Honoring God at Work

I believe the best way to honor God in your work is through your attitude. Whoever you are working for will be revealed in your attitude. The goal of a job should be more than making money. It’s a place of outreach and connection. When you realize that your work is your mission field, your attitude changes. 

Often times in work, you have to do things you don’t want to do. Doing those things with a good attitude, without grumbling, honors God. I don’t do all of this right yet, but God is bringing me closer and closer to the goal. When an alarm goes off at two in the morning, I don’t want to drive into work, but that is my job, and it is what I am called by God to do. 

We are often called to do things behind the scenes that only God will ever see. Those are the things that are most important, because in those moments you work only to please God.

God is pleased and honored by our work when we show respect and love through things like being on time, being productive, and having a good attitude. It’s very similar to Friendship’s mission statement: Love, Live and Serve like Jesus. If you go to work and you act all “grumpy pants,” God isn’t glorified.

God gives us the opportunity to honor Him through our work relationships. Being kind and honest to your coworkers, and setting boundaries, shows them Jesus.

When I was a contractor, I worked to honor God through my words. I used to have clients and coworkers that would swear, yell at me, and get angry, because I wouldn’t yell back at them. I knew that my words and attitude were representing Jesus. They would ask me, “Why don’t you ever swear like everyone else?” It became an amazing way to share the Gospel.

God calls us all to be good workers. Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” 

I am learning that a very important part of maintaining a healthy work life is setting boundaries. It can be very easy to let work become your entire life, especially with technology. A few more emails are just a touch away. Keeping your work within those boundaries allows you to be present with God and with your family. The separation needs to be concrete, but also mental. Work can become an idol, if you are constantly thinking about it. When your work consumes your day, it can hinder your relationship with God and cause you to get frustrated and burn out quickly. When that happens, you can no longer do the work God is calling you to do.

God calls us all to different jobs and uses us in all of them. Whether you clean toilets, preach sermons, file papers, or save lives, you can honor God.