Your Work

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Flip through any business magazine or scan your LinkedIn feed and you immediately feel inadequate. There are people younger than you, with less opportunity, who have been more successful than you could ever dream, and usually quite charitable too!

I find it almost disheartening to see this, then go back to my comparatively mundane work. Then I stumbled upon this wonderful section of Galatians in the Message and take heart every time I read it.

Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
Galatians‬ ‭6:4-5‬ ‭MSG‬‬

There are three key things that I love from this verse:

1. Evaluate. We are first called to look at ourselves honestly. Not to pretend that we have it all together and can do anything, but also not to devalue our gifts and talents.
2. Focus. Don’t look at what others have or are doing, but only at the work you are called to.
3. Maximize. We are not only called to use our gifts, but to do our creative best with them. How can we leverage our strengths to do more for God’s kingdom?

It probably doesn’t come naturally (at least not for me), but taking the time to remember and apply these truths helps us to do our work well, without falling short of our potential, or striving to attain the achievements of another.

~ Sean