I spend my days doing what most trial lawyers do. I answer legal questions from clients. I draft court pleadings. I take depositions, argue motions, and try cases to judges and juries.

Is it making money?

Every month my law firm deposits money in my bank account. Then in January after all the firm money is counted, all the staff and attorneys are paid, and the profits are calculated, I receive my final partner distribution. 

It’s easy to think this is what work is primarily about— making money. We make money to support our families, give to the church, save for retirement, and support Kingdom causes.

But some time ago, I stopped and asked: Is this really why I work? 

Jesus warned against the danger of trying to serve God and money. Matthew 6:24. And the Bible is pretty clear about not making the pursuit of wealth a motive for anything. The question remains, then: What does God expect from me in my work?

We know what God expects from other endeavors

When it comes to our family, we know what God expects of us. He wants us to have healthy marriages and raise godly children. When it comes to our ministry, we know what God expects. We are to lead the lost to the Lord and help others grow closer to God. 

But when it comes to work—the part of our life that will consume the majority of our days for the majority of our lives—it’s seemingly anybody’s guess. 

We assume that as long as we work honestly and responsibly and occasionally mention Jesus to a coworker, we have met God’s expectations. But is that really the whole picture? 

Work is the biggest source of stress in most people’s lives. We stress over trying to meet our supervisor’s expectations. We stress over performance reviews, and we stress when there is an imminent layoff. 

We are told that if we do our work for the Lord it will help us avoid the stress, but if we don’t know what the Lord expects of us, how are we any better off? We just end up trying to please two different bosses instead of one and the one we fear the most is the one we least understand.

Does God care only about my good intentions? Does He only expect honesty and a good effort, or does my performance matter?

There is an answer

We might wonder how the Bible could speak so often and so clearly to God’s expectation for the family and our ministry and yet overlook our work.  

The good news is that the Bible does address it. In fact, Jesus has spoken directly to what God expects from us in our work. In the next four blog posts, I will discuss exactly what Jesus said and how it applies to our lives.

Click here for Part 2. GS