18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. 20 Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged. 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. 23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. 25 But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites. (Colossians 3:18-25 – New Living Translation)
We have different roles in life – husband/wife, father/mother, son/daughter, employer/employee. Due to our different roles, we have different rights and responsibilities. We may have our own set of standards/guidelines for functioning different roles but God has given us one clear principle. The principle of fear God. Regardless of the role that we are playing, our goal is not to please others but God. Expectations of others/ourselves should not be the determinant of our actions. Before we take any action, we should first ask ourselves, “am I doing it for him? for her? or for myself?” All our good deeds should be done for God and not someone else. Our ONLY reason to do good deeds is the fear of God.
“Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.”
