Labor of Love
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 “We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” NIV
Greetings Neighbor!
Although the verses above were the greeting from Paul, Silas and Timothy to the church in Thessalonica; I do thank God for all of you and I pray for you as you continue to live out the love and message of Jesus in your Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and ends of the earth. This week we continue to expand our mission field map in your workplace.
Last week I shared ways you could engage in prayer as you prepared to go to work, on your way and throughout the day. This week I want to add the “care” element of your workplace. It is such a misnomer to think that your work is only useful to Jesus when you write a church tithe or ministry donation out of your paycheck. While faithful tithing and cheerful giving is a crucial part of our worship and relationship with Jesus; all of our time, talent and treasure belongs to Him and you are a disciple-maker 24/7. Your workplace is part of your mission field; in fact it may be where you spend most of your time and have your closest or most consistent relationships outside of your family. In addition to the time and space you share, you also have common goals. In many ways your success depends on one another; one team member’s bad/good day or bad/good choice can affect the entire office, division or company.
It is vital to have strong relationships, good communication and a sense of a supportive caring team. How are these kinds of relationships built? They are built with the character of Christ being lived out in you at work. Humility, kindness and authentically caring about the people you work with will not only raise the success of your business, it will increase opportunities for you to invite co-workers to church and to share your faith. Research shows that co-workers who take breaks together, eat, socialize, engage in a project to help others and even travel together, are more successful than those who “keep work separate” from the rest of their life. Getting to know your co-workers; about their families, hobbies, and backgrounds can lead to stronger relationships that share their needs, struggles, celebrations and other areas you can pray about and show care. Your co-workers may have a sick family member, an elderly parent or child who needs extra care, they may have a heart for caring for the hungry, or your kids may attend the same school. All of these circumstances are opportunities for you to show the love of Jesus to them and their families.
There are many ways you can show care in the office; bring someone lunch or dinner when they are working to finish a project, offer to get them something when you go on a coffee or smoothie run, offer to brainstorm with them, smile, be polite and cheerful, be affirming and congratulate them when they are recognized or rewarded. There are also things you should avoid; avoid gossip or saying negative things about anyone at work, and avoid doing anything that undermines others’ success. Be the same person at work on Monday that you are at church on Sunday. Loving your neighbor as Jesus loved you is especially important to your witness as a Christian in the workplace. Go out of your way to be humble, kind and genuine. Your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus will catch the attention of others and give glory to Jesus in your workplace. Your labor of love is a lifestyle Jesus will bless.
I challenge you to care for every person connected with your workplace and to prompt other neighbors to show Christ’s care in their workplace, so that every American is consistently cared for by the end of the year 2020.
Love is a verb…let’s get moving!
Kathy B.
Send us your testimonies and ideas of sharing Christ’s love and message in the workplace with us at love2020stories@gmail.com. For more ideas on prayer-care-share for the Workplace, visit our Workplace action plan under the Strength Conditioning page at www.LOVE2020.com. Check out www.Iwork4Him.com and tune in to their radio show Monday through Friday at 3 PM ET to learn more about connecting with Christ in your workplace.
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