by David Gibson<\/p>\n
Does the expression “the quiet life” strike you as appealing or dull?<\/p>\n
Paul urges Christians “to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands<\/em>” (I Thessalonians 4:11 NASB).\u00a0Addressing Christians who have too much time on their hands-lazy busybodies-Paul urged them “to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread<\/em>” (II Thessalonians 3:12).<\/p>\n Aquila and Priscilla were not among those needing Paul’s reprimand. They supported themselves as tentmakers and hosted the church in their home in more than one city. They assisted Paul, helped Apollos, and no doubt aided many others as well. This godly Christian couple has their counterparts today in members of local congregations who humbly go about their tasks, making no fuss or bother for anyone else. Such individuals are society’s greatest assets, whether society acknowledges this fact or not.<\/p>\n Such folks help keep our nation from slipping further away from God. They may be largely unknown, but God sees what they do, and He will reward them. And don’t we spare ourselves a lot of unnecessary tension when we can learn to live in this way?<\/p>\n In the words of John Greenleaf Whittier’s hymn:<\/p>\n by David Gibson Does the expression “the quiet life” strike you as appealing or dull? Paul urges Christians “to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands” (I Thessalonians 4:11 NASB).\u00a0Addressing Christians who have too much time on their hands-lazy busybodies-Paul urged them…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[454],"class_list":["post-89128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-peace"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57374,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-bible-says-get-a-job\/","url_meta":{"origin":89128,"position":0},"title":"The Bible Says, “Get a Job!”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Cody Westbrook The \"give me\" generation is bearing fruit at a rapid pace. Indicators have been readily apparent for some time through various movements but in recent months the socialistic push has taken center stage in American news and culture. One result of this is a near demonization of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89356,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/living-on-the-b-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":89128,"position":1},"title":"Living on the B Side","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kenny Westmoreland \"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: you should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you\" (I Thessalonians 4:11). In my younger years, I enjoyed playing 45 singles. For those unaware or too young to remember, a 45\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/quiet-life-300x212.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":583,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-christians-commanded-to-physically-labor\/","url_meta":{"origin":89128,"position":2},"title":"Are Christians commanded to physically labor?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 28, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know a Christian is required to work (I Thessalonians 4:11), but since it says \"laboring with your hands\" doesn't that mean only manual labor? Answer: There are several passages which command Christians to labor. Ephesians 4:28\u00a0\"Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6718,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-raffles-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":89128,"position":3},"title":"Are raffles wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening, I have a concern. As far as I know, I am completely sure that games like lottery, bingo, casinos, etc. are incorrect as are all kinds of raffles or sales sponsored by the church, since it is not authorized by the New Testament for the church to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29120,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jamaica-patois-wisdom-meddling\/","url_meta":{"origin":89128,"position":4},"title":"Jamaica Patois Wisdom – Meddling","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant The Jamaican Patois dialect is colorful, unique, and humorous. It is my desire to share some of the philosophy shown in this mix of colorful phrases that are witty as well as thought-provoking. I hope the readers both profit and enjoy. In my quarter-century plus of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/roosters.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":38179,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-gambling\/","url_meta":{"origin":89128,"position":5},"title":"Notes on Gambling","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Quick wealth is dangerous Proverbs 20:11 \"An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.\" Proverbs 28:19-20 \"He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough! A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89128\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Good examples<\/h2>\n
The advantages of the quiet life<\/h2>\n
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
\nTill all our strivings cease;
\nTake from our souls the strain and stress,
\nAnd let our ordered lives confess
\nThe beauty of thy peace.<\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"