One of the most challenging aspects of any workplace can often be the people we work beside, the people we have to spend the majority of our week with. Often we are thrust together with people who we would normally not choose to spend a few hours with, never mind a whole day! How we treat, interact and respect them speaks volumes about our spiritual maturity.
We are instructed to Do everything with love 1 Corinthians 16:14. “Do everything” — that means in the office, in the workshop, in the shop, in the car, on a sales trip — whatever, whenever!
Even when our colleagues are grumpy and rude, even when they don’t like you, even when they make fun of you, even when they put you down for being a Christian, you must still be a friend to them, and treat them as you would like to be treated.
As Christians our main goal is to become more like Jesus, more like God. We could argue that the number one reason God put you on this earth is to learn how to love. God is love, and he wants you to be like Him. It’s easy to love people you like — the people you find it easy to get along with. So if God’s going to teach you real love, its important to realize that he’s going to put you around unlovely people.
In my experience, it’s not really that hard to love the unlovely. A kind word, a friendly smile, a pat on the back, a genuine compliment, a word of encouragement and a listening ear, are all relatively easy to give yet we often underestimate the power of such simple acts.
There have been numerous times when the unlovely person started to open up and become lovely, often revealing the heartache, family struggles, fears or insecurities that have caused the unloving qualities to surface. So often people’s lives change when somebody takes time to pay attention to them. There is not a person on this planet that isn’t starving for attention. But a caring person is hard to find. The Apostle Paul said, “I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare” (Philippians 2:20). I would love to sit down and learn from Timothy!
People need affirmation, attention, and affection. Learn to care about the people you work with and show them God’s love.
Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Ephesians 4:2
Image Credit: Alejandro Escamilla
