Presented by Lauren Stibgen

Has someone ever asked you if you live to work or work to live? Did you know this question is one asked on some assessments to evaluate whether a candidate is a fit for a company culture? I will admit, I was a live to work woman for a long time. Over the years I have shifted more to a work to live mentality, but I know God calls us to strike a balance. After all, he created us for work!

Living to work means you get up each day with work as your number 1! Working to live feels more like, I cannot wait for my day to end so I can be doing life. If you were hiring someone, how would you want them to answer this question? While I think we likely have seen a shift in how many would answer this question, I wonder how this sits for a prospective employer. If you are a manager or business owner, you want to hire people who are motivated to come to work and do a good job! But I would argue you also want employees who have a good balance of loving their life!

As employees, God calls us to do good work as we are his representatives every day, but we need to be mindful we don’t get too focused on the live to work mentality! It can be so tempting to pour time into our work, especially if we enjoy our colleagues and our work. The more we live to work, the easier it is for that busyness to be all consuming!

Jesus cautions us of the live to work mentality. We see this contrast between Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42. Martha is busy and distracted with serving and Mary is sitting at Jesus feet listening to his teaching.

Jesus tells Martha she is anxious and troubled about many things but one thing is necessary.

One thing is necessary, and that is coming to the feet of Jesus. If you and I are anxious and distracted by living to work, we will clearly miss opportunities to both experience God’s love and show God’s love to others.

Striking a balance, making God first and loving others a close second, is where we need to rest.