“For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”
My Notes
What Does Hebrews 6:10 Mean?
The writer of Hebrews offers one of the most reassuring promises in Scripture: God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love. He will not forget. It would be unjust — contrary to his character — to overlook what you have done.
"Your work and labour of love" — the work described is not just activity. It is labor motivated by love. The love is the qualifier that makes the work memorable to God.
"Which ye have shewed toward his name" — the love was directed toward God's name, expressed through ministry to the saints. The horizontal service was an expression of vertical devotion.
The promise is not about earning reward but about divine justice: God cannot forget love-motivated service. His righteousness requires him to remember and honor it. Your faithful work is not invisible. It is recorded.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What labour of love are you doing right now that feels invisible?
- 2.How does knowing God's righteousness prevents him from forgetting change your motivation?
- 3.What is the difference between working for recognition and working in love?
- 4.Where do you need the encouragement that your faithful service has been noticed?
Devotional
God is not unrighteous to forget your work. Let that land. It would be unjust — it would violate God's own character — for him to forget what you have done in love.
Your labour of love. Not just your labor. Your labor of love. The distinction matters. God remembers the love that motivated the work. He sees not just what you did but why you did it.
Which ye have shewed toward his name. The service you gave to other believers — the meals prepared, the prayers prayed, the hours spent, the sacrifices made — God received all of it as service to himself. When you loved his people, you honored his name.
If you are in a season of invisible faithfulness — serving without recognition, giving without thanks, laboring without anyone noticing — this verse is your assurance. God noticed. He cannot not notice. His righteousness will not allow him to forget.
The work you are doing in love is not lost. It is not wasted. It is not invisible. The most just being in the universe has recorded it. And he does not forget.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
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For God is not unrighteous - God will do no wrong. He will not forget or fail to reward the endeavors of his people to…
God is not unrighteous - God is only bound to men by his own promise: this promise he is not obliged to make; but, when…
The apostle, having applied himself to the fears of the Hebrews, in order to excite their diligence and prevent their…
to forget The aorist implies "to forget in a moment." Comp. Heb 11:6; Heb 11:20. God, even amid your errors, will not…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture