stephen R Harrison

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I want to give up.

How do we know our labor in the Lord is not in vain? Read this:

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (‭‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬‬:‭58‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

I’ve invested time in discipling people who continue to choose wrongly and live apart from Christ. I’ve counseled biblical truths to marriages that still struggle. I’ve shared the gospel to people who did not receive it. I’ve preached sermons I felt landed on deaf ears. I’ve loved and served people who did not do the same in return. It’s easy to believe all of these and other efforts done in the Lord are in vain.

But they are not. Why?

A little word at the beginning of that verse above reminds me why – “therefore.”

When I see “therefore” in Scripture, I ask, “What’s it there for?”

The 57 verses before the last one tell me why my labor is not in vain in the Lord. They remind me it’s because of the gospel and Christ’s resurrection.

Because Jesus resurrected:
-We have hope beyond ourselves (9-10)
-there is life after this one (12)
-my preaching is not in vain (14a)
-my faith is not useless (14b, 16)
-I too shall be resurrected (15-16)
-We can be forgiven from sin (17)
-The dead in Christ are not lost (18)
-there is more to Christ than this life (19)
-and there is so much more in the remaining 38 verses!

The point? Don’t give up on what you do in the Lord – because of the resurrection, it’s not in vain – keep going in the Lord! Whatever you do in the Lord is never lost!

Don’t give up, pastor.
Don’t give up, husband.
Don’t give up, wife.
Don’t give up, parent.
Don’t give up!