What If You Don’t Like Your Job?

My dad said work built character, especially hard word, and most especially hard, unpleasant work. And he was probably right. Most people need the experience of having to work hard to earn their living by the sweat of their brow. Not all work is fun, but most work needs to be done by someone. And if that is true, why not you? But then you grow older and you spend more of your life working, and it becomes clear that having a meaningful job that you appreciate and perhaps even enjoy is also a good thing. Finding the balance between those two is tricky. I tend to think that teen-age boys ought to split rails, mow yards, and drive spikes with a sledgehammer. 46 year-old-men, it seems to me, ought to supervise. I will admit that my view is heavily biased.

But what do you do if you don't like your job but you have to keep it? What do you do if your Christian faith calls you to be grateful, but you just don't like what you do for a living? Andre Yee posted a piece at his blog, Every Square Inch, that addresses just this issue. He has a lengthy quote from another writer and some practical suggestions that I thought were pretty great. Check it out.

I've enjoyed every job I've held but I know that isn't the case for everyone. Some find themselves working in jobs that are less than satisfying...some even hate their jobs. Many Christians regard job satisfaction as a God given right and find themselves questioning why God hasn't blessed them in this way. Sam Shin asks these thought provoking questions on his excellent Gospel Prism blog - "Does God want us to love our jobs?" "Does God ultimately care what kind of job we hold?"... Read More .