Your Work Matters. But It Isn’t Your Identity.

Labor Day gives us a chance to step away from work for a day. Maybe it should also give us a chance to think about why we work in the first place.

God created us with the ability and desire to lead, create, build, manage, serve, and accomplish things. Whether our work happens on a job site, in an office, around a conference table, behind a computer, or somewhere else entirely, it can be part of how God shapes and uses us. Paul writes:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.” Colossians 3:23-24

There is honor in working hard and doing our jobs well. There is nothing wrong with pursuing success, building a business, advancing in a career, providing for our families, or enjoying what we accomplish.

In fact, Solomon tells us that enjoying our work is a gift:

“This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.” Ecclesiastes 5:18-19

But work can also become something it was never intended to be.

Our identity.

As men, it can be easy to measure ourselves by our job titles, income, possessions, achievements, or whether other people consider us successful. We can even have difficulty shutting work off. We stop working, but our minds keep going. We feel guilty when we're not accomplishing something. We worry that someone else is getting ahead while we're standing still. That’s when it might be time to examine our motives.

Solomon offers another warning:

“And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” Ecclesiastes 4:4

That raises some uncomfortable but important questions.

Why are we working so hard?

Are we using the gifts God gave us, or trying to prove something?

Are we building something worthwhile, or building our identity?

Are we pursuing God’s purpose, or someone else’s definition of success?

There’s an old saying: "If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Maybe.

But as Christian men, perhaps the more important question isn't whether we love what we're doing.

It's whether we remember WHO we're doing it for.

Our work matters. We should do it well. We should enjoy the opportunities God gives us and be grateful when our careers and businesses are going well.

But our jobs don't define us.

Our income doesn't define us.

Our accomplishments don't define us.

And the opinions of the people around us certainly don't define us.

So this Labor Day, enjoy the break. Spend time with your family and friends. Fire up the grill. Put the phone down for a while.

And when you head back to work, remember the words of Paul:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.

Work hard. Do it well. Enjoy it. But always remember WHO you're working for.