Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17
LEARN
We live in a society where time is money and productivity reigns king. In the workplace, efficiency is usually a good gauge at how well someone is doing as an employee, but this also infiltrates into non-workspaces. We as wives, moms, students, siblings, and roommates struggle with this too.
“How come she is able to have a clean home, perfectly kempt hair, and take care of her three kids, while I can barely take care of myself?”
“Why does it take me 2x longer to finish my assignments than my roommate. She always has so much more free time than I do. If only I was able to finish things quicker.”
“My Sister graduated a year after me and is already financially stable and got a promotion and I still don’t know what I want to do.”
We all make these internal comments to ourselves when we feel like other people are more productive and therefore better than we are at managing life. Most of us feel like we have so much to do and so little time to do it, so people who can accomplish more are obviously people we envy right? We read books on productivity and time-management. We multi-task all day and listen to podcasts while driving home so we can fill our time with as much as we can. We believe that if we could just figure out how to manage our time better we wouldn’t be so held back. If we could only get everything checked off our list we would finally get past the rat race- and so we push.
But let’s rewind a bit.
All of these ideas have been built upon the belief that productivity reigns king, but shouldn’t we instead believe that the only one who reigns King is God? So what does God have to say about productivity? As we see in Colossians 3:17, it appears that productivity in God’s view isn’t just about getting things done, it is about getting His things done. The only work that matters is the work that brings Glory to God, and therefore we should be ordering our life around this work. However, when we think about that a bit more we don’t always like hearing that. It is far more desirable to be productive in order to gain relational, financial, and societal status than it is to serve God with our lives. Status allows us to rank ourselves, to feel superior or inferior. Status motivates us, but as children of God, our status will always remain the same- His children whom he loves. What we are commanded to desire instead is to be on the lookout for ways to love others, and glorify God in all areas of our lives. We are to work wholeheartedly for God, and we do that by consciously thinking about the motivations we have behind the all that we do.
It is in our daily tasks at home, work, or school that the bible calls us to love others well because of our love for God. We must understand that relationships are not always efficient but they are important. At times loving others well and glorifying God might mean stopping everything on our to-do list to talk to our neighbor longer and invite them to church. It might mean sacrificing our morning routine to go take a meal to someone who is sick. Or, it might mean taking breaks at work to read the word, in order to focus rightly through our tasks for the day and respond lovingly to people at work we find difficult to be around. Relationships derail us, they mess up our timelines, and they take work- but when we realize that God is King and love rules over productivity, we can then have a better gauge at what we should be doing and how we should be viewing our status as his child, whom he loves and accepts, without needing to find satisfaction or reassurance from societies standards of productivity. True productivity is found in cultivating a right relationship with God.
KNOW
AS CHRISTIANS PRODUCTIVITY LOOKS LIKE….
Sharing the gospel. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
Doing good works. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Working wholeheartedly for God. “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24)
Making loving God and loving others our motivating factor. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Fighting laziness. “Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.” (Proverbs 18:9)
Using our time wisely. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17)
DO
How can you better prioritize God when you think about being productive?
What might change in your internal dialogue when you stop having societies view of productivity rule you and start having scriptures view rule you?
What steps can you take today to focus more on God in your busy life? (maybe you need a mindset change, or you need to actually change some things you shouldn’t be prioritizing)
What first step can you take today?
