Ever since Adam and Eve got booted from paradise, humans have had to work—some harder than others, but we all have our tasks to bear. Different scenarios are but wishful thinking. Putting in the mandatory effort gets food on the table, a house overhead, and clothed kids. You have no choice except to make the best of things and neither do your children. What a great opportunity to show them what can be accomplished when they put their minds, hearts, and shoulders into the toil.

Teach your children to stay on task, and they’ll be able to land enough work to keep them busy indefinitely. Bosses go batty trying to get staff members simply to do their jobs. Faithful employees, by contrast, are treasures. Teach your children to see tasks undone and pitch in to help. The world changes through self-starters who get in and fix what’s broken.

Let your kids labor young. Have them husk corn, gather trash, set the table, make their beds, and dress themselves and younger siblings. You will have no problem coming up with possibilities. But the longer you wait to start training them right, the less responsive they’ll be. You decide: small steps now or a giant uphill battle later.

Teach your kids that noble efforts arise out of a desire to please God—first and foremost. No other motivation matters. Scripture will tell you that’s true. You’ll never be satisfied waiting for appreciation from employers or other nine-to-fivers. But when you work out of a desire to serve God, your objectives change. Teach your children to work with vigor, make the most of opportunities, and rejoice that God watches over their labors with satisfaction.