Let’s be honest, Thanksgiving with family can sometimes be hard.
And in a lot of ways, the workplace can be very similar to a Thanksgiving experience – a place filled with imperfect people who have differing opinions and beliefs all united by one common mission. The only difference is that they share a conference table instead of a dinner table.
Hostility, pride and selfishness are a few things that plague even the greatest of workplaces. However, the Bible makes it very clear that God calls us to take a higher approach to how we work with others. (1 Pet. 2:21-25)
The Bible teaches us that when Jesus changes our lives, he changes our relationships with others, too. When we commit to showing outrageous gratitude and love to those around us at work — it can be transformational.
Here are a few ways you can take outrageous gratitude and love to work.
- Work praisefully: Praising your co-workers and leaders for a job well done is one of the best ways to show gratitude at work. A simple text or email, as well as public recognition, can go a long way. (Philippians 2:1)
- Work lovingly: Can you imagine what your workplace would look like if everyone tried to outdo one another in behaviors like genuine patience, kindness, humility, honesty, perseverance and trust? It’s possible you could enrich the bottom line and influence employees to be motivated and loyal. (1 Pet. 1:22)
- Work humbly: When it comes to crediting ideas and even wrestling with co-worker rivalry, it’s easy to get into a ‘me first’ mentality. Putting others’ interests before your own is a powerful way to recognize where our true strength and confidence belongs – in the Lord. (1 Peter 3:9)
- Work compassionately: It can be really difficult to let go of grudges against co-workers who either intentionally or unintentionally say or do hurtful things. At times, it can seem easier to hold onto the burn rather than feel deep compassion toward them. However, God commands us to be kindhearted and compassionate toward even the most difficult of co-workers. (Matthew 9:36)
- Work prayerfully: Pray for your work, your team, your clients — every aspect of your work. Here’s how.
- Work harmoniously: Harmony means to be unified, but unity does not mean uniformity, and it does not mean we should expect everyone to think and behave the same way we do. Instead, we should make every effort to avoid division in our relationships at work, and find the unity in our diversity(1 Peter 3:8).
We challenge you to take these principles with you back to the office after celebrating a time of thanks and giving with friends and family this Thanksgiving.
