Did you know that so many people across the world have turned out to be workaholics? You might be so surprised at this, but it’s an actual fact. We're now working longer days with fewer vacations, and our basic snack breaks are often met in the office. This has led to numerous studies detailing the issues with stress, heart disease, constant sitting, relationship strain, and even premature death that working extended hours (usually at computers) can create. Working and overworking affects nearly every part of your being. A person is a workaholic when their relationship with their work becomes more important than family, recreation and personal health. Did you know that marriages involving a workaholic are twice as likely to end in divorce? Not only does workaholic affect non-believer, it is also taking place in the community of faith. People have come to the situation of prizing their job above their families and friends. Jobs have robbed their social life enjoyment. It has been said that, others live for a day’s end when they can quit their job and go home.
Like all heresies, there is a grain of truth in each statement. Work is good. It was created by God for the benefit of the human race (Genesis 2:15). But to believe that your worth depends upon your work is to deny the truth of the grace of God. Workaholics are simply repeating the Galatians heresy—that we are saved by grace but kept by works. (See Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 3:3).
It’s true we are asked to work hard, and this is what is demanded of us, but I have always tried my best to tell those in the work force how this can affect their lives both negatively and positively. Being a workaholic can separate you from your family, it can keep you away as a parent from enjoying time with your kids, spouse, and even friends who care about you. The point of living is not just putting food on the table and paying the bills, there is so much more into life that we need to enjoy, much of it being our relationship to God, our family, and friends. I have come to learn that working too hard or working long hours is in fact counterproductive in vain. This is because we may well cause hurt to those things that make up most of our happiness in life. It can bring damage to our relationship with family and friends, our spirituality, our personal health and even the health of our loved ones, as well as our longevity.
Being a workaholic can draw us away from God who is the sustainer and the center of our lives. If we focus too much on work rather than on God, it’s clear that work has become our idol. It’s always important to remember that God comes first before anything. We love others because God is love. If God is first in our lives, then we will love and care for our families and friends. We will have mercy and compassion on our enemies. But if work if first, we will be worshiping money instead of God. I seriously believe that we should always seek to have a balanced lifestyle when it comes to working. I have seen Christian ministers who drifted away because they focused too much on the work they were planning to do rather than focusing on the one who was going to provide the power to accomplish the task. We all have to learn that, our family and friends matters the most before God’s face. He wants us to learn to care and love others.
When it comes to work, we are not called to be lazy, because laziness corrodes self-respect and the respect others may have for us (Proverbs 20:4), yet we are not called to overwork ourselves. The Bible states very clearly that the person who refuses to work does not deserve to eat at the expenses of others, yet it doesn’t say you must become a workaholic. I just think that, sometimes we overwork ourselves because we have not learned to be content with what God has already given us. We want more and more there is no place known as the limit and there is no appreciation in what God has already provided. It’s very clear in 1 Timothy 6:9 about what happens when we try to attain too much than what we have been given and we can see the consequences and the results of loving too much.
We worry too much about the future to the extent of losing the parenthood responsibility God has given us over our children. We have come to prize work over the love of our spouses. Work has come to push our friendships away. Having a job does not only mean work had to impress, it also means to remember to be content with less material gain along with a reasonable measure of peace, rather than to be loaded down with a double dose of work along with strife and misery. God has not called us to be workaholic; we have the responsibility to balance work, faith, and relationships.
Let us learn to be content with what God has provided us with. Let us work hard to provide honorably for our needs and for the needs of those who depend on us. We are called to serve God in our work place so let us all reflect His character.
I pray that you find a balance in your working environment
Because of His love, I am forever a secured package
Rumishael Ulomi
