HOW TO DO YOUR WORK FOR THE GLORY OF GOD Pleasing Christ with the “Product” of Your Work

“Work” is any creative activity directed toward a goal.

Why work? (1) We work to provide for basic needs; (2) We work to serve others -- whether directly or indirectly. (3) We work to serve God -- to glorify him – “knowing and showing his greatness.”

Colossians 3:23-24 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men... It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Our primary goal is to work for Christ.

In practice, this means we seek to please Christ in the product (the quality) of our work... and the process (in our hearts) of our work.

Pleasing Christ with the Product of our Work We should acknowledge God with gratitude as the giver of our abilities, lest we succumb to pride about what we accomplish, or treat our abilities as an idol such that we need to satisfy our soul in them apart from God.

Should Christians pursue “excellence” in all we do? 1. Excellence implies a certain high standard or quality that is often unattainable because of the limitations of our abilities.

2. Excellence implies that significant effort must be expended to do specific work at a high quality level, and the reality is that we cannot expend significant effort in everything we do.

Some Implications: a. We’ll likely produce poor quality in some things, mediocre quality in many things, good quality in many things, and pursue excellence in a few things.

b. This means that we’re inevitably going to disappoint some people around us. Remember: You don’t primarily work to please people! You work for Christ! So this person’s opinion is not as important as His!

Galatians 1:10 "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.“

1 Corinthians 10:31 ‑ 11:1 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God ‑‑ even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.“

2 Corinthians 8:21 "For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men."

Ask questions like: ♦ “Should I put more effort into increasing the quality of my work in this area? ♦ Is it worth the time and energy? ♦ And what might I need to give up in order to reallocate my energy in this direction? ♦ Am I even capable of increasing the quality of this work?”

How do we live day after day knowing we may have disappointed God himself, whose standards may be higher than ours?!

1.God understands our limitations and won’t expect more from us than we can give. 2. He gives us grace when we do fail.

Hebrews 4:15 ‑ 16 "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are ‑‑ yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." We can work for God’s pleasure and not fear his rejection.

3. Sometimes we must admit that our expectations are higher than God’s (“Do your best with the time and resources you have available”) and we must repent of not accepting our human limitations.

● Group Study God on my book “You & God – An Invitation to Radical Living” ● Over 250 Recommended Redemptive Movies; ● Over 150 personal Teaching Outlines/Papers]