Self-Respect in the Family: Hannah to Samuel - Part 3

Samuel was a man of loyalty who served Israel as a judge and priest. Near the end of his tenure the people decided they wanted a king to rule over them. Reading Samuel’s letter of resignation, I can’t help but detect sadness, hurt feelings and anger, although God assured Samuel he was not the object of their rejection.

Rejection should not diminish self-respect because it doesn’t depend on everyone loving or liking you. Self-respect is not contingent upon success or failure when integrity and honor determine a person’s choices and goals. People with self-respect are less prone to secret-keeping, guilt, regret and stress.

Samuel believed God directed his life, and he lived within the boundaries of God’s purpose for him. That doesn’t eliminate hurt feelings or grief over being rejected or displaced, yet it includes being able to flow with God’s will. Self-respect occurs when you know, and God knows, you’ve done your best and you’re satisfied with it.  

Crisis and Compromise: Choosing God's Way - Part 3

It's not unusual to get stuck in a career before understanding what best suits your personality. Someone thought you were a good fit for a particular job; an opportunity opened up, and that's been your career. Integrity is compromised at the point of knowing that something else would have been better but that too many obligations exist to risk changing.

Those who endure these situations often come to retirement feeling compromised. Who you are and what you want is often in conflict with what you have to do. However integrity is invigorated by finding meaningful life purposes beyond a career. Choosing to serve God in ways that utilize your gifts and talents prevent lapsing into sadness or even despair.

Believing that God's provides opportunities insures you can feel confident rather than languish in frustration. A clear conscience, fostered by integrity and combined with hope, gives energy for doing what God provides. Listen to Proverbs 2:6: "The Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." These blessings make life worth living. 

Overcoming Obstacles by Growth and Change - Part 3

How much of your day do you think is devoted to work? Statisticians say about forty percent. If this is true, how important is job satisfaction? Most often job satisfaction is directly related to obstacles that must be managed each day. An obstacle could be thought of as any barrier or drawback to satisfaction with one's work.

Disgruntled, unhappy employees create an atmosphere that affects everyone  within their range of their influence. This not only applies to the workplace, but to the family when negative attitudes are brought home. Jesus advised his disciples to guard against the yeast of the Pharisees. He was referring to their attitudes and teachings because it permeated the whole community.

St. Paul issued a similar warning. "Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. Get rid of the old yeast of sin so that you can be  pure." Permit Christ Jesus to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Then it will be possible to better manage complications related to work and care more for your family and coworkers. 

Work Choices: Are You Satisfied? - Part 3

Some people hate their work and feel sick just thinking about it. Others find meaning and purpose doing any type of work. For them, wasting time is out of the question. However don't confuse relaxation with idleness, for leisure is required for healthy living. Ecclesiastes 10:18 reminds us that laziness produces trouble. "If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the roof leaks."

If you despise your work, trouble and hardship may show its face unless you adjust your attitude. You can choose to change by allowing yourself to develop a positive attitude toward your work. You can refuse to be negative by choosing to see your work as God's provision for you and your family. Ask yourself, "How can I be helpful to those I work with each day?"

Pay attention to your co-workers. Determine to be a role model of the love and compassion God has shown you through Christ Jesus. He endured the Cross to save you and give you a life worth living. Would you begin demonstrating this attitude and see what God will do with it? 

Work Choices: Are You Satisfied? - Part 2

Most Americans believe work should be a source of reward by providing meaning and purpose as well as financial security. Linus Carl Pauling, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry and the Nobel Peace Prize was known for his carefree enjoyment of life. "I just went about doing what I liked to do." He liked to do almost everything, whether trivial or difficult.

Even in his nineties Linus Pauling possessed the enthusiasm and curiosity of a young person. Life was not easy growing up in poverty or working at menial jobs as a teenager and college student. Yet he found harmony between these trivial jobs and his work during the rest of life. He followed the encouraging advice of Colossians 3:23. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, for it is Christ Jesus you're serving."

God told Adam he would have to work to make a living, but he promised to  be his help and guide. When you choose to work as if working for the Lord, you're in a position to receive what Colossians 3:24 calls an inheritance from the Lord. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Work Choices: Are You Satisfied? - Part 1

So many people detest their work and yearn for an opportunity to make changes. Others shift the emphasis from work to leisure because work fails to  provide satisfaction. Some individuals in their mid-life years seek change by taking dangerous risks because of disappointment and burn-out with their work.

In Luke 12:16-21 Jesus conveys a story about a farmer who became wealthy, but because of a misguided attitude toward work and leisure, he failed to reap the harvest of his labor. Work and leisure fail to bring satisfaction and meaning when God is excluded from our choices. God's desire is to be included so we can feel blessed and enriched by him.

Permit yourself to see work as God's gift and as an avenue for expressing your love to Christ Jesus. He not only saves us from our sins and but saves us from negative attitudes that ruin our joy and happiness. Ecclesiastes 2:26 is instructive. "To the one who pleases God, he gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness." Seek to please God with all your heart.  

Re-creating Job Satisfaction - Part 3

Two objectives for working are to attain satisfaction and a earn a livelihood. The degree of satisfaction you experience is linked to your attitude toward work. A positive attitude will enhance your chances for satisfaction in other areas of your life. The happier you are with work, the higher your chances for finding meaning and purpose for your time here on earth.

What are you trying to extract from your work? Is it just a means to an end, a way to get the necessities of life and other things you want? Is work a channel for retirement and security for old age? I'm reminded of Jesus' parable about the farmer who reaped such an abundant harvest that he had to build new barns to store the overflow.

His attitude was to eat, drink, and be happy, but he failed to consider God's plan for his future. The point Jesus made is that your attitude toward work may not produce the rewards you expect. However deciding that your work is God gift to you can be the attitude you take to work and pass on to others. What could be more pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Re-creating Job Satisfaction - Part 2

The attitudes you developed toward work as an adolescent most often endure for a lifetime. Some adolescents want to avoid work while others seek out employment. Those who to have a positive attitude toward work as teenagers tend to make better adjustments to the changes life requires during the decades of the forties and fifties.

For some adults, mid-life necessitates redefining specific goals for working. More than a few men and women reach mid-life and conclude they have been chasing the wind, as Solomon pointed out in Ecclesiastes 4:6. The attitude you possess toward work determines in part whether you come to judge your life's toil as meaningful or meaningless.

Without Christ Jesus giving direction to your life, what you achieve can be seen as pointless and ultimately worthless. Change must include an evaluation of your attitude toward work, the objectives you've achieved and whether you believe work is God's gift to you. God is at work in your life to show you his way and what you can be for him and others.  

Re-creating Job Satisfaction - Part 1

If you were honest, how would you gauge your attitude toward the work that you do each day? What has influenced you in forming this attitude? A large percentage of the work force consider changing employment to find more fulfillment and job satisfaction. Do you think work is one of the most important dimensions of life, but would rather not be doing it?

The uncertainty of work and the changing attitudes and values placed on work create anxiety and stress for all concerned. What helps determine the importance of work and whether it's meaningful is decided by the influence you believe it has on others and if you believe you're making a positive contribution to the lives of others.

God put in everyone's heart a desire to be creative and to feel blessed in doing so. When you share your wisdom and knowledge, it actually reduces stress and anxiety. Proverbs 29:9 is an encouragement. "A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares what he has with others." Will you let this be seen in your attitude and actions?