Work Is a Response
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Work Is a Response
Work Is a Response
Work Is a Response
The way you work is an operational response to what you believe about life and work. Your values, systems, process, methods, and unique actions are all informed by what you think is true. What you think is most important determines the way you work.
How you work is a response to what you believe.
The way you work is an operational response to what you believe about life and work. Your values, systems, process, methods, and unique actions are all informed by what you think is true.
What you think is most important determines the way you work.
- If you believe work is about money for you and your family, you will attempt to maximize everything for money.
- If you believe work is a game, you will devise strategies to try to win.
- If you believe you work because you “have to” you will be resentful at work.
- If you do your work "to get" you will be constantly looking for what's in it for me.
Simon Says
Simon Sinek the Creator of the Golden Circle explains the HOW.
- The center (WHY): Your purpose, cause, or belief — why your organization or project exists (beyond just making money).
- The middle ring (HOW): Your process, guiding principles, core values, or the specific actions you take to bring your why to life.
- The outer ring (WHAT): The tangible products, services, or job functions that you offer and sell.
Companies and people know HOW they do what they do and can communicate these processes clearly. HOWs are often utilized to explain that a product or service is better than a competitors — but HOWs can be so much more than that.
“Our HOWs are the actions we take when we are at our natural best and are living out our WHY. It's HOW you bring your WHY to life that makes you and your company unique. As a result, the combination of your WHY and HOW is like your organization's fingerprint.” - Simon Sinek
Culture Says
The capitalist American way of life says work is about opportunity and freedom — that anyone can achieve anything. Self-help books and videos tell you that work is all about you. Work hard enough and put your mind to it and you can achieve anything. This sounds positive and has many positive elements but at the center of this is self.
“If it’s to be, it’s up me” is a nice slogan but is a terrible lie.
Truth Says
Jesus says that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Jesus says He is the The Way — the How — to work. If you trust in Jesus for the next billion times a billion years, His Way to life for eternity, why not trust Him for the Way to work?
Those who follow Jesus have a distinct advantage working His way at work because they know all things including work are from Him, through Him, and for Him (Romans 11:36).
The apostle Paul was given the truth above, and the truth of HOW God works in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit as He wrote the letter to the Romans. After what we now know as 11 chapters of perfect theology, the focus in the book of Romans turns to HOW we should respond to the Way God works.
How should we respond to what we believe?
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” - [.no-reftag]Romans 12:1[.no-reftag]
In View of God’s Mercy
This is not a pay off. We could never pay God back!
This is an invitation to work the way He worked. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice and He is inviting us to give our lives in a similar way through daily loving and caring for the people we work with to make the world a better place. Sometimes, sacrificing doesn’t even feel like a sacrifice because we know we’re doing the right thing.
But that’s the key: serving others from a gracious response for all God has done for us. This is completely different from trying to earn favor or pay God back. We know we’re doing the right thing because we can’t lay our lives down for others unless we have received Jesus who laid His life for us.
There is great dignity, honor, and purpose in working though Jesus and for Jesus. The invitation is to follow Jesus — working with Jesus the Way He worked. Jesus is your perfect partner at work!
The exact HOW we work as a living sacrifice with Jesus can be done in countless unique ways because He has gifted each of us so differently (1 Corinthians 12). We are each as unique as a snowflake or a fingerprint, and we deploy our gifts uniquely.
How to Work This Way
The person that was working because they used to believe they “have to” or the need to “do to get”, now works because they "get to" serve others with their time and talents.
The person who worked because they believed it was a game, now believes work is an incredible opportunity for worship.
The person who believed they had to prove themselves at work, might now work to make sure everyone they work for is validated in their gifts and knows the Source of validation and gifts.
The owner who used to work for money, might now sacrifice their compensation so the employees in the company can earn more.
How might this type of work change the world?
Francis Schaeffer offered this at a worldwide Christian conference. “If at each place where the employer-owner was a Bible-believing Christian, the world could see that less profit was being taken out so that the workers could have appreciably more than the going rate of pay, the gospel would have been better proclaimed throughout the world than if the profits were the same as the world took and then large endowments given to Christian missions and other projects.”
This is an incredible opportunity, not a burden. You see, Jesus was not forced to lay down His life and neither are you. Jesus gave up His life for love for you and me.
Once you receive His life for your record — once you know what’s been done for you — that your life is completely covered, that you’ve been bought with a price ( 1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and you’ll live forever. There’s nothing left to do at work but to serve others His Way
Work this Way, with Him and for Him!
"For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building." - [.no-reftag]1 Corinthians 3:9[.no-reftag]
Resources:
Video: Work From Glory, Through Glory, and For Glory | Howard Graham
How you work is a response to what you believe.
The way you work is an operational response to what you believe about life and work. Your values, systems, process, methods, and unique actions are all informed by what you think is true.
What you think is most important determines the way you work.
- If you believe work is about money for you and your family, you will attempt to maximize everything for money.
- If you believe work is a game, you will devise strategies to try to win.
- If you believe you work because you “have to” you will be resentful at work.
- If you do your work "to get" you will be constantly looking for what's in it for me.
Simon Says
Simon Sinek the Creator of the Golden Circle explains the HOW.
- The center (WHY): Your purpose, cause, or belief — why your organization or project exists (beyond just making money).
- The middle ring (HOW): Your process, guiding principles, core values, or the specific actions you take to bring your why to life.
- The outer ring (WHAT): The tangible products, services, or job functions that you offer and sell.
Companies and people know HOW they do what they do and can communicate these processes clearly. HOWs are often utilized to explain that a product or service is better than a competitors — but HOWs can be so much more than that.
“Our HOWs are the actions we take when we are at our natural best and are living out our WHY. It's HOW you bring your WHY to life that makes you and your company unique. As a result, the combination of your WHY and HOW is like your organization's fingerprint.” - Simon Sinek
Culture Says
The capitalist American way of life says work is about opportunity and freedom — that anyone can achieve anything. Self-help books and videos tell you that work is all about you. Work hard enough and put your mind to it and you can achieve anything. This sounds positive and has many positive elements but at the center of this is self.
“If it’s to be, it’s up me” is a nice slogan but is a terrible lie.
Truth Says
Jesus says that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Jesus says He is the The Way — the How — to work. If you trust in Jesus for the next billion times a billion years, His Way to life for eternity, why not trust Him for the Way to work?
Those who follow Jesus have a distinct advantage working His way at work because they know all things including work are from Him, through Him, and for Him (Romans 11:36).
The apostle Paul was given the truth above, and the truth of HOW God works in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit as He wrote the letter to the Romans. After what we now know as 11 chapters of perfect theology, the focus in the book of Romans turns to HOW we should respond to the Way God works.
How should we respond to what we believe?
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” - [.no-reftag]Romans 12:1[.no-reftag]
In View of God’s Mercy
This is not a pay off. We could never pay God back!
This is an invitation to work the way He worked. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice and He is inviting us to give our lives in a similar way through daily loving and caring for the people we work with to make the world a better place. Sometimes, sacrificing doesn’t even feel like a sacrifice because we know we’re doing the right thing.
But that’s the key: serving others from a gracious response for all God has done for us. This is completely different from trying to earn favor or pay God back. We know we’re doing the right thing because we can’t lay our lives down for others unless we have received Jesus who laid His life for us.
There is great dignity, honor, and purpose in working though Jesus and for Jesus. The invitation is to follow Jesus — working with Jesus the Way He worked. Jesus is your perfect partner at work!
The exact HOW we work as a living sacrifice with Jesus can be done in countless unique ways because He has gifted each of us so differently (1 Corinthians 12). We are each as unique as a snowflake or a fingerprint, and we deploy our gifts uniquely.
How to Work This Way
The person that was working because they used to believe they “have to” or the need to “do to get”, now works because they "get to" serve others with their time and talents.
The person who worked because they believed it was a game, now believes work is an incredible opportunity for worship.
The person who believed they had to prove themselves at work, might now work to make sure everyone they work for is validated in their gifts and knows the Source of validation and gifts.
The owner who used to work for money, might now sacrifice their compensation so the employees in the company can earn more.
How might this type of work change the world?
Francis Schaeffer offered this at a worldwide Christian conference. “If at each place where the employer-owner was a Bible-believing Christian, the world could see that less profit was being taken out so that the workers could have appreciably more than the going rate of pay, the gospel would have been better proclaimed throughout the world than if the profits were the same as the world took and then large endowments given to Christian missions and other projects.”
This is an incredible opportunity, not a burden. You see, Jesus was not forced to lay down His life and neither are you. Jesus gave up His life for love for you and me.
Once you receive His life for your record — once you know what’s been done for you — that your life is completely covered, that you’ve been bought with a price ( 1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and you’ll live forever. There’s nothing left to do at work but to serve others His Way
Work this Way, with Him and for Him!
"For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building." - [.no-reftag]1 Corinthians 3:9[.no-reftag]
Resources:
Video: Work From Glory, Through Glory, and For Glory | Howard Graham