God’s Purposes for Work
God’s Purposes for Work: More Than Meets the Eye
When we think about work, many of us see it simply as a means to earn a paycheck. But according to Scripture, there’s much more to work than meets the eye. God’s intent for work goes far beyond financial compensation.
Work includes any kind of physical or mental labor directed toward accomplishing a task—whether paid or unpaid. And when we study what the Bible teaches about work, we discover that God gives us work for several important purposes.
Why Did God Create Work in the First Place?
The first thing God does in the Bible is work. Throughout Genesis 1, we see God using His intelligence, power, wisdom, and creativity to fashion the world and everything in it. God is presented as a worker.
After creating humans as the apex of creation, God gives them instructions related to work:
“God blessed them. God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'” (Genesis 1:28)
Adam and Eve were given responsibility to manage and govern the land and animals, using their physical strength and intelligence to make use of resources, cultivate, care for, and sustain creation.
Is Work a Result of the Fall?
Many people mistakenly believe work is a punishment resulting from sin entering the world. However, God instituted work before sin ever entered the picture. In Genesis 2:15, we read: “Then the Lord God took the man, he put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it.”
After God gave Adam and Eve the assignment to work, Genesis 1:31 tells us: “God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Work was established as good and valuable in God’s eyes before sin entered the world.
While the Fall made work harder, work itself was always part of God’s good design for humanity.
What Are God’s Purposes for Work?
1. God Gives Us Work to Imitate Him
Since God is a worker, and we are created in His image, we are designed to be workers too. As Scott Ray explains, “We work because it is a part of what it means to be made in God’s image and to be like Him.”
In Exodus 20:9-11, God instructs Israel: “Six days you shall labor and do all your work… For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them.” Because God worked and then rested, we are given the responsibility to replicate this pattern.
When we work—whether paid or unpaid—we’re being like our heavenly Father. We’re being productive, intentional, and creative, using our intelligence to accomplish something good.
2. God Gives Us Work to Impart Joy
In Ecclesiastes 5:19-20, Solomon connects work with the reward of happiness and pleasure:
“Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, he’s also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor. This is the gift of God, for he will not often consider the years of his life because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart.”
One of God’s gifts to us is the ability to find pleasure, satisfaction, and fulfillment in using our skills and intelligence to solve problems, serve, contribute, create, invent, and add value. There’s something deeply satisfying about working hard and seeing what you’ve accomplished.
Whether you’re entering data, designing logos, fixing broken items, studying for tests, or volunteering at a food bank—look at it from God’s perspective as something good and thank Him for the work you get to do.
3. God Gives Us Work to Support Ourselves
In 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12, Paul writes:
“But we urge you brethren, to excel still more and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.”
Paul teaches that God’s intention is for us to meet our needs through work. He reinforces this in 2 Thessalonians 3:10: “For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order. If anyone’s not willing to work, then he’s not to eat either.”
The pattern in Scripture is not for able-bodied people of working age to rely on government, friends, family, or the church as long-term solutions for meeting their needs. While these supports may be necessary during short-term setbacks, God’s long-term solution for paying bills and providing for ourselves is gainful employment.
4. God Gives Us Work to Be Generous
Ephesians 4:28 reveals another purpose for work: “He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with the one who is in need.”
God blesses us with work to earn income not just for ourselves but so we can come alongside others during difficult times and help provide for them.
Additionally, 1 Corinthians 9:14 teaches that we should use our income to support the church and its mission: “So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the Gospel.”
Our work enables us to be generous in supporting both those in need and the advancement of God’s kingdom through the church.
5. God Gives Us Work to Protect Us
Work protects us from several harmful behaviors:
- Protection from theft: “He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor” (Ephesians 4:28). Instead of taking what doesn’t belong to us, we earn our own wages.
- Protection from idleness: “For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies” (2 Thessalonians 3:11). When we’re not engaged in productive activity, we become vulnerable to temptations and harmful behaviors.
- Protection from family neglect: “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). Work helps us fulfill our responsibilities to our families.
Life Application
As we consider God’s purposes for work, here are some important questions to ask yourself:
- How do I view my work? Do I see it as just a necessary evil to earn money, or do I recognize it as a way to reflect God’s image and find joy in productivity?
- Am I using my work to be generous? Beyond supporting myself, am I using my income to help others in need and support the mission of the church?
- If I’m not working but am able to, what steps do I need to take? Should I be actively seeking employment, developing skills, or finding ways to contribute productively?
- Do I need a job change or an attitude change? Sometimes we need to find work better suited to our gifts, but often we simply need to adjust our perspective on the work we already have.
Remember that while work is important and God-ordained, our salvation never comes through our work. No matter how productive we are, our acceptance before God comes only through faith in Jesus Christ, who defeated death so we can live. Our work matters to God, but it’s Jesus’ work on the cross that saves us.
This week, commit to viewing your work—whether in an office, at home, in school, or in volunteer service—as a divine calling through which you can imitate God, experience joy, provide for yourself and others, and protect yourself from harmful behaviors.