Celebrate Freedom Teaching Letter February 2011
Submitted by T Howe on February 15, 2011 - 11:00am
I pray that this letter finds you prospering on your journey to Celebrate Freedom! Last month, I encouraged you to begin the life-long journey of self-development by reading and listening to educational audio CDs. I know that if you faithfully incorporate this discipline into your life it will have a profound effect on your finances.
I also talked about how you must add action to your faith if you want to see major changes in your life and in your finances. This month, I’d like to share some more practical advice that may seem elementary for some, but will be life changing for others. What is it? To see your income increase, you must first be faithful by working to your fullest potential at your current job.
When I was fifteen, I got my first real job working as a groundskeeper for a local business. I started out making $5.25 an hour, but my friend, who had helped me get the job, was making $10.00 per hour. The only difference between his job and mine, in my mind anyway, was that he had been there longer. So, soon after I started, I approached the owner and asked for a raise. I figured if my friend and I both did the same type of work, we should be paid the same. But my boss didn’t see it that way, and I didn’t get the raise. At that moment, I adopted the philosophy “I’ll work harder when they pay me more.” I figured if I was going to get paid less, then I shouldn’t work as hard or as fast as my friend. But my immature plan backfired, and I was soon fired!
Many people live by that philosophy, or one close to it. Maybe you’re one of them. Do you go to work and watch the clock? Do you only do what’s required of you and little more? Do you judge your effectiveness by the standards of those working around you? Let me encourage you to do the exact opposite. Start doing all you can do, being the best you can be, and working harder than everyone else around you! Work everyday to your fullest potential. Work to the glory of God! Colossians 3:23 tells us that we should work at everything we do with all of our hearts, as if we’re working for God.
Now, I understand your current job may not be your dream career, but it is your current provision. Consider it your training ground, where you have the ability to demonstrate your faithfulness before God, by doing your very best, and working to your fullest potential each and every day.
Look at the story of David in the Bible. Do you think it was David’s ideal career to tend sheep in the middle of nowhere? No. It wasn’t his calling, but it was the training ground that allowed him to prove his faithfulness to God, and ultimately led him to his calling as the king, or “shepherd,” of the whole nation of Israel.
Joseph is another example. He was faithful to do his very best, even as a slave and a prisoner. He did everything to the glory of God. Eventually his faithfulness was recognized and he was promoted to ruler of all of Egypt. Both David and Joseph were faithful in their small assignments, and eventually they were promoted to walk in their calling. They also became exceeding wealthy in the process!
If you find yourself watching the clock when you’re working, then change! Start racing the clock every day. Make it your goal to see how much you can accomplish during the workday. When you finish one assignment, ask for another right away. Be on time, every time. Become the person your boss or manager can go to whenever they have a project that needs to be done the right way, and accomplished on time.
Sure, some of your co-workers won’t like the new you. It will make them look less productive. But you’re not there to impress your co-workers, or to make friends, you’re there to prove your faithfulness to God, and to get promoted or “hired away” to a higher paying assignment. So make it your goal to earn your company as much money as possible each week, and begin to develop “ownership mentality.”
Those in leadership are consistently looking for faithful people to promote—people who can be counted on to get the job done. God is also consistently looking to promote those who are faithful. Choose today that, from this day on, you’ll consistently be faithful in each and every position you’re entrusted with.
Together, as we faithfully work to our fullest potential, we will Celebrate Freedom!
Tim Howe
Campaign Director
I also talked about how you must add action to your faith if you want to see major changes in your life and in your finances. This month, I’d like to share some more practical advice that may seem elementary for some, but will be life changing for others. What is it? To see your income increase, you must first be faithful by working to your fullest potential at your current job.
When I was fifteen, I got my first real job working as a groundskeeper for a local business. I started out making $5.25 an hour, but my friend, who had helped me get the job, was making $10.00 per hour. The only difference between his job and mine, in my mind anyway, was that he had been there longer. So, soon after I started, I approached the owner and asked for a raise. I figured if my friend and I both did the same type of work, we should be paid the same. But my boss didn’t see it that way, and I didn’t get the raise. At that moment, I adopted the philosophy “I’ll work harder when they pay me more.” I figured if I was going to get paid less, then I shouldn’t work as hard or as fast as my friend. But my immature plan backfired, and I was soon fired!
Many people live by that philosophy, or one close to it. Maybe you’re one of them. Do you go to work and watch the clock? Do you only do what’s required of you and little more? Do you judge your effectiveness by the standards of those working around you? Let me encourage you to do the exact opposite. Start doing all you can do, being the best you can be, and working harder than everyone else around you! Work everyday to your fullest potential. Work to the glory of God! Colossians 3:23 tells us that we should work at everything we do with all of our hearts, as if we’re working for God.
Now, I understand your current job may not be your dream career, but it is your current provision. Consider it your training ground, where you have the ability to demonstrate your faithfulness before God, by doing your very best, and working to your fullest potential each and every day.
Look at the story of David in the Bible. Do you think it was David’s ideal career to tend sheep in the middle of nowhere? No. It wasn’t his calling, but it was the training ground that allowed him to prove his faithfulness to God, and ultimately led him to his calling as the king, or “shepherd,” of the whole nation of Israel.
Joseph is another example. He was faithful to do his very best, even as a slave and a prisoner. He did everything to the glory of God. Eventually his faithfulness was recognized and he was promoted to ruler of all of Egypt. Both David and Joseph were faithful in their small assignments, and eventually they were promoted to walk in their calling. They also became exceeding wealthy in the process!
If you find yourself watching the clock when you’re working, then change! Start racing the clock every day. Make it your goal to see how much you can accomplish during the workday. When you finish one assignment, ask for another right away. Be on time, every time. Become the person your boss or manager can go to whenever they have a project that needs to be done the right way, and accomplished on time.
Sure, some of your co-workers won’t like the new you. It will make them look less productive. But you’re not there to impress your co-workers, or to make friends, you’re there to prove your faithfulness to God, and to get promoted or “hired away” to a higher paying assignment. So make it your goal to earn your company as much money as possible each week, and begin to develop “ownership mentality.”
Those in leadership are consistently looking for faithful people to promote—people who can be counted on to get the job done. God is also consistently looking to promote those who are faithful. Choose today that, from this day on, you’ll consistently be faithful in each and every position you’re entrusted with.
Together, as we faithfully work to our fullest potential, we will Celebrate Freedom!
Tim Howe
Campaign Director
