Glorify God as hard workers in the Lord

Romans 16:12 Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Greet Persis the beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord. It seems as Paul was thinking a bout who to greeting Rome, he couldn’t overlook some of them who were hard workers in the Lord. They weren’t merely hard workers—they were workers in the Lord. Being a hard worker in the Lord doesn’t mean he or they think that their works will earn salvation. For Paul, being a hard worker was a sign of the grace of God. Remember what he said about himself when writing to the Corinthians? 1 Cor. 15:10. “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” This makes me think that when Paul described Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Persis as hard workers in the Lord, he was testifying of the grace of God that was evident in their lives. This encourages us to be hard workers in the Lord—working according to the grace given us by the Holy Spirit. One aspect of living to love with Jesus is working hard in our love for others. We don’t do it to impress our parents, pastors, friends, or anyone for that matter. We labor for the audience of One. We long for Him to be glorified in our lives. We are loving others in the Lord, and often that takes sacrifice and effort. It will appear that we are working hard, but we and God knows we are working hard in the Lord. He provides the strength, the wisdom, and the fruit in our labors. The teacher studies hard to encourage and teach the body of Christ by the grace he or she is given. The giver works hard to earn money so that he may have the privilege of being God’s conduit of material blessing to others. The man or woman full of mercy works hard to enter into the suffering and pain of others with the comfort God has given them. How about you? Would the Lord call you a hard worker in His grace? Is the grace of God hard at work in you for the glory of God? I hope the lives of these three, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Persis, speak to us today and encourage our hearts to glorify God as hard workers in the Lord.