What does the Bible say about working too much?
Bible Topic · WEB
The Bible commends diligent, wholehearted work, yet warns against making labor an anxious, competitive master rather than serving God in faith. Colossians 3:23-24 teaches believers to work heartily for the Lord, looking to Christ for their true reward. But Psalm 127:2 cautions that exhausting toil and sleepless anxiety cannot secure what God freely gives to His beloved. Ecclesiastes 4:4-9 exposes envy-driven striving and praises the companionship and contentment that keep work from becoming empty. Jesus Himself sought not His own will but the Father’s will in John 5:30. Faithful work therefore includes rest, dependence on God, and freedom from worldly pressures that measure worth by productivity.
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Rankings: OpenBible.info Topical Bible (CC BY) · Scripture: World English Bible
- Colossians 3:23-24
[23] And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men, [24] knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
- Psalms 127:2
It is vain for you to rise up early, To stay up late, Eating the bread of toil; For he gives sleep to his loved ones.
- Colossians 3:23
And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men,
- Ecclesiastes 4:4-9
[4] Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man's neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. [5] The fool folds his hands together and ruins himself. [6] Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and chasing after wind. [7] Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun. [8] There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment? This also is vanity, yes, it is a miserable business. [9] Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.
- Colossians 2:8
Be careful that you don't let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.
- John 5:30
I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don't seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.
- Matthew 13:23
What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most assuredly bears fruit, and brings forth, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty."
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