Joseph, the treasured son of Jacob, was sold into slavery by his brothers and eventually wound up in Egypt working for Potiphar, an Egyptian official. And right from the start, Joseph proves to be exceptionally good at his job…
Last Thursday many of us were fortunate enough to gather around a table and share a meal with people we love. Some of those folks we chose and others we inherited. While most meals aren’t as memorable as Thanksgiving, each meal is pregnant with possibilities.
We were created by God and we were saved through God’s grace. Both were God’s gifts to us, without us having to do a single thing. The number and grandness of our works have no sway on whether God grants us the gift of being saved. So then, why should we care about doing good works?
Our instruction in Matthew 5:16 is explicit, “let your light shine before others,” but we’re not lamps or lighthouses, so what does it look like to shine our light at work?
Regardless of the nature of our jobs or our position within our organization, we all have a deeply rooted desire for our work to be valued.
Life is simultaneously beautiful, painful, and monotonous. For me, more often than not, it is easy to view my work as monotonous and, at times, painful. For a long time, I viewed my work as just something that I had to do to pay the bills. I am encouraged by the fact that Solomon felt the same way about his work. Solomon hated his toil. He hated the fact that someone would come take over the kingdom after him and that he would no longer have control over it.
It’s easy to assume that everyone knows we should serve each other, especially as Christians. But as leaders in the workplace, we should actively remind others of the importance of serving others and putting our thoughts and words into action.
For 20 years, David Roth has helped others integrate work and faith through Workmatters. Founder of a nonprofit that helps people live out their faith through their work, Roth focused Workmatters efforts on creating practical, not theology-based, solutions for Christians in the workplace.
Choose one area of your work to dissect. It could be your relationships, skill set, work-life balance, etc. What small steps could you take to improve that area to better reflect God?
When I think of the word integrity, I think of honesty and authenticity. Of course, we should be asking ourselves, “Am I being honest and truthful to those I work with?” But when was the last time you wondered if you were being truthful and honest with yourself?
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