.svg)
"Is It Friday Yet?"
"Ugh, back to the grind."
"Livin’ for the weekend!"
"Retire early so you can do what you really love."
We’ve all heard the lines and maybe even said them ourselves. For many, work feels like a necessary evil. A daily slog to survive until the next break, the vacation, or the escape.
But what if we’ve misunderstood work entirely?
In today’s hustle culture, it’s easy to shrink work down to a paycheck or a ladder to climb. But done right, work is purpose in motion.
It’s contribution.
It’s calling.
And it’s not some post-fall punishment for humanity, it was actually part of the original, perfect plan.
Hold with me, I’m going to go theological here for a minute:
Before there were deadlines, burnout, or broken systems, there was Eden. And in Eden, God placed Adam in the garden “to work it and take care of it.” That was before the fall. Before sin. As Tim Keller wrote in Every Good Endeavor, “Work was not a necessary evil that came into the picture later...God made it a part of His perfect design.”
That flips the script, doesn’t it?
Work was never meant to be a burden, it was meant to be a blessing.
And when we embrace that truth, everything changes.
We stop asking, “How do I survive until Friday?” and start asking, “How can I make a difference today?”
Work isn’t just about what you get from it, it’s about what you give to it. Whether you’re leading a company, teaching kids, caring for patients, running a household, or stocking shelves, your work carries weight. Eternal weight.
Because you’re not just clocking in. You’re creating. Serving. Building. Solving. Contributing to human flourishing in ways that echo far beyond a spreadsheet or schedule.
The true value of work isn’t just economic, it’s also deeply spiritual.
As AW Tozer said, "It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular; it is why he does it. The motive is everything."
What is your motive? Who are you serving through your work? What problem are you uniquely equipped to solve?
Here’s the difference between a job and a calling:
One drains you. The other drives you.
One is endured. The other is lived out.
And great leaders get this. They understand that all good work carries dignity, not just the flashy jobs or the ones with big titles. From baristas to board members, janitors to CEOs, the work matters. Not because of status, but because of significance.
Leaders have the power, and the responsibility, to remind people of the why. To lift their eyes beyond the task list and connect the dots between what they’re doing and why it matters. Because people don’t just need direction, they need meaning.
When leaders connect work to purpose, they don’t just boost morale, they unlock ownership. And ownership always outperforms obligation.
Because at its best, work isn’t a grind. It’s a gift.
Let’s be the kind of leaders who help people see that their work isn’t just busywork, it’s sacred work.
What you do matters.More than you may think.
