Chasing Wealth Or Choosing Prosperity Series

You see, most Christians view their jobs as a necessary evil. They see their job as a kind of toil that they must experience so they can do the things they really want to do. Things like spend time with their family, go to the beach for the weekend, and so forth.

But God created us to work; labor is a part of God’s intention for us. The entrance of sin into our world made work more difficult for sure, but work in itself is not a result of sin.

In the book of Genesis, Adam was told to take care of the garden long before sin entered into the equation. There are over 230 different occupations mentioned in the Bible because God cares about our labor.

Part of our service of God is our job, whether it’s digging ditches, being a factory foreman, or selling clothes. We serve God in our jobs when we communicate God’s character through the quality of our work and the quality of our workplace relationships. That’s why Paul’s especially concerned about Christian employees with non-Christian bosses. You might be the only real Christian your boss has ever met, and how you treat your boss, how you do your job, and how you interact with your co-workers all communicate your commitment to Jesus Christ.

When we have a Christian boss, we should work even harder because it becomes even clearer that this is service to God. Unfortunately, I know lots of Christian business owners who prefer to not hire fellow Christians. The reason is that often a Christian employee thinks that he or she doesn’t have to work as hard, that they’ll get special breaks because they share a common faith with the boss. Paul would say working for a Christian boss means we should work all the harder, seeing our work as an expression of Christian love to our boss.

Are you dissatisfied with your job? Maybe the job isn’t the problem. Maybe you haven’t yet learned to view your job as service to God.

Now this isn’t to say that we shouldn’t get a better job if we can. In 1 Corinthians, one of Paul’s other letters; he encourages slaves to gain their freedom if they can, to move on to better kinds of employment. But even in the midst of a dead end job we can find contentment if we look at our job as our service to God. Do you view your job as service to God?

To Choose Prosperity… Choose Jesus’ Lifestyle

3 Anyone who has a different teaching does not agree with the true teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that shows the true way to serve God.

1 Timothy 6:1-8

There is a contrast here between two kinds of teaching – different and true.

The word “different” refers simply to unsound teachings. The word “true” could be translated as “healthy” or “sound”. It’s about wellness and rightness. It’s about being like what God designed you to be – in his image. Another way to say that is to be a “godly” man or woman.

The other way is to be “ungodly”. To be a false follower and from here you can easily become a false teacher.

The false teacher gives “different” teaching that is unsound instruction and ungodly.

The results are clear