How to Get the Most Out of Your Work - Part 2

Welcome to this weekend's In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley.

God is interested in every aspect of your life and your career is no exception. On today's podcast, we discover how to get the most out of your work. What are you getting out of your work besides money?

What are you getting out of it besides money and what do you want out of it besides money? Surely you want to develop your skills and surely you want a deeper, stronger character and surely you want relationships and a higher sense of self-esteem and making a contribution and going somewhere and feeling like that you've accomplished and achieved. So the question is, how do we get the most out of our work? And so that is the title of the message.

That's the theme. And under that title, I'm going to give you five answers, but I want you to turn, if you will, to Colossians chapter three, because this is where we are in our series on Colossians. And now he comes to talk about how do you get the most out of your work? So I'm going to make this statement and then I'm going to complete it with five statements. We get the most out of our work when?

So if you're taking notes, jump that down. We get the most out of our work when? And beginning with number one, we get the most out of our work when? We view ourselves as servants.

Now think about this. If Jesus Christ was willing to come to earth and take upon himself the form of a servant, which he did, and he served as the apostles and you remember he washed their feet. He gave them himself day after day, teaching and preaching and serving and loving all of these people. He did not consider it a thing unwise to be a servant.

That is, Jesus came into this world, the son of God, God incarnate in the flesh, viewing himself as a servant of mankind who would mistreat him, persecute him and ultimately crucify him. But he came in the spirit of a servant. How can you and I go to our work and say, I'm no servant. You know, I want my rights.

My friend is a Christian. You and I gave up our rights in order to be what God wants us to be. And God is the one who will take care of our rights. He says we're to be obedient to those who are in authority over us. So how do you get the most out of your work? First of all, you get the most out of your work when you view yourself as a servant. Secondly, if you'll notice in this passage, the second way we get the most out of our work is when we view our work as for the Lord. Now listen, he says in verse 22, slaves in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service as those who please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartedly, enthusiastically as for the Lord rather than for men. He says now, one of the ways you get the most out of your work is when you recognize that you're doing the work, that the work is for the Lord, as he says here, and not for men. Now, he says now, not with external service to please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. That is my motivation is my love for Jesus. You mean to tell me that I'm to do this as if this is the Lord's work, as if it's the Lord's work.

He says not with external service. You're not doing this just to get by. You're not watching the clock. You're not checking in and out and being sure you get every last second and do as little as you can, but the best you can because it is the Lord's work. How do you get the most out of your work? Not only you view yourself as a servant, but you do the work. You view the work as the Lord's work.

This is the Lord's work because he's called you to do it. There's a third way to get the most out of our work, and that is if you'll notice what he says in this passage. He says, verse 23, whatever you do, do your work heartedly as for the Lord rather than what?

Rather than for men. What he's saying is the third way we get the most out of our work is when we view Christ as our authority. That is we view Christ as our boss. That's the way we need to work because the truth is Jesus Christ is the Lord in every business that is legitimate. He is the boss in every business that is legitimate. So no matter how many people may be above you and over you, the truth is that the Lord Jesus Christ who is the boss is the boss over every single one of them and each one of them will give an account to him. So if you and I go to our work and we recognize that Jesus Christ is the boss, no matter who Jesus Christ is using and has allowed to be in that position, it doesn't make any difference.

He's still the boss. When you can look beyond human flesh and see what God sees and see the real boss that he had, he's going to change. Because you begin to recognize by working for this person humanly, the truth is you're working for God.

And when you're working for him, what's going to happen? The quality of your work is going to increase. Your relationships around you are going to be different. Your testimony is going to be stronger.

You're going to be more diligent, more exacting, more precise. You're going to want to be sure that you give a full day's labor because Christ is the one to whom all of us are accountable. And when we recognize that, something happens about my attitude toward my labor.

Notice how he says and he says it very clearly. Verse 23. He says, we work for the Lord rather than for men. Now, when you have the attitude that you're working for this corporation or you're working for this person, this group of people, and let's say, for example, they're not Christians. And let's say they're hard to deal with. And oftentimes you wonder whether they're honest or not. If you are there for this particular time in your life, you to be obedient with the limitation of violation of your principles of Scripture, but you to be obedient and to do what you're told.

And you listen, it doesn't make any difference whether we think they're fair or not. If you are there, you are to give your best because Christ is the boss. And no matter who he allows unto himself, he's still the boss. And we are to work with that in mind. Now, I want you to think about something about your work that you probably never thought about. Usually when you get off of work, you probably are tired, a little weary, and you want to hurry home and you've got to prepare dinner. And so there's a lot of work left, just a different kind of work when you get home. But maybe when you're driving up the expressway and the traffic is a little tough, like it most of the time is, you want to complain and moan and groan about your job and you think, oh, but look, don't think about it as a job. A job sort of puts it down on this level, but think about it as the work to which God has called you at this particular time in your life.

Now, this will make a difference in the way you view your work. Remember, we're working for the Lord and the work is unto him. If that's true, think about your work in this life, that God is the one who has given you the energy and the ability and the talents and the skills to do whatever you're doing and he's given you the health to do it. And so you invest eight or 10 or 12 hours today in that work, which is the Lord's work for you at this time in your life and it is unto him and it is for him.

He's the boss. To put a whole different perspective on your work, view that work as an offering. View that work as a sacrificial offering to God at the end of the day. These are the fruits of my labor today, Lord, in this place at this time under these authorities. This is what I have to offer to you as the fruits of your investment in my life of time, skills, abilities, talents, gifts, and all the rest.

And my friend, all of a sudden, something's going to change about your attitude toward work. Work is the investment of our life and the fruits of that belong to God. Now, he didn't say like it. He didn't say like everything you do. He just said, do it enthusiastically because it is the Lord's work and because it is unto him as a sacrificial offering as the fruits of all that God has given to you in that given day.

Well, let's move on. Notice something else he says in this passage because here again, we're talking about how to get the most out of our work. Number four, we get the most out of our work when we do what? When we view our fellow workers as persons of worth.

When we view our fellow workers as persons of worth, that is, we don't judge people by our position. That is, if you happen to be the manager or the president or the vice president or whatever, you have no right to view those who work for you as less than you are because God doesn't. You see, God sees every person on the same level. Jesus Christ died for every single one of us. He loves everybody.

Nobody that God does not love. How can we put people down here, see ourselves up here and then treat them differently because of our position? I didn't say that everybody make the same amount of money. I didn't say everybody have the same responsibility, the same level, but the truth is if we're going to get the most out of our work, we must view other persons as persons of worth. These people are not to be used and abused and harassed and taken advantage of because I want you to notice what he says in this passage, verse one of chapter four. Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness knowing that you too have a master in heaven. Now, what is he saying? He's saying simply this, that all of us, no matter who we are and who works with us or above us or below us, we should view everyone as a person of worth because God loves them and therefore we have to treat them in that fashion.

How? Justly and fairly. There are a lot of folks who have the idea that God is going to completely forget everything that's done in the business world and only going to check up on our private life, personal life, church life. I want to tell you friend, since you spend more time in the business world than you do the other, that's where the biggest judgment's coming. And he says, you want to get the most out of your work, treat people fairly and justly. This admonition should be a warning and a caution and every person who has anybody working under them, justice and fairness and understanding that these people have needs because one of these days something's going to happen and when it happens we're all going to realize who is the one who is the real boss after all. How do you get the most out of your work?

Not only by treating people fairly and justly but the last thing is this. We get the most out of our work when we realize that our pay comes both now and hereafter. When we realize that our pay comes both now and hereafter. Now it is absolutely essential that we be paid for the work we've done and I'm not belittling that at all. That's very important. But I want you to remember something. When you and I give our best and we do our all, more than likely we're going to do things that the boss is not going to see.

Never going to get paid for it down here. Acts of kindness, going the second mile, the third mile, the fourth mile, giving it all we've got when we don't feel like it. Do you realize that God's going to reward you for that? If you've been mistreated and somebody's paid you poorly and you've not been treated fairly and justly, God, listen to me, God is going to equalize all of that in the judgment. I want to give you a verse of scripture. Now don't apply this just to preachers and missionaries and teachers because it applies to everybody. Chapter six of Hebrews, you got it? Look if you will in verse ten. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward his name in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.

Now let's look at that. That happened to have been Paul's vocation. He was a missionary and he was a preacher but this applies to all of us and look what he says. What a beautiful and a tender way for God to remind us. He says, for God is not unjust, which means for him to forget would make God unjust. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and your love which you've shown toward his name. When you do your best and you work for him and your work is unto the Lord, he says it would be absolutely unjust and unfair even for God to forget your work. God knows how many extra hours you've put in. He knows how many times that you've labored when you didn't feel like it.

When you went to work not feeling like going to work. God also knows my friend the times that you've laid out and told your boss that you were sick when you weren't sick at all. And I'm here to tell you Christians can ruin and wreck their testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ by telling lies on their job.

You see what we don't realize is there's going to come a time we're going to give an account. If you'll turn to Romans chapter 14 for just a moment. And I think we as believers have the idea sometime well you know we Christians we're an exception. If you'll notice what he says this Colossians passage he says for he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he's done and that without partiality. Now notice also while you're turning to Romans 14 he says in this verse he speaks of receiving the reward. Romans 14 verse 8 he says for if we live we live for the Lord or if we die we die for the Lord therefore whether we live or die we are the Lord's. In every area of our life we belong to him. For to this end Christ died.

What was that? He died and lived again that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But you why do you judge your brother?

Or you again why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written as I live says the Lord every knee the boss the president the vice president every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall give praise to God so that each one of us shall give an account of himself to God. We get the most out of our work by realizing that all of our pay isn't now but is hereafter.

God is going to equalize what you and I missed and I believe there are many people who work diligently who work hard who never get into recognition who probably are paid unfairly because of either their sex or their race or whatever it might be. And I'm here to tell you God's going to equalize all that. And if you're not careful you'll get bitter.

Now listen to me carefully. Don't allow yourself to get bitter and resentful and hostile toward the people you work with or work for because you don't think you're being treated fairly. If you do you'll suffer the consequences. But if you will go into that work in the spirit of a servant that the work is the Lord's and you're working for the Lord Jesus Christ and you recognize that every person is a person of worth even if they treat you wrongly or don't treat you wrongly that there's going to come a payday someday at the judgment when God rewards us for our faithfulness when we were mistreated underpaid harassed and uncared for unrecognized and not fairly promoted. God is the one who's responsible for making it all right.

But if you get hostile and bitter and resentful and critical and start doing a poor job because you don't think you're being paid fairly or stealing because listen stealing because you think you deserve it and they're not paying you what you deserve I want to tell you you're going to lose your reward. The believer is to be obedient with the one limitation of violation of a principle of scripture. The believer is to be obedient. The believer is to have a servant spirit. Christ is the boss. The work is the Lord's and we're to work there as long as God gives us the freedom to do so. But we're never to take advantage of, treat unfairly, steal, lie or cheat and rationalize it away because we don't think we're getting a fair shake. Now it's not easy to live a Christian life in some situations but that's why the Bible says that Jesus Christ came into your life to be your life and to live through you the life of Christ which means that every single believer in every legitimate occupation in the world is to be there bearing a testimony of Christ living before the other people the very life of Jesus Christ expressing in your words and in your actions what a Christian life is all about. You don't know who you're going to influence. You don't know whose life is going to change.

One thing for certain they may harass you misuse you whatever it might be. God will honor your labor. Now I want you to listen again what he said and the next time you get a little down in the dumps you turn back to this passage and remember who is the one who has the final say for he says for God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward his name and have you shown love toward his name being a good employee doing your best serving the Lord doing it for him building relationships with other people bearing a good testimony for Christ that is working in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for listening to part two of how to get the most out of your work. For more inspirational messages like this one visit our online 24-7 station and if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries Atlanta, Georgia.