We spend most of our waking hours either at work or thinking about work. Yet, many followers of Jesus have never been discipled to connect their faith to their work. Last year, I preached a sermon titled, Created for Work, and I received more positive feedback afterward than from any other single sermon I’ve preached. The sermon was nothing special, but it scratched an itch. People want to know that their work matters — that it makes a difference in the kingdom of Christ.
This is part one of a series I’ve put together to help Christ-followers do faithful work in any vocation.
Let’s start here.
How would you answer this question:
The way to serve God at work is _______________.
Maybe you’d say it’s about evangelizing your coworkers. Or doing excellent, skillful work that glorifies God. Maybe it’s about furthering justice in the world, creating beauty, or working from a joyful, grateful heart. Some might say it’s about making as much money as possible so you can be as generous as possible.
Which one is right?
Well, each of those statements carries a measure of biblical truth. The challenge is learning to integrate them — to form a theology of work that informs the way you get out of bed every day and engage the work that God has set before you.
I hope this post will help you see your work as God sees it.
1. Your Work Is Not in Vain
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” — 1 Corinthians 15:58
In Christ, God is redeeming all things — and that includes our work.
Whether you’re building homes, teaching students, designing software, or raising children, your labor participates in God’s renewal of creation. Every good and faithful endeavor — pursuing justice, creating beauty, healing the sick, cultivating the earth — gives the world a glimpse of the coming kingdom.
You won’t see the full results now. Some days it’ll feel like swimming upstream. But take heart — your work is part of a much bigger story.
2. God’s Good Design for Work
Before sin entered the world, God worked. Genesis 2 shows Him forming, shaping, cultivating — and then commissioning us to do the same. The Hebrew word for “work” (mlkh) is the same word used for ordinary human labor. In other words, when we work, we reflect our Creator.
God placed Adam in the garden “to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). He left creation full of untapped potential — and human work is the means by which that potential is unlocked.
“God feeds, clothes, and cares for the world through our vocations.” — Martin Luther
Work isn’t a punishment or a necessary evil. It’s part of being human. It’s food for the soul. Without meaningful work, we sense a kind of emptiness — because we were made for it.
3. All Work Has Dignity
Our culture tends to rank work by status. We prize the “knowledge class” — those with degrees and corner offices — while quietly dismissing manual or service work as lesser. But that hierarchy isn’t biblical.
In God’s economy, all work has dignity because all work is a channel of His grace. Whether you’re managing a team or mopping a floor, your labor carries the fingerprint of God’s image and contributes to the flourishing of others.
So instead of asking, “What’s a good job?” maybe we should ask, “How can I bring God’s creativity, diligence, and care into this job?”
4. Work as Service to God and Neighbor
At its heart, work is meant to be an act of love. It’s how we serve God and our neighbor.
“God milks the cows through the vocation of the milkmaids.” — Martin Luther
In other words, God meets the needs of the world through ordinary people doing ordinary work. That means your spreadsheets, your sales calls, your lesson plans, your designs — all of it can be a mask of God, a way He provides for others through you.
What you do every day is as valuable as if it were done in heaven for the Lord Himself.
5. The Problem With Our Work
Of course, sin complicates everything. Because of the fall, our work often feels fruitless, frustrating, or futile. We swing between idealism (“I’m going to change the world!”) and cynicism (“Nothing really matters — just make it to the weekend.”).
Both miss the gospel truth: in Christ, your work is not in vain.
Sin also twists our hearts through the idols that show up in our work:
- Comfort and pleasure: Seeing work only as a means to leisure.
- Approval: Chasing reputation more than faithfulness.
- Power and control: Grasping for authority instead of trusting God.
These idols produce anxiety, discouragement, and discontentment. But the gospel frees us to repent, to reorient our hearts toward service, and to rest in God’s approval rather than chasing our own.
6. Seeing Work the Way God Sees It
When we begin to see our work through the lens of redemption, we stop asking, “Does this job matter?” and start asking, “How is God working through me here?”
Your work — every bit of it — is part of God’s good design, dignified by His image, and redeemed through His Son. So whatever you do, do it with gratitude, excellence, and hope.
No work done in love is wasted.
Conclusion
You were created to work in partnership with God — to cultivate, to serve, and to reveal His character through what you make, lead, or care for.
Your work matters because your God works through you — no matter the job!
Be encouraged today!
Ministry That Matters 