As Unto The Lord

One can conjure many emotions when thinking about the different places we work. Some ideas the come to mind are overworked, underpaid, deadlines, under appreciated, anxiety, and aggravation; just to name a few. All of these words have a negative connotation. Too often we focus on the negative and forget the positive. What we don’t realize is the attitude we have in our work place affects so many aspects of our lives. It affects our home lives, our friendships, our reputation, and most importantly our relationship with God. Instead of focusing on the negativity of our work, let’s take some time to focus on the positive aspects of our work and how we can use our work to glorify God.

Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Why do we work? According to these verses, we work to honor and glorify God. God has blessed us in so many ways. He has given us our wonderful bodies as tools to use, capable of performing tasks from teaching, to carpentry, to open heart surgery. By doing work and doing it with a positive attitude, we are glorifying God. How does this glorify God? It glorifies God by working the way God has designed us and commanded us to do.

While this may sound easy, many times it can be hard to place into practice what we know is right. Speaking for myself, I often feel daunted by the task of being thankful for my job and doing the daily tasks of it with a good attitude. Why do so many of us feel this way about our work? There are many different reasons, but whatever our individual reason may be, all can be summarized as we allow ourselves to get discouraged and lose focus by negative things that happen around us. We may get passed up for a promotion, or we may want more money. Whatever our reason may be, look past it, look to what we do have and be thankful to God, and glorify God for blessing us. Glorify God by using the abilities he has given us to do our work. By doing so, others will take notice.

Do your work heartily as unto the Lord? When others notice our positive God- focused attitude, we will have a powerful influence over co-workers and friends. We can change our workplace and change the hearts of others. By having a Godly attitude towards our work, we will be individuals who glorify God, by doing our work heartily, as unto the Lord.