How should we view work? - Work - TouchPoints

Genesis 1:27-28So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

Genesis 2:15The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.

There is value and honor in work. God created people and gave them dominion over his creation. In other words, God created us for work. Even before the curse, humanity was given the opportunity to transform the raw materials of earth into things that would enhance life. Work has always been meant to honor God, to give people the dignity of having something important to do, and to bring blessings to others.

Genesis 3:17-19To the man he [God] said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”

Although God’s original plan for humans to do meaningful work never changed, the curse of the fall added difficulty to that work. Even the most enjoyable work will still at times feel like work. The fall affected even the very best things of life. Yet God can still enable us to do our work with dignity, honor, creativity, and excellence, which reflects his image in us.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.

Our attitude toward work should include the goal of honoring God by the way we work, as well as supporting ourselves and others with what we need to live.

Proverbs 13:11Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.

Honest, hard work is much better than schemes to get rich quickly.

Ecclesiastes 5:19It is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God.

Colossians 3:17Whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Our goal should be to work in such a way that we are good representatives of Jesus.