When People Work Together « Character Lesson « Teaching Good Things

When People Work Together

December 7, 2009

Labor:

to exert one’s powers of body or mind especially with painful or strenuous effort : work

Something more than a finished task happens when people work together. They have a special relationship that cannot be shared by others because they are working toward a common goal. This relationship can be one of admiration or even strong dislike – depending on the character of the people involved.

The more difficult the task, the more we must apply our-self. Strenuous work, whether it be physical or mental draws out our true character. When we work together with people they are more likely to see the real us, what’s in our heart as we exhibit perseverance and excitement, or frustration and anger. Whether for the better or the worse, when we labor hard towards a goal we are forming bonds with the people we are working with.

In the Family:

This is where the tightest bonds should be. This is where everyone should labor towards common goals of keeping a home and all that entails (house, yard, cars. etc…) running smoothly. It is very important that everyone do their part; the older the children get the more responsibility they should bear.

Having a family business steps this up a notch. Working together in business intensifies those relationships. You depend on each other even more and you realize just how important good character is; including paying attention to the details to having a good attitude.

As a Team:

Sports teams know how important it is that players spend a lot of time together working toward the goal of winning. Players have a special bond with each other, especially if they have a winning season.

We have friends whose teen aged boys love soccer, their father coaches and the mother and other siblings are there at every game for support. This family has been able to show a high standard of character and developed relationships with the players, many of whom do not have strong families. Now that the season is over many of the players are still coming to the family’s home and they are using these opportunities to be a witness for Christ. They have this special bond because they labored…HARD toward a common goal.

In the Church:

When you are an active part in a church you develop special relationships. When you worship and pray together it binds hearts in ways that nothing else does. Often church family will feel closer than than your birth family because you do share in these. Fellowship is great, but if you labor in a project together that is where bonding truly happens, whether you are feeding the hungry or working on the church grounds, where there is labor there will be a special relationship!

At School:

Those who attend school form b0nds of friendship as they work toward the common goal of graduating as a class and all the struggles that come with that. They spend the majority of the day, for the majority of their childhood with the same group of kids, which is a big contributor to the problem of peer pressure.

In the Work Place:

For people that work away from their home the majority of their day is spent with their co-workers, working toward a common goal. In these environments there is such a dependency on each other to get the job done that co-workers share in a relationship that family members cannot truly understand. This is a part of why we hear so much of “office affairs”.

There is such a sense of accomplishment when we share in labor together. I encourage you to find activities that will help you bind your heart with your family. Build something together or take on an outreach together. Find something that will help you refine your children’s character and your own with the end goal of knitting your hearts together and choose your activities carefully.