The Danish word “hygge” became an internet sensation in the late 2010s. Some translate it as “comfort,”[1] while others describe it as a focused delight in quieter pleasures.[2] The dictionary defines it as a cozy quality that promotes contentment and comfort in life’s ordinary moments.[3] As hygge became popularized, many people—including me—misinterpreted it as a kind of “cozy idleness,” marked by a lack of productivity, lethargic rhythms, doomscrolling, and continual retreat from work and social gatherings. This was further amplified duraing the COVID-19 pandemic when most of the world was in lockdown.
While reading through 1 Thessalonians for my morning devotions, I read the Apostle Paul urging the church in Thessalonica to “aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one” (1 Thess. 4:11–12). These verses prompted me to ask, “Is God calling us to the kind of hygge that many of us have misunderstood?”
Certainly, Paul’s command to “live quietly” is not an invitation to withdraw from responsibility or pursue comfort. Rather, it is a call to peaceful diligence—a life marked by humble faithfulness, diligent work, and steady devotion to Christ. Christians should not mistake quietness for idleness but recognize it as a life well spent, devoted to faithful labor.
If Paul does not equate the Christian life with comfort, why does he command believers to live quietly?
The Beauty of a Quiet Life
The Apostle Paul encourages the believers in Thessalonica to aspire to live a quiet life and to mind their own affairs (1 Thess. 4:11).
This is an invitation to live peaceably, without meddling in others’ affairs but instead attending faithfully to one’s own. In doing so, the Christian is free from needless strife and gossip over matters that do not belong to us. Paul is calling Christians to cultivate humility, attentiveness to their own work, and a delight in what God has placed before them.
In this age, it is easy to be consumed by the latest news about our neighbor—maybe even our fellow church members—which can quickly turn into gossip, quarrels, and talking behind one another’s backs. Yet Paul reorients our hearts toward peaceful and quiet living, focused on the work the Lord has entrusted to us here and now.
Paul teaches the Thessalonians to live attentively before God, faithfully embracing the work He has placed before them. As the missionary and martyr Jim Elliot said, “Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.”[4]
The Dignity of Faithful Work
Paul then urges the Thessalonians to work diligently, supporting themselves so that their witness would not be hindered among the unbelievers in Thessalonica. Some believers in Thessalonica used the second coming of Christ as an excuse to stop working, while others took advantage of the wealthier members of the church instead of supporting their own lives. The Apostle Paul urges them to pursue godly diligence, live responsibly, and steward the bodies, gifts, and talents the Lord has entrusted to them. This is still true for the 21st-century Christian. No gift is too small in the Lord’s hands.
This exhortation led me to examine my view of work and sanctification. Are we striving to pursue godliness with all our might?
The Witness of Ordinary Faithfulness
I find it encouraging that Paul doesn’t simply command the Thessalonians to live a quiet life, mind their own affairs, and work with their hands; he explains why: “so that you may walk properly before outsiders (v.12).” Paul reminds us once again that every part of the Christian life bears witness to the gospel before the world. What a joy to know that the Lord delights in using His servants to make known His excellencies (1 Pet. 2:9)!
Christian, your life displays your faith. What does your life say to the world?
Laboring in the Lord’s Vineyard
In His providence, the Lord has seen fit to have you and me live in this age, season of life, and amid all the struggles that come with it. He has placed each of us in our present circumstances for our sanctification and His glory.
Yet we can easily be discouraged from continuing to labor with all our strength, pouring out our lives for God’s glory and His purposes (Col. 3:23). We are regularly tempted to idleness, and in those moments, we need to pray and strive even more to be faithful stewards of God’s good gift of work. This quiet life, the Apostle Paul teaches, is not meant to be passive. Rather, it is the means by which Christians joyfully labor, are continually conformed to Christ, and display the beauty of a full life in His kingdom.
Spurgeon reflects on work and its importance to a diligent life: “A Christian man working not at all for his Lord; how shall I speak of him? Time does not tarry, DEATH does not tarry, HELL does not tarry; Satan is not lazy, all the powers of darkness are busy: how is it that you and I can be sluggish, if the Master has put us into his vineyard?”[5]
As we await the imminent return of our Savior, may we live lives marked by peaceful diligence for God’s glory, knowing that true comfort and eternal rest will come beyond the river.
Will you labor heartily in His vineyard?
[1] Olivia Liveng, “Americans Have Hygge All Wrong. Here’s What It Is and Why It’s Important Right Now,” Fodor’s Travel Guide, February 16, 2021, https://www.fodors.com/world/europe/denmark/experiences/news/americans-have-hygge-all-wrong-heres-what-it-is-and-why-its-important-right-now.
[2] “Danish Hygge,” Denmark.dk, accessed July 2026, https://denmark.dk/people-and-culture/hygge/.
[3] Merriam-Webster, s.v. “hygge,” accessed July 2026, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hygge.
[4] Jim Elliot, The Journals of Jim Elliot: Missionary, Martyr, Man of God, ed. Elisabeth Elliot (Grand Rapids: Revell, 2020), xx.
[5] C. H. Spurgeon, “The Sluggard’s Farm,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 34 (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1888), 317.
