I retired from my secular job in 2022, after spending 40 years in the work-force. Having retired for nearly 4 years now, there are still mornings when I would pinch myself and ask myself whether it is true that I do not have to go the office to work anymore....! 😃
Forty years in the competitive, relentless and exhausting rat-race just seemed to have gone by in the blink of an eye.....
Last year, I had the opportunity to share in church what it was like to be a Christian at work, drawing from my years of secular working experience.
I hope my little sharing will be able to encourage others in their endeavours to be true to our Lord Jesus Christ, not only in church on Sundays, but also at work or otherwise from Mondays to Fridays.
Cheers!
7th September 2025
Work &
Faith: Glorifying God in the Workplace
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24)
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (Proverbs 16:3)
Work is more than “just doing something for a living”. The biblical concept of work is more than that.
As a matter of fact, work is a divinely ordained part of life.
·
God works.
“He rested on the seventh day from all His work” (Gen 2:2)
·
Jesus is working. “I must do the works of my Father …” (John
9:4)
“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me…” (John 4:34)
He continues to work as He prepares a place for us in glory
(John 14:2)
· The Holy Spirit is also working. He illuminates our minds to scripture (Psalm
119:18)
o
He is interceding for us with groanings too deep
for words (Romans 8:26-27)
o
He transforms hardened hearts (Ezekiel 36:26)
· The Bible commands us to work.
o
If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not
to eat, either (2 Tess 3:10)
o
He who steals must steal no longer, but rather
he must labour, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will
have something to share with one who has need (Eph 4:28)
·
We were made for work.
In Genesis 1:27-28, God commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful
and multiply, fill the earth, subdue the earth, and have dominion over all the
animals.
We are created in His image, and part of the image of God in
us is the desire to create and produce.
That is why work can be so fulfilling and exciting. It gives you a sense of achievement and
satisfaction whenever you complete any task.
Work was part of God’s original plan for mankind.
‘Work’ by J.W.
Thompson
How true it is when I am sad,
A little work can make me glad.
When frowning care comes to my door,
I work a while and fret no more.
I leave my couch harassed with pain,
I work, and soon I’m well again.
I go to work and soon forget.
Work smoothes the soul when joys depart,
And often mends a broken heart.
The idle mind soon fills with murk,
So that’s why God invented WORK.
I
have listed here five points on how we can glorify God in our workplace:-
2.
Work Hard
3.
Work as unto God
4.
Work Loyally
5.
Work with Excellence
All our work should be done in an attitude of reverence and love for God
“But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth ..” (Deut 8:18a)
God is the one who enables you to do the job that you are doing.
Your ability to work, to make money, and to enjoy it is all God-given. So, in whatever job that we are doing, don’t get cocky or arrogant, because it’s the grace of God that allows us to do anything at all.
If you are a musician, it is the grace of God that gives you the ability to be musically gifted.
If you are a mechanic, it’s the grace of God that gives
you the ability to turn a screw.
If you are in finance, it is God who gives you the brain
power to be able to manage money.
If just one little artery in your head swell up and
popped, your ability would all be gone in a flash.
Let us do our work with reverence and thankfulness. For it is God who is giving us the grace and power to do whatever work is entrusted to us.
2.
WORK
HARD
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might …. (Ecclesiastes Col 9:10a)
Work hard and do not be sloppy in your work.
If the job is worth doing, it is worth doing well.
And if it is not worth doing, then why bother starting it
in the first place! (R. Ian Seymour?)
Either do your job properly, or don’t do it at all…
One way to work hard is to take ownership of the tasks that your employer has entrusted you with.
I used to work for a construction firm and we did projects for Pati Sdn Bhd. In one of the projects, Pati contra-ed to our company one of their unsold PKNS factory lots in Rawang as part payment for our work-done. In order to sell this factory for cash money, we had to transfer the ownership of the land title from Pati Sdn Bhd to our company’s name. One of our director’s uncle was a lawyer, and we engaged him to execute the transfer. But after many trips to the land office to submit and resubmit, submit and resubmit, the lawyer finally returned the title to us and said, Sorry. Cannot transfer because Pati Sdn Bhd is a bumi company and cannot transfer to non-bumi! So how?
So, I took over the files and went back to the Land Office myself to plead our case. I went from one counter to another counter. Finally, one of the officer told me that a bumi lot can be transferred to a non-bumi if there are valid reasons and it has to be after a certain number of years. There were procedures and paper work to be done, but eventually, I managed to get it transferred and we were able to sell it and pump the money back into our company cash-flow. I always prayed that God would prosper whatever task that I have been entrusted with by my employer, and God was faithful indeed!
My director’s uncle, who was a lawyer, could not solve the problem, becos to him it was just a job. If cannot, cannot lor….
But for me, I took ownership, and I looked for solutions even though initially there seemed none.
Dunno if my bosses appreciated what I did. It didn’t matter. I worked hard. I did my best. And God was glorified.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthianns 10:31)
3.
WORK
AS UNTO GOD
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.
6
Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves
of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
7
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8
because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good
they do, whether they are slave or free. (Ephesians 6:5~8)
Whatever work that you do, do it heartily, do your best, do the best you can do, becos you are working for the Lord Jesus Christ and not man.
Joseph trusted God and was faithful in whatever he did.
·
Joseph was later sold by his brothers into
slavery in Egypt, and he was bought by Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and
captain of the guard. Joseph found
favour in his master’s eyes and he was put in charge of Potiphar’s household
and everything that he owned. God
blessed and prospered Potiphar’s household and everything that he had because
of Joseph.
But one day, Joseph was falsely accused of attempted sexual
assault by Potiphar's wife. This false
accusation led to Joseph's imprisonment despite his innocence and integrity.
·
When Joseph was in prison, the Lord granted him
favour in the eyes of the prison warden.
Because he was so trustworthy and dependable, the warden put Joseph in
charge of all the prisoners, and he was made responsible for all the affairs in
the prison, even though Joseph was just a prisoner. The Lord gave him success in whatever he did.
·
Later, through a series of events, Joseph became
the second-in-command to Pharaoh. He was
like the Prime Minister of Egypt, given authority over all of Egypt and
advising the Pharaoh in all things.
It did not matter to Joseph who he was or what work he did, through the various stages of his life. Joseph trusted God and was faithful in whatever he did
whether he was a shepherd,
or a steward in Potiphar’s household,
or a prisoner in jail,
or even as the Prime Minister of Egypt,
God
prospered Joseph in whatever he set his hands to do…
He
believed that God will always work things out for his good, no matter what
situations or circumstances of life he find himself in.
When I was a very young Christian, I did cleaning works for my church in Seremban, just to earn some extra pocket money.
Once a week, I will clean the toilets, sweep the floors, re-arranged the pews, throw the rubbish, etc… and I was at the church alone, all by myself. Nobody was there to supervise my work. But God sees what I am doing. I was keeping my Father’s house clean and tidy. I did the work as for the Lord rather than to be seen by men.
There is a story about one of the builders of the great cathedrals of Europe. He was carving a tiny bird inside a roof beam which will be covered over by the roof.
And
someone came up to him and asked, “Why are you spending so much time on
something that no one will ever see?”
And
the builder replied, “Because God sees..”
Yes. God sees everything that we do.
“The Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free” (Eph 6:8)
The apostle Paul, here, was writing to slaves, instructing them to work not as unto men but to God because God rewards them for their work
Yes, even the slave is rewarded on the basis of the work he does for his master.
When we stand before the judgement seat of Christ, our rewards will not be simply based on my “religious” activities like giving, witnessing, preaching, serving in church, etc… We will also be rewarded for how we live our lives in our workplace.
Do your job and do it better than anyone else, becos it is important to God, and He sees it.
4. WORK LOYALLY
Be
loyal.
Even though your boss may not be treating you fairly, remember that he does not owe you anything. Be loyal to your employer. Remember, you are serving God, not men.
I used to work in the construction industry. Apparently, in the construction industry, there are plenty of opportunities to make side income. A few times, suppliers would offer me commissions if I can help them secure contracts with my company. This is what they call “kick-backs”. (a lot of that in news….)
Straight
away I refused them. My boss may not
see, but God sees. My loyalty is first
to God, and then to my employer.
I told the suppliers to factor their commissions into their quotation, and give me a more competitive quotation instead. Of course, they will not do it, for obvious reasons…
We live in a sinful and fallen world. Corruption is very rife in the industry.
I
have attended contract negotiations together with my bosses. And I have seen the client’s representatives
unashamedly indicating to my bosses that a certain percentage of the contract
sum is to go into their personal account.
And, my bosses will always agree, becos they want the contract!
5.
WORK
WITH EXCELLENCE
“ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” (Colossians 3:23)
Look
your best.
Do
your best.
Be
your best.
You are serving the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings. Your immediate bosses are just the middle management. Your top boss is God Almighty. So, do your best, the best that you can do, do it with excellence, becos you are a Christian, becos you are doing it for the Lord!
In Genesis 1, we read about God’s commitment to excellence. God acknowledges the goodness of His own creation.
In Genesis 1:31, at the end of the 6th day, God saw all that He had made and He declared that it was very good!
God
was satisfied with the beauty and perfection of His work in creation.
Can we say that of our work at the end of the day when we leave the office?
Can
we say that we have done a good job to the best of our abilities?
Christians ought to be the best workers wherever they are.
They
ought to have the best attitude,
the
most integrity,
and
the greatest degree of dependability.
Our work performance is our Christian testimony. If the watching world sees Christians as being lazy and slack in their work, how will that affect our Christian testimony?
Is your job difficult?
Does it seem routine and boring?
Is it the same thing day in day out?
Well, the Lord tells us to do our work with excellence and joy.
Our work matters to God.
Our
attitude at work matters to God.
We
bring glory to God by doing a good job.
We are Christians, not only on Sundays.
We
are Christians 24/7. We bear the Name of
our Lord Jesus Christ 24/7.
The
word “Christian” means “little Christ” or “follower of Christ”.
By the way,
How
many of you have Christian employers?
How
many of you have non-Christian employers?
How do you treat a Christian employer?
2 Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare[a] of their slaves. (1 Timothy 6:2)
In Christ, both you and your Christian employer are equal and in fellowship with each other. But when both of you walk into the office on Monday morning, you are not to abuse your spiritual relationship in Christ at the expense of your social relationship. You do not take things for granted…. Like….. abang adik lor…..
No!
You
do not go to work 15 minutes late because you are a Christian.
You
do not leave the office 10 minutes early because you are a Christian.
You
do not take special time off for prayer during the day because you are a
Christian.
What
Paul is saying, if you have a Christian as your employer, you work harder for
him. Do not let your equality in Christ
be an excuse for laziness.
What if you have a non-Christian employer?
Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything,
to
try to please them,
not to talk back to them,
and
not to steal from them,
but to show that they can be fully trusted,
so that in every way they will make the
teaching about God our Savior attractive. (Titus 2:9-10)
Be a responsible worker, so that your non-Christian employer can trust you, so that you can make your gospel attractive by that relationship.
Keep your behavior excellent amongst the non-believers. You don’t have to preach at them. Just live out your Christian lives! We have four gospels in the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Your life represents the fifth gospel. And it may be the only one they will ever read…
Lastly, what about those of us who are not working, those who are retired? Or those who are house-wives and home-makers?
The contemporary concept of retirement is not found in the Bible. Yes, you may retire from a job, but you never retire from work.
As
long as you’re alive, there’s always work that God wants you to do.
As
long as you’re alive, God has something for you to do!
And
in doing it you’ll not only find joy and fulfilment, you’ll bless those around
you too.
A few weeks ago, our brother NTC shared his personal testimony on how God gave him a new lease of life, when his heart blockage miraculously disappeared when he went for his angioplasty. NTC & CMY prayed hard for a new heart after the angioplasty, and that was precisely what God gave him because there are still much work for him to do and to serve God.
It was reported that Ruth Bell Graham, the wife of Billy Graham, had a deco-phage written in old English writing, hanging over her kitchen sink, which says:
“Divine Service conducted here 3X daily”
Yes. When Ruth Graham prepared Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, for her family, she was also serving the Lord! Housework is also Christian work.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthianns 10:31)
Cat Stevens – “It’s a Wild World.”
It
is a bad world out there.
Sometimes, in the course of our work, instead of not conforming to the world and be transformed by the renewing of our mind, we unwittingly get sucked into the toxic non-Christian culture of our work-place.
All
the dirty jokes and the un-Christian languages that do not glorify God.
Do we enjoy and join in their dirty jokes?
Do
we engage and participate in their un-Christian languages?
One of the project QS from a Construction firm that I had to deal with had a very “colourful” language, with a lot of expletives thrown in. He used the 4-letter words like it was his mother tongue. As I got to know him better, I found out that he was attending my previous church in Seremban! And when he found out that I was also a Christian and I used to attend the same church as he, I could sense his utter embarrassment!
Kathleen Wheeler, a school teacher, wrote a short poem about a young school boy who messed up on his assignment. As he approached the teacher’s desk slowly and nervously, with his crumpled up and blotted assignment paper, the teacher responded with compassion and love….
Do better now, my child.
He came to my desk with a
quivering lip,
The lesson
was done.
“Have you a new sheet for me,
dear teacher?
I’ve
spoiled this one.”
I took his sheet, all soiled
and blotted,
And gave
him a new one, all unspotted,
And into his sad eyes I
smiled,
“Do better
now, my child.”
I went to the throne of God with
a trembling heart,
The day
was done.
“Have you a new day for me,
dear Master?
I’ve
spoiled this one.”
He took my day, all soiled
and blotted,
And gave
me a new one, all unspotted.
And into my sad heart He
smiled,
“Do better
now, my child.”
Like that little boy, we try so hard to please our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ.
But
so oftentimes, we mess up. We fail our
Lord. We engage in un-Christian behavior
that does not bring glory to God.
1
John 2:1 says, "...And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous:"
Our Heavenly Father knows our failures.
He sees how hard we try, and He sees when we fail, but He
is always ready to forgive us.
He has given us an Advocate, His own Son. It is by Him
that we have second chances.
1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The Christian life is a growth process. And slow progress is still progress! Amen?
Prayer
Thank you for your Word
Help
us to be our best, do our best, not to be seen and praised by men but becos of
who we are, becos we are Christians.
Through the excellence of our work, may we be light and
salt of the earth
Let our light shine forth that others may see our good
works and glorify you in heaven
Forgive us our shortcomings, the many times we mess up
and fail you, in word, thought and deed
Thank
you for your promise, that if any man sin, we have an advocated with the
Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous
Restore to us the years that the locusts have devoured
Now, may the Lord bless us and keep, may he make His face
to shine upon us and be gracious to us, and may He turn His face towards us and
give us peace.
Amen.
