“Good leaders are balanced and require balance of their employees.” – J.D. Greear
When work is an expression of love for God and others, I don’t worry about the work-life balance. I am balanced. I don’t get pulled into workaholicism. I don’t set standards of perfection. I aim for something else entirely: glorifying God and blessing others.
He redeems work from being a burden. He frees it from becoming an idol. He says, “Rest,” and I become still. He says, “Work,” and I work with all my might. He says, “Follow Me,” and I go. I don’t know where we’re going, but I trust him. He’s a good father who gives good gifts—even when they don’t look like it at the time. I become attuned to his rhythms and let them direct my work and me.
As I do, I become a good leader. I’ve instituted the right disciplines, and they inform how I live inside and outside the workplace. I won’t work 24/7, nor will I require it of others. In fact, I kick them out of the office if they try to work late. I talk with them when they lose balance in some way. There are more important things than work. There are people to love, families to get home to, health to take care of, other acts of worship to be done.
Work is only one way to worship God, but it isn’t the only way. Worship can infuse everything. I think it should. God says to present my body as a living sacrifice. To me, that means everything is for God’s glory. He wants to transform the whole body: head, heart, and hands. He’s after the entire person.
I’m glad he is. I don’t want dark corners and closed closets in my life. I want his light to infuse everything so that he will shine through me all the brighter. I want to work correctly, as to the Lord and not to men, so that he gets all the praise, honor, and glory. I want to work in such a way that I bless others and help them find transformed, balanced lives, too.
Image: Bryan Ungard (Creative Commons)