20 Sep God in our Work

 

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.” (Colossians 3: 23 -25)

In my life I have come across many extremes when it comes to believers and their work. On the one hand, there are those who idolise their work and casually slip from Sunday worship of God into Monday worship of work. On the other hand, there are those who are careless and put minimum effort into their work because they believe that the work they do is worldly and therefore of no importance to God. Then there are those who blatantly believe the age old saying, ‘it’s not personal, its business’, and they are willing to go to whatever lengths to achieve their goals, even if it means disregarding others’ well-being and therefore godly principles. All of these viewpoints go against God’s purpose, for Jesus did not come to redeem our fallen nature in our personal lives alone, but in our work too, for it was one of the first consequences of sin described in Genesis: “…through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.” (Genesis 3: 17 NIV)

Tom Nelson demonstrates the eternal value of our work in his book, ‘Work Matters’ and shows how our work is deeply intertwined with our faith as it offers us the opportunity to partner with God in his redemptive mission. When we work with our best effort, integrity, and in fairness to those we work with, we point to God’s kingdom and the power of the salvation He offers.

Our daily bread

“Give us today, our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11 NIV)

Personally, if I do not start my day with God, there is a very strong chance that I will not handle work challenges and the stress that come with them in a Godly way. I need to begin my day with Him to remember who I am ultimately serving through my work, so that I can do the best work within my God-given ability and treat the people I work with in a way that is pleasing to God. This is because He has given me my personal bread through the provision of the employment I have, and therefore I cannot take this lightly, especially considering those who are not employed. Yet, He Himself is also our personal bread and it is through His word that I am strengthened and fortified for my day of work.

Integrity

“For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths.” (Proverbs 5:21 NIV)

When I first started my career, I lived in fear of making mistakes. To the extent that (to my shame) when I made a mistake, I would do everything I could to deflect the blame away from me. But there is no worse lie than the lie that we tell ourselves, and I’ve come to learn that for me to be sanctified and to grow fully into who God intends me to be, I need to be aware of my faults and take accountability when accountability needs to be taken. It is never pleasant to make mistakes in our work, which is also why it is very important to not make work our idol and attach our personal value to it. If we remember to hold work in its rightful place, then we can look at mistakes as opportunities to grow in character and skill, which at the end of the day, has the most eternal value and is where work helps to sanctify us into who God intends us to be.

Humility

This is closely linked to accountability, for it takes humility to admit when we are wrong. But it also takes humility to be like Jesus who is the greatest example of servant-leadership we have in history, and he is ultimately who we should be trying to reflect in our work if our work is to have eternal value.

“The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23: 11-12)

It is important that in all we do at work, we do it humbly, knowing that our position is not of our own doing, but God who grants us favourable circumstances and who rewards our hard work, if it is done with a humble heart. Therefore, we never have cause to congratulate ourselves and promote ourselves above others. Even in positions of leadership, we should be living out God’s grace and guidance given freely to us by extending that grace and guidance to those who are under our leadership.

However, it is important to not mistake fear, self-doubt and weakness for humility. Self-promotion and arrogance should be avoided at all costs, but we also do not want to be like the servant who hid his talent in the parable of the talents in Matthew, which is why it is important to know God’s personal calling for your life through ensuring daily fellowship with Him.

Mercy

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Colossians 3:12 NIV)

This one may seem obvious when seeking to reflect the heart of Jesus, and some of us may live up to these standards in our personal lives, but nowhere am I more challenged when it comes to being patient and understanding than when my own stress levels are triggered due to delays or incomplete work from others which will affect my own performance. And yet, we wouldn’t need to rely on Jesus if his commands had exceptions, ‘You must be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient…when it suits you.’ If we can reflect Jesus in the most difficult of circumstances and the most inconvenient of times, how much greater the testimony of his work in us, and how much greater the eternal value our work.

Let’s Pray

Father God, please help me to remember that you are my true master, and therefore may your Holy spirit produce fruits in me through my work. Please help me to glorify you in all that I do, through diligence, integrity, humility and love for those I work with. Show me your heart for others and let me reflect your heart to others in my work. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.