Integrity at Work

While many people separate their lives into compartments, such as "sacred" and "secular", God is concerned with our lives as a whole. He expects us to honor him in all areas, including our work, recreation, relationships-everything. What does our integrity at work tell us about our spirituality?

• Our decisions at work reveal what's really in our hearts. Under pressure, does our faith hold up? Do we let God's principles guide our decisions in and out of the office?

• Our integrity in the little decisions shows who we are really serving. Do we work for our company as if we're working for God himself and not a human boss (see Colossians 3:22-25)? That sets a high standard for us, regardless of how unreasonable our human bosses may be. 

• God is "supervising" our work even when we think no one sees us stretch the truth or cheat in little ways. Our real Boss knows our hearts and actions. He sees everything. (see Matthew 6:18). Do you do the right thing when no one else is looking?

• If we claim to be Christians, then we are often under intense scrutiny in the workplace. Others are watching us to see if we are really living what we claim to believe. When someone else finds out about our dishonest decisions, how does that damage our testimony?

• It's easy to justify our actions or convince ourselves that we deserve certain liberties. Are we listening to our deceptive hearts (see Jeremiah 17:9) or to God's unchanging Word (see Psalm 119:11)?

• Being right before God is more satisfying than any amount of dishonest gain. Which would you choose: To do your best,  be honest and honor God or to have more money but forfeit God's blessings on your work? God will reward you with far more than you can grab for yourself-sometimes financially but also with peace of mind and a sense of his favor and presence. 

-True Identity Bible

{Proverbs 15:16}

Better to have little, with fear for the Lord,

than to have great treasure and inner turmoil.

{Daniel 6:1-5}

1 Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province.  

2 The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests.  

3 Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.

4 Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.  

5 So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”

{Colossians 3:22-25}

22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. 

 23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.  

24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.  

25 But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.