Living God’s Way: The value of working

Character is an important quality of a Christian. To the Ephesians, Paul has already talked about speaking the truth and not lying, along with controlling one’s anger. His next component of one’s character is the value of working (Ephesians 4:28). There are three elements of this characteristic: not stealing, working, and giving to those who are in need. Paul gives a prohibition, a command, and a purpose statement. Paul is stating two ethical principles. He is telling the Ephesians they are not to steal but rather to labor with their hands. The other principle is that they are to take some of the money they earn from working “with [their] own hands” and “to share it with [someone