With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
Parallel translations
- WEB with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men;
- BSB Serve with good will, as to the Lord and not to men,
- NKJV with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men,
- NASB With goodwill render service, as to the Lord, and not to people,
- NLT Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Work should be done with goodwill, as serving the Lord rather than men. A willing, cheerful spirit marks Christian service.
Overview
Paul continues that service is to be rendered 'with good will,' a ready and willing attitude, 'as to the Lord, and not to men.' This reorients ordinary labor toward Christ, lifting it to an act of devotion. The believer's true audience and master is the Lord himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Col 3:23And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
- 1 Cor 10:31Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
- Eph 6:5–6Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
- 2 Kgs 5:13And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
- Gen 31:38–40This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
- 2 Kgs 5:2–3And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
- Gen 31:6And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.
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Christ at the center
Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
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Original language
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