The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation
In a world filled with a lot of talk, we want to have meaningful, biblical conversations with those God has entrusted to us. Join Tosha Williams and the Family Disciple Me ministry for Devotion Driven Discipleship conversation starters that will encourage you to "Seek Him Speak Him" in your own life.
Family Disciple Me is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Christian ministry dedicated to catalyzing Devotion Driven Discipleship in our own lives and homes as well as around the world.
For more information, visit familydiscipleme.org
The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation
Character Conversations: HARD WORKING // Whole Heartedly Doing Our Best
What does it truly mean to be hardworking, and how can we align our daily grind with divine purpose? Reflecting on an eye-opening conversation with a woman in her 90s who claimed she was "too busy" for God's Word, this episode of the Family Disciple Me podcast challenges our conventional understanding of busyness. We dive into Colossians 3:23-24, exploring how God calls us not just to fill our schedules but to engage in our tasks with wholehearted dedication, working as if for the Lord and not merely for human approval.
Come along as I (Tosha Williams) recount my own demanding day that started at 4:50 am and the profound shift that occurred when I viewed my responsibilities through a spiritual lens. Learn how you, too, can transform your to-do lists into acts of devotion-driven discipleship by seeking God's guidance and elevating your work to honor Him. Whether you're balancing multiple jobs or managing the chaos of daily life, this episode encourages you to work with all your heart for the glory of God. Tune in and be inspired to put your whole heart into everything you do - - - then engage a loved one in a discussion about being hard working, using the following conversation guide:
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“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23 NIV
Seek Him: All of us spend time doing something, whatever that is. While rest is important, God desires for His people to live with effort and intentionality. Let’s turn our attention to Him and see what He wants to show us through this Scripture about the character trait of being hard working.
- What: What is God Saying through this Scripture - Colossians 3:23-24?
- Why: Why does this Scripture matter?
- How: How Does God Want You to Respond to this Truth?
Speak Him: As we work hard, we model to others what it looks like to work hard. What’s more, along the way, we have the opportunity to talk about what motivates us to live this way. When we put our whole hearts into what we do, and when we consider our labor as unto the Lord, this is a profoundly meaningful life story to share. Talk to those entrusted to you about why you do what you do. Seek Him Speak Him!
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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.
Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org
I'll never forget a conversation that I had one day with a woman in her 90s. I was challenging her to spend some time in God's Word, to seek to hear God's voice, to be encouraged to maybe read a psalm a day, to just focus a little bit of her attention on the Lord, and she said to me I'm too busy for that. I remember stepping back, thinking you're too busy, because really all that she did was sit in her wheelchair and watch TV all day. And yet she was too busy to spend a few minutes in God's word. Forgive my judgment call on that minutes in God's Word. Forgive my judgment call on that, but after that day, my use of the word busy has completely changed. Because, well, if she was busy, what does that say about me? Or if I say I'm busy, what does that say about her?
Speaker 1:Really, the truth is, all of us spend time doing something, even if that something is just a whole bunch of nothing. Certainly, rest and relaxation is important on a daily, on a regular basis. However, god desires for his people to live with effort and intentionality. He wants us to have the character trait of being hard working. He's not looking for busy people, he's looking for wholehearted people. What does this mean? What does he want to say to us about that? Well, I'm going to cue our intro and then we'll be back for just a few moments to look into His Word and see what he wants to speak to us from Colossians 3.23 and 24 about this character trait of being hard working.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast. If you have a real relationship with Jesus, then you're in the right place to be encouraged, challenged and blessed as you seek Him, speak Him. The mission of the Family Disciple Me ministry is to inspire devotion-driven discipleship, which is something we believe every Christ follower can do. Discipleship starts with a conversation, so let's get going with that right now.
Speaker 1:Discipleship starts with a conversation, so let's get going with that right now. I don't know about you, but I have a very full day today. In fact, it's so full that when I awoke at 4.50 am this morning, instead of rolling back over and going back to sleep, I went ahead and got up out of bed and made my coffee and began the journey of today. My to-do list is filled with appointments and meetings and errands that I need to run and responsibilities that I need to fulfill, and while there's a lot to it, honestly sometimes it feels like I live a life bossed around by my schedule. But God has begun speaking to me something about this from his word and, as I've meditated on it, I want to share it with you so that you can listen to what his spirit has to say to you through his word as well.
Speaker 1:Colossians 3.23 says whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. Thing is, god wants us to have the character trait of being hardworking. As I've been seeking him through this scripture, I've been asking him the three questions of seek him. I've been asking him God, what are you saying to me through this scripture? God, why does the scripture matter. And God, how do you want me to respond to this truth, as I've spent time asking him these questions and seeking to hear his answers, I don't just hear that he wants me to be busy, or he wants me to have a really full to-do list, or he wants me to constantly walk around being overwhelmed. He wants me to be hardworking in a way that is well heart working. God wants me to put my whole heart into what he has given me to do. Yes, I have a job. In fact, I have multiple jobs with multiple job descriptions, and yet God doesn't want me to just place my eyes on those. This verse Colossians 3.23, tells me that he wants me to lift my eyes higher. He wants me to see him as the one that I'm working for, he wants me to see him as my boss and he wants me to give him my very best. I can say with assurance that he wants the same for you, no matter what it is that you have as the work of your life right now. He wants you to see him as your boss as well, and he wants you to give him your very best, whether it's a job or multiple jobs, whether it's school, whether it's parenting, whether it's ministry, whatever it is, god wants you to be hard, working with your whole heart.
Speaker 1:Now I personally was curious about what this phrase all your heart means in Colossians 3.23. So I looked up the word in the Greek and this phrase all your heart actually comes from a Greek word, that is psuche, and it means your very breath, your soul, the core of your being, kind of like what we would say. Do this heart and soul, give it your everything. The interesting thing about this word psuche is that it relates back to God's creation of humanity in the first place. Genesis 2, verse 7, says this the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. When we live wholehearted, when we do our work with all our hearts, thing is, this is when we use the breath, all the breath, that God has breathed into us as people. I was discussing this with my daughter, journey Grace, as we were spending some devotion-driven discipleship time together with this scripture and we were laughing about how maybe you could be wholehearted in your work and yet still only use half your brain, in other words, only put a little bit of effort into it but still call it wholehearted, and that was funny and we laughed a lot about that. But the reality is, when we live wholehearted, when we put all of our effort, when we put all of our effort, when we put all of our soul, when we put all the core of our being into what God has given us to do, whatever that is, that's when we're most living our purpose as people. Really, that means a lot, that matters a lot, and yet God gives us even more when we come to him and we live this way and say, why does this matter? It matters so much to him that we live our purpose, that we live from the core, from the innermost being, that we live wholehearted in everything we do. It matters so much to him that he actually gives us an incentive for living this way.
Speaker 1:Listen to what Colossians 3.23, followed by verse 24, says Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. What an incentive that God gives to us to be hard-working people. It's not just about money. It's not just about fulfilling a job description. It's not just about money. It's not just about fulfilling a job description. It's not just about seeking a bonus, or for students, getting good grades or earning honors or being the best at this or that or the other. It's about living every moment for the Lord.
Speaker 1:So then, the question is God, how do you want us to respond to this truth? You know, the way that this applies to you today may look different than the way it applies to me today and, what's more, as we turn around and we don't just seek him, but we speak him into the next generation, the way that this is applied is going to look different for our kids as well. Right, for me, being a wholehearted, hardworking person means that I don't give up, I don't quit, I don't despair when it gets harder. It seems like the work is endless. I lean in and I sacrificially live, because what I do, I'm doing for the Lord. God is speaking to you right now about what it looks like for you to wholeheartedly be a hard worker for him.
Speaker 1:As I was talking to my journey grace about this concept, it didn't just apply to jobs she has as a high schooler. It applies to the effort that she's putting into her high school slash pre-college classes. She doesn't necessarily enjoy all of them, and well, I don't blame her, given some of the professors that she has and coursework that she is taking. And yet the truth from Scripture is that whatever we do, god wants us to work at it with our whole hearts for Him.
Speaker 1:I love how the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 9, verse 10, sums up the character trait of being hardworking with one simple statement. It says this whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Thing is, we use the breath and the energy that God gives us to live for him, to do what he's called us to do, to fulfill our purpose, no matter what that is, no matter what our age or stage in life. We spend time seeking the Lord in devotion, meeting with him in our own lives about this. And then what an amazing, fun, devotion-driven discipleship conversation for us to have with someone else, as we don't just seek him but we speak him, as we disciple someone else to make God in his word known better to that person. I encourage you today to meditate on His Word and then turn around and have an intentional discipleship conversation with someone else that God has entrusted to you to talk to them about this character trait of being hardworking.
Speaker 1:In closing for this particular episode, I want to pray over you, the blessing of Psalm chapter 90, verse 17. Oh Lord, let your favor be on us. Lord, establish for us the work of our hands. Yes, lord, establish the work of our hands Now. Friend with that, go with God. He's given you work to do today. Do it wholeheartedly, do it as unto Him, do it with joy, do it with purpose and intentionality, and give all the glory and honor to Him as he pours His favor and His blessing upon you. Be encouraged.
Speaker 2:Until next time, god bless Me, ministry. As well as word about our soon-to-be-released app. Sign up to be the first to know at familydisciplemeorg. Also, if you enjoyed this podcast, help us get the word out by leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. God bless you, friend. Now go seek Him. Speak Him.