I am guilty of finding my worth in my work instead of with God. How about you? Anyone else slowly raising their hand in the class? Or is it only me? This one hits me close to my heart and home.
According to Colossians 3:22-24 (NIV) it states, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 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.”
Yes, God commands us to work for Him, but He doesn’t want work to become Him. It doesn’t matter if our work is inside the home through being a stay at home parent or owning a home based business or out in the workforce. He is a jealous God and doesn’t want us cheating on Him or cheating ourselves on an authentic relationship with the cheap imitation of work.
Let’s face it, on the best day, our workdays are eight hours long if we work outside the home. The work day can seem never ending if we work inside the home whether it’s taking care of kids or working at that all consuming home business.
At the end of the work day outside the home, we navigate our way home, sometimes with a stop at the grocery to figure out what to make for dinner or we rush to kids’ activities or even the dreaded night meeting. In the fast paced, pressure filled world, there seems to be little time to find worth outside of our work. So, how do we keep work from becoming our god so we can serve the real God? Here are three strategies.
1. Don’t make work a show. If we are working for the Lord, then it shouldn’t matter what others think, how much we get paid or what our title is. But, for me and my human nature, it does. I want my effort to be rewarded with earthly things rather than eternal things. I look around my workplace and see some of my coworkers getting recognition for other’s work or obtaining undeserved rewards. Then the voice whispers in my ear, that’s not fair. You are doing work too, where’s your recognition and rewards? The problem with this type of thinking is it leads to a road of resentment, jealousy, and bitterness. These are not words I want to describe me, like, ever. If I trust God with what’s going on at my office, rather than being part of the position or money grabbing group, then I know He will reward me, if not in this life, than in heaven.
2. Keep an eternal perspective. I wrote an entire blog post about keeping an eternal perspective if you’d like to dig deeper in this concept. God wants to bless us. He’s a loving God who wants to lavish us with His love and forgiveness. However, we also have bodily needs which He provides for, if I allow Him to. The rewards we get here on earth, pale in comparison with what’s waiting in heaven. So I ask myself, do I want earthly rewards or do I want rewards in heaven? If I’m obedient to God and what He’s calling me to do, both of rewards will materialize.
3. Trust God. This is a theme throughout my life and therefore my blog. I’m still working on developing my complete trust in God. To know in my heart, not only my head that He has my back. He is my provider, my redeemer, my Savior. I can’t save myself from the problems of my life, because if I did, then I don’t have a need for God. In the turmoil of my life right now, I feel God working through this trust issue with me because there are days where I find myself seeking Him almost moment by moment.
I’m continually finding God in my work, by not allowing work to become my god. This is still a work in progress (pun intended) and probably will continue being a struggle for me on this side of heaven. I’m learning to obtain my worth from God rather than my work.
How about you? Do you look for you worth in work? How do you keep God in perspective? Share it in the comments below so we can encourage one another.