Are You a Godly Worker?

According to Andrew Naber, an industrial-organizational psychologist and data scientist, the average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime. That is approximately 10.2 years. Another study from HuffPost Australia, says that the average person will spend 13 years and 2 months at their work. Any way you slice it we spend a lot of time at work! 

Pewresearch.org reports that roughly half (51%) of those interviewed said they were satisfied with their job, while approximately 67% said they were extremely satisfied or very satisfied with their relationships with their co-workers, and 62% with their manager or supervisor.  

When I was a young man working at Hartland Tannery in the 1970’s I got a rude awakening one day when, as I stormed up to my boss complaining yet again about something that set me off, he said to me, “Whitney, you do more complaining and less work than anyone around here, shut up and go back to work!” 

I slinked off to my machine while everyone else sat in stunned silence, but I thought long and hard about what my boss said, and I decided to make a change. While I was not living for the Lord at the time, I did not want to be known as a lazy complainer, so I stepped up my game. And you know what? I was a lot happier. 

Now, as one who wants to glorify my Lord in all that I do, I take Colossians 3:23-24 to heart, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” 

What about you? How do you view your job? And just as important, how does your employer view your performance and attitude at work? Are you known as a hard worker with a good attitude, or are you a lazy complainer that brings everyone around you down? If you are, do the kingdom a favor and either step it up at work, change your attitude and work hard, or don’t tell anyone you are a Christian.  

Whether you love your job or not, Jesus expects you to honor him by the way that you work and relate to your co-workers and employers. If God has spoken to you, repent and seek His strength to make a change. He will help you, and you’ll be glad you did!