- 131. Labor is not in Vain
1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
We need this promise in order to help us be steadfast, unmovable and abounding in the work of the Lord. We don’t have to wonder if it is worth it. The work of the Lord does not always have immediate payback, or even feedback. If often feels as if we are working for the Lord and giving up selfish ambitions to do the Lord’s work and not seeing the results we would like to see. We may sometimes feel like our labor is in vain. It is not producing anything worthwhile, it is a waste of time, and we even get negative feedback.
We need to know that nothing that is done with the Lord is useless. No good work has a negative result. The Word of God never comes back empty. Something good and positive always happens even if we do not see it. God wants us to know that God is doing something good every time we do a good work or say a good thing. If we support the work of the church, particularly the preaching of the Gospel, some positive benefit will result for someone somewhere. It is not in vain.
God sends out His Word and it will certainly accomplish that for which He sent it. God sends us out into the world and the good we do has a reward. “He who gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones will in no wise lose his reward.” Any work, no matter how small, done by God in us and through us will always have a good result and will never be done in vain. Everything we do or say has a result and a purpose; it may be for good or evil, for life or death, but there is an effect. We will never know the ripple effects of small acts of kindness, but we can be assured that it will not be in vain.
Take heart, therefore, and be encouraged by this promise. Continue to be faithful and abounding in the work of the Lord. Whether a good work or a good word shows an immediate result or not does not matter. We have this promise: your labor is not in vain.