Why Your Work is Not Your Worth

By Rick Warren

You’ll hear people give many excuses for overworking. Some say it’s providing for their family. Others insist their work is so important that slowing down would be negligent.

But usually, it’s a values problem. We start valuing the wrong things—specifically, the acquisition of stuff above all else.

The Bible says, “I have also learned why people work so hard to succeed: it is because they envy the things their neighbors have” (Ecclesiastes 4:4 GNT).

God says we have two options: You can spend your time keeping up with the Joneses, or you can forget them and reduce your stress level. But you can’t have both.

That’s how this becomes a question of values. Do you want more stuff, or do you want less stress and more time with your family? The choice is yours.

When is enough, enough? You can win the rat race, but you’re still a rat!

Jesus said it like this: “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36 NIV). Or, in other words, “What good is it for a man to become president of his company but lose his wife or kids?”

Your work and your worth are two different things.

Maybe you grew up hearing that you’re worthless, and you’re out in the workplace trying to prove everyone wrong. In the back of your mind, you’re telling yourself, “I’m going to show them I’m worth something.” You work harder and harder, but no matter what, it’s never enough.

As a pastor, I’ve been with many people when they died. I’ve seen them take their last breath—sometimes at a hospital, sometimes in a home, and sometimes at the scene of an accident. I’ve never heard anyone say with their dying breath, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.”

Not one.

You’re not guaranteed tomorrow, so take the time today to adjust your values and live your life well.