Recently I noticed a phrase that I had seen many times before, but never really thought about in a personal way. It was talking about a writer whose 'body of work' had been quite significant in terms of numbers of published books and the far reaching effect of his philosophies.
What is my 'body of work' to this point? What is your 'body of work' to this point?
I hope you feel better about your 'body of work' than I do about mine.
The Apostle Paul commended "the church of the Thessalonians" for their 'body of work' by saying that when he prayed for them he "remember(ed)" their 'work produced by faith...labor prompted by love, and...endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.'
I Thessalonians 1:3. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
He started with the end result - "your work produced by faith..." and then stated how it had happened: through "labor prompted by love" and "endurance inspired by hope in...Jesus."
In order to have a 'body of work' that will make any real positive difference, here or eternally, it will be accomplished by labor and endurance - motivated and fueled by love and hope.
And, all this has to be spiritually based - in Jesus. Jesus taught that natural, or human-based motivations produce natural results; but spiritually based motivations produce spiritual results.