proverbs: The Importance of Hard Work

Proverbs 6:6-11:

Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,
Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler,
Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.
How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep—
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.

It is easy to fall into the trap of laziness and avoid working hard (or doing work at all for that matter). There is great value in being a hard worker, and Solomon describes the wisdom of working hard in Proverbs 6:6-11. I need to instruct my children to be hard workers.  I want to teach my children to be like the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31, who not only worked hard, but worked hard willingly. I want to teach my children to be like the people of Nehemiah’s day who “had a mind to work” (Neh. 4:6).  I want to teach my children to be like Paul who worked hard spreading the gospel. I want my children to see the worth in working hard for God, their Christian family, their neighbors, and themselves.

More Parenting from Proverbs