Ephesians 6

Paul taught the Ephesians -

"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free." (New Testament Ephesians 6:5 - 8)

In our day, I see servants being synonymous to employees. We should honor our commitments to our employers with "singleness of your heart, as unto Christ". In other words, with honesty and integrity. I happened to see an article this morning on msn.com suggesting "10 Fatal Career Moves". One of those being -

"Conducting Personal Business on Company Time. The company e-mail and phone systems are for company business. Keep personal phone calls brief and few -- and never take a call that will require a box of tissues to get through."

It is frustrating when employees take advantage of committed and compensated time doing personal business and entertainment. Many believe they deserve it. Paul suggests that the employers have the same responsibility of fair compensation, honesty and integrity when he wrote -

"...ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him." (New Testament Ephesians 6:9)

At the time he wrote "Miracle of Forgiveness, Elder Spencer W. Kimball taught -

“Paul speaks of ‘unholy masters’ and surely has reference to those who would defraud servants or employees and would not properly compensate for labors done or goods furnished. He likely has in mind men who are unkind, demanding and inconsiderate of their subordinates.

In short, the employer should treat his employees according to the golden rule, remembering that there is a Master in heaven who judges both employer and employee. Paul likewise enjoined a lofty standard upon employees:

We may take this to mean, on modern terms, that the servant and employee should consistently give honest service, full and complete, and do for his employer what he would want an employee to do for him if he himself were the employer. Any other course calls for repentance.” (Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 51.)