Is Your Work Exceptional?

“And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” Colossians‬ ‭3:17‬ ‭NLT‬

I once watched a short film where a set of people had died and were being interrogated at the judgment seat. There was a particular woman who, when questioned, felt disappointed about what she did on earth.

She told God she didn’t do anything but raise two boys as a stay-at-home mum. She neither had a professional career nor did she serve in the church as she wished because she was so busy raising her children. She cried half the time.

After presenting her case, God told her she did exactly what He wanted her to do. He told her that her boys would eventually grow up to win millions of souls for the kingdom because of her godly parenting.

In these times, everyone wants to be on the billboards and have a thriving professional life. While this isn’t bad, some of us have been called to do exceptional work in very subtle ways.

When we use the world as our standard, we judge ourselves by the grades we are given. When God is our standard and we choose to represent Him in thoughts, speech and actions, the world becomes insignificant.

So, the question is…

How do we know when our work is qualified as exceptional?

Your work isn’t exceptional only when people applaud you or give you an award. Your work is exceptional when God says it is.

For God to say you’re doing exceptional work means that…

• You understand and are doing His will for your life.
• You pass your work through His standards as mentioned in the Bible, not through the world’s standards.
• Your conscience is alive and you allow the Holy Spirit to work through you every day.
• You are kingdom-minded and your thoughts, emotions, speech and actions are a positive influence on at least one person daily.
• Your identity is in Christ and you let this show in your work.

Notice that I never said anything about being an executive or owning a business. Those are just positions and platforms for us to express the qualities above.

If you occupy such positions but neglect the qualities above, the stay-at-home mum or trash man that you regard as insignificant is doing more exceptional work than you are, even though we all have been empowered with the same Spirit.

Remember, it’s never about what you do, but why you do it. The intent is what defines what is exceptional and what isn’t. When the intent is right, the method becomes exceptional.

“I do what I do, in the way I do it because…”

Do you work so that you can please people? Or is it for the applause, the money, fame and fortune? There are so many reasons we work. But there’s always one core reason.

That core reason influences how the other secondary reasons are handled. Identify that by asking yourself “why” several times and you’ll know how best to redefine why you work.