How to Honor God With Your Work
We spend the majority of our weeks at an office or working a job. How do we honor God in our jobs? What is God’s perspective on work?
Where do you spend the majority of your week? Unless you're retired, you probably spend it engaged with your place of employment. It's reported that people spend more than 50% of their lives at work, and truth told, some of us probably spend more closer to 75%. We rarely have issues dedicating much of our lives to our work. We devote our lives toperforming our duties with excellence. We have made a vow to our jobs, and that's a good thing.
But what does it mean to make vows at work? I want to say this as boldly as I can: God is as much with us at our work and in our work as He is in any other place, including church, Bible study, and prayer meeting. We forget this because of our frequent tendency to divide our lives into compartments, labeled sacred and secular. These labels are a false division.
Do you believe that God is with us in life no matter where we are? Think of this, the workplace is God's place. We need to believe this so much that we regard our work as part of our worship of God. There should be no split between the sacred and secular spheres of life because every moment of life can be holy unto the Lord.
Let's break this down into God's perspectives on work.
1. God created work for our benefit.
The first thing God did with Adam was to assign him work. Genesis 2:15 says, "The Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden, to work it and to take care of it." You could say that we've been working ever since then.
We don't often thank God for work because some think that work was something God did to punish us after the Fall. But biblically, God gave us work before the Fall, and it was given to us for our benefit. However, work did become more difficult after the Fall because it turned into sweat, grind, and labor.
"By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food." (Genesis 3:19)
But why would a loving God put His children to work as soon as He created them? Because He knew human labor was a blessing. He knew it would provide us with challenges, adventure, and rewards that nothing else would provide for us. But, on the other hand, He knew that creatures made in His image would not experience the fulfillment of life unless they learned to embrace work that they needed to devote themselves to a meaningful task.
“Work in the will of God is meant to be nourishment, not punishment.”
Work is intended to be nourishment, not punishment. If our work doesn't make us grow, two things may be true. Either we're in the wrong place, or we have the wrong attitude toward the right place.
2. Work is necessary.
Work is so important that God gives this command in Exodus 34:21: "Six days you shall labor." The Apostle Paul communicates numerous times in his letters that work, or labor, is an economic necessity and a moral obligation. He said that a person who doesn't care for their family is worse than an unfaithful person.
Why did Paul take such a strong stance on work? Because work is not just about earning money. It is to produce character and maturity. The more you practice the gifts that God has given to you, the more you are being refined. Your skills increase, your diligence is produced, and your talent gets better.
An older gentleman once told me, "I need the work more than the work needs me." In other words, it helps refine us.
3. We work for Christ.
God has designed work in such a way that we are serving Him as we work. Paul says in Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord and not for men."
As Christians, the inheritance (reward) we receive at the end of life is from the Lord. It is the Lord Christ that you are serving when you work. So I think the most critical question for us to ask ourselves, and repeat every day, is: Who am I working for?
I like to put it like this. Who is my real boss?
When we set our hearts and mind to something, where is our energy going? Some of us may have a boss, and others may have employees, but what's important is where our heart is directed? Has it become just a money-making function? Or do we see it from God's perspective where that work is necessary to keep us refined? Do we see our work as something that we're to do as an offering to God, we work for Christ?
If you could see Jesus Christ as your real boss, would you work differently?
How many of you have experienced the absolute agony of working mechanically like robots? Every day you show up for work, but if you had your choice, you'd stay in the easy chair. When this is our work, we don't think of it as anything to do with our worship. But God has given you a body and a mind, and He's put skill in you. When He gave you that skill, He had more in mind about your work than mechanics. Rather He gave it to you to be filled with a dynamic of the Holy Spirit that your work has meaning because of who you're doing work with.
Think about it; nobody has been assigned to that job except for you. You're a team member who can make a difference, not just to get the work done but to minister to the workers around you by how you do your job. So we can work mechanically or live and work solely for ourselves and our loved ones.
“Your life is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God.”
When we spend so much of our life at work, we can offer our daily work to God as worship, no matter our job. So what are we doing with this gift that God has given to us?
What is God's part in our work?
1. God gives us our skills.
None of us are identical. We all have different gifts to offer. That's shown best in the tabernacle building when God commanded every person to pitch in and offer their skill. God wants us to give Him every skill that we have because He gave us that skill. Whether you're a carpenter like Jesus, a government worker, like Daniel, a tentmaker, like Paul, or a doctor, like Luke, God can use us in His Word, and He'll use whatever we give Him.
2. God anoints us.
He anoints us when He puts us somewhere to do a job. So in Luke 4:18, Jesus stands at the synagogue and announces His ministry, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and He has anointed me."
In Scripture, anytime you see the word anointed, that means that God is giving someone a job to do. And just as He assigned that person a particular job, His spirit will enable them to do the job. So, likewise, God will anoint you to face every challenge to complete the work He's called you to do.
Everywhere we go is a mission field. You never know the impact you're going to make for Christ when you take seriously the presence of God anointing you. Every interaction you have, you speak words of life to people. If you're still breathing, you can speak words of life and love that can make a difference everywhere you go. God calls us to be holy saints. That doesn't mean perfect, but it does mean that we are to love people as Christ loves us.
So what's our part in the work? Our role is, to be honest, faithful, and prayerful about our work. We are to honor our employers and the fellow employees we work with (sometimes that can be difficult, can't it?). If you're an employer, you are to honor and treat your employees fairly, as unto the Lord, and you are to bless them.
3. God allows us to bless others.
Work is a blessed channel that God has provided to give not only to yourself and your family but also to others in need. Are you a blessed channel? Are you one of God's channels, a conduit for his blessing to flow through?
Some of you may think, well, I've passed that season in my life. You may be retired or unable to work. But, I'm not going to leave you out because the most critical work that you can do is worship the Lord and make an impact for him.
Regardless of your season in life, folks, if you're still here, God's still got something for you to do. Somebody say amen. There's somebody for you to love. There's somebody for you to tell about Jesus. There's somebody that you need to lift His name. Somebody needs to hear your story. Somebody needs to know when Jesus was available for you during a tough time in your life because they're going through a tough time. And they need to have their faith built by the power of your testimony, as you faithfully share that and trust God with those people around you.
If you say, Bro. Chris, I don't know what God has for me. How do I honor God with my work? Here’s a few ways to pray for your. job.
How to pray for your job.
Heavenly Father,
Please give me a fresh supply of strength to do my job. Anoint me to carry out projects, ideas, and plans to bring you glory, even my most minor accomplishment. Lord, when I'm confused, guide me, when I'm weary, energize me, when I'm burned out, infuse me with the light of the Holy Spirit. May the work I do in the way I do bring faith, joy, and a smile to you and all I come in contact with today.
In Jesus name,
Amen.
Ask God to pour out His anointing for you.
Pray to God that He will help you succeed in His eyes and the fruitful of His Kingdom.
Whether secular or sacred, pray for impact in this Body of Christ God regardless of your position.
Pray that you're a believer on the job as much as you can be anywhere else.
Pray that your mind be sharp and your hand be skillful.
Ask God to make you a conduit that be a blessing to others and where you've been called to be.
Ask God to use you when you're aware of it and when you don't know what you're doing. Open your heart to allow God to flow through us for His glory.
Pray for your co-workers that not one person would feel insignificant or invisible in their position.
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About Christ Church Memphis
Christ Church Memphis is church in East Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 65 years, Christ Church has served the Memphis community. Every weekend, there are multiple worship opportunities including traditional, contemporary and blended services.
