Work As Worship: Identity and CallingSample

What comes after your name?

You know, when you picture yourself meeting someone for the first time, what will be the one identifier that will capture who you are?

For many of us, it's what we do for work.

I'm Brett, and I'm a student.

I'm Tanisha, and I'm a doctor. 

Pastor, accountant, actor, caretaker. It can be so tempting to define ourselves and others by familiar labels.

But what if work was so much more than these titles or achievements? What if, because of your faith in God, your identity as a child of God and an heir to his Kingdom was the inspiration and motivation for everything foundational about you, including your work?

This is a palpable shift in emphasis from centering your identity in what you do to who you are.

Can you almost feel the tension leaving your body as you recognize that you were created with a purpose far more significant than a string of accomplishments or titles?

Don't misunderstand.

Achievements and accolades can be a glorious outgrowth of who you are.  An orange tree produces fruit because of its identity, not to determine its identity. What you do and what you achieve is a result of who God made you to be.

Think about it. Even if we connected apples to the orange tree’s branches, they wouldn’t change the fact that its very nature is an orange tree.

Through no effort or accomplishment on your part but solely because you trust in God, you are the apple of God's eye. The Bible tells us he delights over you with singing, and he longs to spend time with you. You are God's child, and his love for you is without boundaries.

True satisfaction and contentment are not tied to what you do but whose you are.

• Have you been tempted to believe that your circumstances and accomplishments define or even restrict who you are and the value of your work?
• How has what you've read revealed God's truth about your identity?
• Knowing that your identity is “child of God,” what do you think the natural fruit of your life will be?