Colossians 3:22-4:1 - Working to and for the Lord

For many of us, work takes up most of our waking hours. And if we're honest, it often feels like drudgery, frustration, or just endless striving. But what if that could change? What if our daily labor could become an act of worship?

That’s the question we’re asking today as we continue our series Work and Our Labor in the Lord from Colossians 3:22–4:1.

To understand this passage properly, we keep two things in mind. First, Paul is writing from prison, and his main point in this letter is that Christ is the supreme King over everything…including our work. Second, he's writing to a world with slaves and masters. Please keep in mind that Paul is not endorsing slavery. He is planting gospel seeds that would redefine all authority and service from the inside out.

And while our world of employees and employers is different than Paul’s, the core struggle isn't. Employees are tempted to cut corners and work for themselves. Employers are tempted to skimp on pay and mistreat employees. We all fight the desire to do or give the bare minimum because, ultimately, we all struggle to do our work for the Lord.

But I want you to see something with me today…there is a huge opportunity in front of us…rather than cutting corners, or working only for ourselves, we have the chance to work from a completely new motivation and for a new purpose.

With this opportunity before us let’s hear from Colossians 3:22–4:1.

Colossians 3:22–4:1 ESV

Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

What we see in our text today is that…

We are to work heartily to and for the Lord

Earlier in chapter 3 verse 1, Paul said that since we ‘have been raised with Christ’, we should 'seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.’ But what does that really mean? Paul has been showing us what this looks like step-by-step. He's applied it to our personal battle with sin. He's applied it to our life together as a church. He's even applied it to our families. And now, he brings this heavenly mindset to the place we spend so much time: our work. So what does it look like there? It looks like we work for a new audience, a new attitude, and a new aim.

• Our work has a new Audience (vv. 22-23):We work for the Lord, not people. Paul tells us that slaves are to obey their masters in everything because they fear or reverence the Lord, not to please people or not to avoid getting in trouble, but rather “as for the Lord.” This is a big ask, isn’t it? With bad employers and their unjust practices, how could we do this for them? The answer…we are doing it for them, but for the Lord. King Jesus is who we are working for.
• Our work has a new Attitude (vv. 22-23): We work to the Lord, heartily and sincerely. Heartily doesn’t mean trying harder. The Greek word here means to work from your very soul. It means pouring your whole self, your passion, your energy, your creativity, into what you're doing, whether you're writing code, changing a diaper, mopping a floor, running a project, or making widgets. How can we do this when all the workers around us are negative and work sloppily and insincerely? Because our hearts aren’t fixed on our welfare or our work, but on Christ. So we work to the Lord, Jesus our Savior, with all our soul.
• Our work has a new Aim (v. 24): We don’t just work for an earthly paycheck, that will be gone in a week or two, we work for an eternal inheritance. We work with singularity of heart because our aim is God’s reward. In the Greek, quite literally, it might be read as God will repay us. It is really hard to work for money that disappears quickly, but much easier to work for a pay check that will never be used up and only increase in value. This is the idea of working with all our soul for and to the Lord, He is our true employer, and He will never mistreat us.

When our ultimate audience is the Lord, our attitude is one of sincere, hearty effort, and our aim and hope is in an eternal reward, then any work, no matter how small or frustrating, becomes an act of worship…to and for the Lord.

But for most of us this is not our present reality…

We work heartily to and for ourselves

Paul knew this. That’s why he tells servants to work for the Lord and masters to be just and fair…because our natural bent is to work for ourselves.

Picture someone at the end of their shift, mop in hand. Their aim is just a paycheck, so they mutter, “This is pointless. No one even notices. I’ll just scroll TikTok until it’s time to clock out.” But then they hear their audience, the boss’s footsteps and panic sets in and think: “Quick—look busy! Maybe she’ll finally notice me.”

The real problem is that most of us aren’t just doing a job, we’re building what might be called “the kingdom of Me.” And it shows up everywhere. For one person, it’s cutting corners until the boss walks in, then scrambling to look busy. For another, it’s obsessively refreshing whatever makes you feel important, your paycheck, your job title, your social feed. For others, it’s believing that if people just notice you, then you’ll finally matter.

So let’s be honest with ourselves: who’s the real audience of our work most of the time? We might say it’s our boss. But really, the applause we’re chasing is our own. And so we end up working with all our soul…but for ourselves.

And what is built in this little kingdom of Me? For some, it’s chaos: falsified timesheets, sloppy code, broken promises, lazy work. For others, it’s pride: harsh words, judgmental thoughts, and the secret belief that “I’m the only one holding this place together.”

Though our aim might be personal prosperity, all of this will end when we do. Why? Because the little kingdom of Me is not eternal. There is One King, our Master, the Lord. And in the end, our little kingdoms will crumble before His judgment. And the eternal repayment for our wrongdoing will be justice and judgment…forever.

So is that it? Are we all just kings and queens of our own tiny, temporary, competing, and doomed kingdoms of ‘Me’? No. But not because we can do or did anything to fix this, but because the true King invaded our chaos to build His own kingdom and reorient us to it. You see...

Jesus worked heartily on the cross for us and our salvation

Christ, the King, bore the wages of our sin on the cross so we can receive His perfect wages as our inheritance. To a Roman slave, who had no legal right to inherit anything and lived with the daily shame of their status, this was a shocking promise of ultimate honor. The gospel doesn't just declare us 'not guilty'; it removes our shame and seats us as honored heirs in the King's family through Christ’s painful work for us. And what is amazing is that He did it with the perfect aim, attitude, and for the perfect audience.

In verse 22, we see Jesus’ perfect Aim. He isn’t like the employee mopping the floor, just trying to get by. Jesus worked with His whole soul, obeying His Father not for His own advantage, but for ours. His aim was simple: to please and reverence God.

In verse 23, we see Jesus’ Attitude. He never asks us to do what He hasn’t already done perfectly. While we work heartily for our own condemnation, He worked heartily for our salvation. His attitude was one of pure, whole-souled love for God and for us.

In verse 24, we see Jesus’ true Audience. He is the Lord, the true Master who became a servant. He died on the cross to make us His inheritance, so we could become children of the Father. While His ultimate audience was God, His work was a display of saving power for all to see. His service is what enables our service.

The cross reframes everything about our work. It is the place where Jesus bore the wages for our chaotic little kingdoms: sin and death. But it is also the place where we receive the free gift of God: eternal life. Think about it: Jesus’ work on the cross earned Him pain and death, yet His ultimate reward, His inheritance, was us. You and I were the joy that sustained Him through His work. Seeing that changes everything.

Think of the love that drove Him. He obeyed perfectly. He worked heartily through misery. He did all of it to rescue us from our doomed kingdoms and welcome us into His. When that love captures our hearts, our desires change. We no longer want to build our own kingdom first. Instead, we want to serve the Lord Christ and seek His kingdom, especially in our daily work.

Though the world tells us to build our own kingdoms and work to and for ourselves, Jesus tells us to work to and for the Lord, to seek and work for His kingdom and everything we need will be added to us.

You see, Jesus lived and died not only to save us to share in His eternal inheritance, but to give us His Spirit while we live on this earth so that…

We (can) work heartily to and for the Lord from reverence and worship

So where does the power for this new way of working come from? It comes from the most amazing reality in the universe: because of Jesus, the Spirit of the living God now lives in you along with the Father and Son.

And what does the Spirit do? He completely transforms our work from the inside out.

This isn't a theory; it's a whole new way of working that the Spirit makes possible. It's not an obligation, but an opportunity. It means...

• ...Rather than cutting corners when no one is watching, we can work with integrity. Our motive is no longer the fear of the boss's footsteps, but gratitude for Jesus's perfect, unrelenting work on the cross for us.
• ...Rather than treating employees or coworkers unfairly to protect our bottom line, we can be just and generous. Why? Because Christ was treated unfairly and bore the wages of our sin so that we could receive the generous inheritance of His grace.
• ...Rather than grumbling about a demeaning task like cleaning the bathroom, we can do it as if for Jesus Himself. Our motive isn't duty; it's love for the One who took on the filth of our sin to give us His perfect cleanness.

You see, this is the gift of the gospel for our work. Rather than working with wrong or no motivation, we can work from a motivation that enables us to work heartily...doing everything with a new purpose.

So how do we do this?

Let me give you a very practical first step. Tomorrow morning, before you open your laptop or start your shift, take ten seconds. Close your eyes and whisper, 'Lord Christ, I do this work today for You.' That small, simple act is a declaration of war on your little kingdom. It reframes your entire workday as an act of worship and reminds you that “You are serving the Lord Christ.”

This new, hearty, whole-soul way of working doesn't come from just trying harder or gritting your teeth. It comes from abiding in Jesus Christ the one who worked for us and now works in and through us.

So maybe you're here today and you recognize yourself in that story of the little kingdom. Your aim has been for yourself. Your attitude has been to please people. Your audience has been anyone but God. If that's you, you know the chaos that kingdom brings, and the Bible is clear that it ends in judgment.

But you don't have to stay there.

Will you let Jesus, the Chief Worker, who toiled on the cross for your sin, be your true rest? Trust in Him today. Let Him give you a new motivation, a new joy, and an eternal reward that can never be taken away.

But maybe you do trust in Him, but you've gotten sidetracked. Your aim, attitude, or audience has drifted back to the little kingdom of you. The invitation for you is simple: turn back.

And as you do, you will see Jesus again. The Holy Spirit will take the reality of His life, death, and resurrection and reshape your work from the inside out, enabling you to once again work heartily to and for God with joy, all for the Father’s glory.