Key Scripture: Galatians 6:2  

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Relevance

About 20 years ago, while leading character training sessions for inmates on behalf of Prison Fellowship, I developed a spreadsheet on the giving of ourselves—at work. 

Whether an inmate or not, people need a job, but some struggle to keep them. They blame their boss, hourly rate, transportation, money, relationships and every other thing but themselves. They are very careful not to self-incriminate.

Sometimes those other things are responsible. However, the ultimate responsibility rests with the individual. It is like being a disciple of Jesus. Many things can become obstacles, slowing us down or sidetracking our efforts. But the Lord expects us to work that out and overcome the problems.   

It's easy to be a mediocre employee or disciple, but to achieve a 5/5 or 10/10, we must raise the bar. Then, when we reach those goals, we must raise it again. While we have breath, our precious Saviour expects us to keep developing our spiritual life, character and skills.

The prison sessions were on MOTIVATION FOR DEPENDABILITY.

Dependability should be a key desirable for Christians. It's about not letting down people who are counting on us.

There are several factors that motivate us towards dependability.   

• A dependable person will be in harmony with the heart and mind of God

• A dependable person has a great reverence for God

• A dependable person is faithful in little things as well as big things

• A dependable person keeps confidential information private

• A dependable person communicates positive energy and health

• A dependable person is truthful in all that he says

• A dependable person will not tell people how good he is

• A dependable person encourages those whom he serves

• A dependable person is faultless in his work

• A dependable person deals wisely with resources and relationships

We see that dependability is enriching to God, ourselves and those whom we serve.

I followed it up with what I termed:

THE 10 LEVELS OF DEPENDABILITY AT WORK. 

If we become consistent in these, we're well on our way to becoming a great employee, which helps our discipleship.

1. Do the job

2. AND Finish completely

3. AND Finish it excellently

4. AND Clean up thoroughly

5. AND look respectable, speak/act acceptably

6. AND Finish the paperwork tidily & totally

7. AND hand it in presentably – with a smile 

8. AND pack up equipment and tools

9. AND stay back if needed till well after closing—with a smile

10. AND turn up for the rest of your working life on time with the same attitude! 

Do you recall Jesus saying Well done, thou good and faithful servant? Matt 25.21. Dependability is one of the key ingredients of faithfulness.

It's a reality check to realise that if we can't be faithful to our boss, it's unlikely we'll be faithful to Jesus.

And that all comes down to love. Do we really love somebody if we're not dependable?

Much of our Christian life is bearing others' burdens. How do we properly bear another's burdens if we're not dependable? 

One way the Lord loves us is through His dependability. We will find that we show our level of love to others the same way.

Prayer

Precious Lord, thank you for your dependability to us. You show us, through your love, how to be consistently helpful to others. Please help us become wonderfully dependable in our ministries.

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