Good Work Enables Life
Good Work Enables Life
Good Work Enables Life
Good Work Enables Life
A good job facilitates the rest of your life. Your life is about so much more than your job. The value exchange of work is complete when you receive benefits in exchange for the work you have done.
Good work enables you to live a full life. The joy and satisfaction of deploying your gifts for the needs of others is a true reward, but the value exchange of work is not complete until we receive what we need to live our best life.
Work, in its purest form, is a three-way exchange of value that glorifies our creator.
The three parts of this triple-value exchange are: (1) your gifts (2) deployed toward the needs of the world (3) in a way that enables your life.
As these 3 parts of work overlap and converge, the result is increased value for all stakeholders, and, most importantly, more joy and satisfaction.
1) For the Needs of Others: The purpose of our work is to meet the needs of people. Dallas Willard says it this way, “The aim of business is to make provision for the needs of the people in an area. The best businesses in the world serve a need that society as a whole, a specific region, or a local community has.” This is as true for those working businesses like Autozone, or FedEx and this equally is true for those working in nonprofits. Every one of us needs to understand how to meet the needs of others even when those we serve don’t know what they need.
2) Deploy Your Gifts: Every person is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) and is given unique gifts to utilize (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). The key to growing and developing your gifts is to put them to use for the needs of others. It is not a gift if we don’t use it for others,
3) Enabling Your life: A good job facilitates the rest of your life. Your life is about so much more than your job. The value exchange of work is complete when you receive benefits in exchange for the work you have done. Those benefits of work allow you to successfully lead and love the important people in your life.
Understanding each of these parts and their potential for overlap is the key to finding the deepest satisfaction and life-giving joy in your work. To learn more about the needs of others and how you can deploy your gifts, see the links listed above. The rest of this article is written to help answer the question: What life enablers do you need to do good work?
Not All About Money
The first thing that comes to mind when we think of what we need from our work is financial compensation. And, while we may think that more is always better, research done over the last 120 years shows no correlation between higher financial compensation and more satisfaction at work.
This reality, that increased compensation does not equate to increased job satisfaction, is detailed in an insightful article written by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic for Harvard Business Review. “As meta-analytic studies show, there is almost zero correlation between pay and job satisfaction. For example, lawyers earning $160,000 per year are as satisfied with their jobs as nurses making $35,000 per year. However, although money doesn’t satisfy, it still motivates. We make many, many, decisions focused on financial incentives, especially when it comes to our jobs. Even when people say that they would happily take a pay cut if they could work less, commute less, or have a more enjoyable job, they often don’t actually make those choices, and prefer to stick to the higher salary.”
Chamorro-Premuzic goes on to say, “At some level, people are people. They want to have meaningful work. They want to have real connections with their coworkers and their managers; they want what they’re doing to have a broader purpose; they want to be fairly compensated.”
4 Enablers We Need From Work
We want to be fairly compensated for the work we are doing. Financial remuneration is certainly part of getting what we need to live a full life. But, perhaps more important than financial compensation work is a way to confirm the value we offer to others. Here are 4 enablers we need from work to live a fully flourishing life.
- Value Confirmed and Facilitated: What we need most from work is to know that our contributions are making a difference to the organization and the people we serve. When our board, boss, coworkers set us up for success and validate our work, we know we are valued.
- Opportunity for Growth: Humans are made to grow in multifaceted ways (Luke 2:52). Work should provide opportunities to use our current gifts to discover and develop new skills. To endure growth, it is good for us to have development plans that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time based. And, if we don’t have bosses and coworkers, we can ask for feedback from our customers.
- Community: A healthy team trusts and depends on each other (Acts 2:42-47) as they serve the needs of others. Introverts and extroverts alike need a flourishing work community. We need to work with people who trust each other enough to engage in healthy conflict, who commit to decisions, and hold each other accountable to results that are a collective success.
- Benefits for Flourishing Outside of Work: Most of us can't keep going to work if we are not paid appropriately for our services. This often includes benefits like access to affordable health insurance and ways to save tax free for retirement. We need daily work hours and vacation time that allow us to rest, worship, and grow personally as we love and serve our family, friends, and neighbors. Helpful hint: Consider the vows you have made and see if your job is facilitating those in order of importance.
Overreliance Is Problematic
We all need various levels of these good life enablers to live and work. However, overreliance on any of these temporary considerations can cause us to miss out on the One who completely and perfectly enables our life — both now and for eternity. Jesus is the answer for and provider of all we need. When work is not providing as we desire or perhaps not even fairly meeting obligations, we have One we can trust. We will never find complete validation from other humans (Psalm 146:3) or be satisfied with the things of this world. Instead we should store up our treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).
Ultimate Life, Joy And Victory!
Knowing that our work is from God, through God, and for the Glory of God (Romans 11:36) enables our life far more than temporary compensation or human validation. When we work for the Glory of God (Colossians 3:23), we know our work has life-giving value.
But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. — 1 Corinthians 15:57-58
Resources
Article: A Good Job For Life
Article: Nobody Knows What They Want, How Can I Best Serve Them?
Article: Uniquely Built For Right Now
Article: Business is Provision For People
Good work enables you to live a full life. The joy and satisfaction of deploying your gifts for the needs of others is a true reward, but the value exchange of work is not complete until we receive what we need to live our best life.
Work, in its purest form, is a three-way exchange of value that glorifies our creator.
The three parts of this triple-value exchange are: (1) your gifts (2) deployed toward the needs of the world (3) in a way that enables your life.
As these 3 parts of work overlap and converge, the result is increased value for all stakeholders, and, most importantly, more joy and satisfaction.
1) For the Needs of Others: The purpose of our work is to meet the needs of people. Dallas Willard says it this way, “The aim of business is to make provision for the needs of the people in an area. The best businesses in the world serve a need that society as a whole, a specific region, or a local community has.” This is as true for those working businesses like Autozone, or FedEx and this equally is true for those working in nonprofits. Every one of us needs to understand how to meet the needs of others even when those we serve don’t know what they need.
2) Deploy Your Gifts: Every person is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) and is given unique gifts to utilize (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). The key to growing and developing your gifts is to put them to use for the needs of others. It is not a gift if we don’t use it for others,
3) Enabling Your life: A good job facilitates the rest of your life. Your life is about so much more than your job. The value exchange of work is complete when you receive benefits in exchange for the work you have done. Those benefits of work allow you to successfully lead and love the important people in your life.
Understanding each of these parts and their potential for overlap is the key to finding the deepest satisfaction and life-giving joy in your work. To learn more about the needs of others and how you can deploy your gifts, see the links listed above. The rest of this article is written to help answer the question: What life enablers do you need to do good work?
Not All About Money
The first thing that comes to mind when we think of what we need from our work is financial compensation. And, while we may think that more is always better, research done over the last 120 years shows no correlation between higher financial compensation and more satisfaction at work.
This reality, that increased compensation does not equate to increased job satisfaction, is detailed in an insightful article written by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic for Harvard Business Review. “As meta-analytic studies show, there is almost zero correlation between pay and job satisfaction. For example, lawyers earning $160,000 per year are as satisfied with their jobs as nurses making $35,000 per year. However, although money doesn’t satisfy, it still motivates. We make many, many, decisions focused on financial incentives, especially when it comes to our jobs. Even when people say that they would happily take a pay cut if they could work less, commute less, or have a more enjoyable job, they often don’t actually make those choices, and prefer to stick to the higher salary.”
Chamorro-Premuzic goes on to say, “At some level, people are people. They want to have meaningful work. They want to have real connections with their coworkers and their managers; they want what they’re doing to have a broader purpose; they want to be fairly compensated.”
4 Enablers We Need From Work
We want to be fairly compensated for the work we are doing. Financial remuneration is certainly part of getting what we need to live a full life. But, perhaps more important than financial compensation work is a way to confirm the value we offer to others. Here are 4 enablers we need from work to live a fully flourishing life.
- Value Confirmed and Facilitated: What we need most from work is to know that our contributions are making a difference to the organization and the people we serve. When our board, boss, coworkers set us up for success and validate our work, we know we are valued.
- Opportunity for Growth: Humans are made to grow in multifaceted ways (Luke 2:52). Work should provide opportunities to use our current gifts to discover and develop new skills. To endure growth, it is good for us to have development plans that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time based. And, if we don’t have bosses and coworkers, we can ask for feedback from our customers.
- Community: A healthy team trusts and depends on each other (Acts 2:42-47) as they serve the needs of others. Introverts and extroverts alike need a flourishing work community. We need to work with people who trust each other enough to engage in healthy conflict, who commit to decisions, and hold each other accountable to results that are a collective success.
- Benefits for Flourishing Outside of Work: Most of us can't keep going to work if we are not paid appropriately for our services. This often includes benefits like access to affordable health insurance and ways to save tax free for retirement. We need daily work hours and vacation time that allow us to rest, worship, and grow personally as we love and serve our family, friends, and neighbors. Helpful hint: Consider the vows you have made and see if your job is facilitating those in order of importance.
Overreliance Is Problematic
We all need various levels of these good life enablers to live and work. However, overreliance on any of these temporary considerations can cause us to miss out on the One who completely and perfectly enables our life — both now and for eternity. Jesus is the answer for and provider of all we need. When work is not providing as we desire or perhaps not even fairly meeting obligations, we have One we can trust. We will never find complete validation from other humans (Psalm 146:3) or be satisfied with the things of this world. Instead we should store up our treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).
Ultimate Life, Joy And Victory!
Knowing that our work is from God, through God, and for the Glory of God (Romans 11:36) enables our life far more than temporary compensation or human validation. When we work for the Glory of God (Colossians 3:23), we know our work has life-giving value.
But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. — 1 Corinthians 15:57-58
Resources
Article: A Good Job For Life
Article: Nobody Knows What They Want, How Can I Best Serve Them?
Article: Uniquely Built For Right Now
Article: Business is Provision For People