Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the PsalmsDevotional: 2 of 7In you, Lord my God, I put my trust…Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Psalm 25:1, 5)Can you repeat David’s words with a straight face? “God…my hope is in you all day long.” I know I can’t most days. That might be true in the mornings after I have spent time in the Word meditating on the hope of the gospel. But once I sit down at my desk, it often feels like my hope is in signing the next book deal, hitting the next milestone in podcast subscribers, or helping my kids get straight As at school.These are examples of good things that you and I should be ambitious for. Done with proper motives, they are part of the “good works which God prepared in advance for us to do” (see Ephesians 2:10).But our good work can’t be the source of our hope. Why? Because the results of our work aren’t secure! I have no ultimate control over my next book deal or whether or not my kids make the honor roll. Thus, setting my ultimate hopes on these fragile things will inevitably disappoint.This is why we can never “move past” the gospel. The temptation to place our hopes in the next promotion, acquisition, or project at work can be immense. The only antidote is to constantly preach the gospel to ourselves, reminding us that our ultimate hope is in our status as adopted children of God (see John 1:12-13).J.D. Greear is right: “The gospel is not just the diving board off of which we jump into the pool of Christianity; it is the pool itself.” And so, we must swim in the pool of the gospel regularly.Even if you fail to accomplish what you’ve set out to do at work today, your eternal hope of salvation is secure. You can be assured of God’s “never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.” Let this truth marinate in your heart "all day long" today.

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the PsalmsDevotional: 1 of 7Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)Growing up, we had a tree in my yard that would produce delicious tangerines each year. Do you know what I never saw that tree do? Hoard the fruit for itself. Why? Because that’s not the purpose of a fruit tree. A fruit tree exists to share its fruit with others.I think that’s part of what the Psalmist had in mind in today’s passage. The Psalter opens by describing “one...whose delight is in the law of the Lord” and says that whatever that person does “prospers.” Who is that prosperity for? Primarily for others—just like “a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit.”Is it wrong to enjoy the fruit of our labor? Absolutely not! All analogies break down at some point, and the fruit tree is no exception. A fruit tree physically can’t partake of its own fruit. We can, and Scripture encourages us to do so! In Ecclesiastes 5:19, Solomon says that “God gives…wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them.”But based on the balance of Scripture, it seems clear to me that the primary purpose of our “wealth and possessions” is to bless others. In 2 Corinthians 9, the Apostle Paul says this: “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work…You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (see 2 Corinthians 9:8, 11).You see it, right? We are enriched primarily “so that” we will “abound in every good work,” including the work of being “generous on every occasion.”Has your work given you more than you need today? If so, enjoy some of the fruits of your labor as an act of worship to the giver of those good gifts. But don’t forget the picture from today’s Psalm. Primarily, you’re called to be a fruit tree that freely shares its fruit with others. So share generously today!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series:  4 Biblical Ways to Escape the Comparison TrapDevotional: 4 of 4Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. (Matthew 25:14)When it comes to escaping the comparison trap, there may be no more helpful passage of Scripture than the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25.Jesus’s parable focuses on a Master (representing himself) who “entrusted his wealth” to three servants. “To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,” and then, he went on a long journey.Upon his return, the Master found that the first servant had diligently put the Master’s money to work and turned five bags of gold into ten. The Master turned to the first servant and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your master’s happiness!’”Then, the Master came to the second servant who turned his two bags of gold into four. And the Master gave him the exact same blessing that he gave the first servant—even though the second servant wound up with six fewer bags of gold.Do you see how countercultural this is? Secular wisdom would look at this scene and say, Clearly the servant with ten bags is the “winner,” right!? Not in Jesus’s book. Because the Master didn’t compare these guys to each other, he compared them to themselves.Based on this parable, I think if Jesus were asked to define success in a word it would be stewardship—doing your best in accordance with the Lord’s commands. That points us to the fourth way we can escape the comparison trap: Remembering that while the world will always value being the best, God values us doing our best with talents he has called us to steward.I hope you see how unbelievably freeing that truth is. Because it is impossible to win the world’s game. There will always be somebody bigger, better, richer, smarter, more popular, more talented, and more successful than you. Always! And so, if the game is about being the best, you will never escape the comparison trap.But with God, the only way you “lose” is by not suiting up. So long as you stay focused on your calling—day by day seeking to better steward what God has given you as a worshipful response to your salvation—you win (see Ephesians 2:8-10).The next time you find yourself spiraling into the comparison trap, remember these four biblical ways to escape:Confess your prideThank God for the goodness he has shown to you and to othersAsk yourself if you’re even playing the same game as the person you’re comparing yourself toRemember that while the world calls you to be the best, God calls you to do your best I pray your soul will find rest in these truths today!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: 4 Biblical Ways to Escape the Comparison TrapDevotional: 3 of 4We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. (2 Corinthians 10:12-13)We’re in a series exploring four biblical ways to escape the comparison trap—our tendency to weigh ourselves against others until we feel improperly superior or inferior to them.We’ve already explored two ways to escape the comparison trap. First, confess your pride. Second, thank God for the goodness he has shown to you and to others. Today’s passage shows us the third way to escape: Ask yourself if you’re even playing the same game as the person you’re comparing yourself to.The context of today’s passage is that the Corinthians were comparing Paul to some false preachers (see 2 Corinthians 11:5). Commenting on this passage, one theologian explains that apparently, “Compared to secular orators, Paul was not as entertaining, dramatic, or engaging.”But Paul refused to compare himself to those other preachers. Why? Because he wasn’t even playing the same game as they were. They were there to preach “a different gospel” (see 2 Corinthians 11:4). Paul was there to preach the one true gospel of Jesus Christ. And so, he said, he would “confine [his] boasting to the sphere of service God himself [had] assigned to [him].”You and I do the opposite of Paul all the time. Let me give you just one personal example.My friend Cal Newport writes incredible business books like Deep Work and Digital Minimalism. And he writes for a very broad audience—for Christians and non-Christians alike. A couple of years ago, I found myself falling into the comparison trap and growing jealous of Cal. By God’s grace, I realized how ridiculous this was, because “the sphere of service God himself has assigned to” me is far narrower than Cal’s. I am called to help Christians connect the gospel to their work. And so, my total potential audience is way smaller than Cal’s. So it makes absolutely zero sense to compare myself to him! Because we aren’t even playing the same game.Lebron James wouldn’t compare himself to Tiger Woods. Similarly, you and I should realize the foolishness of comparing ourselves to others with different callings.If you’re comparing yourself to someone else today, Paul shows you one way to escape. Ask if you’re even playing the same game. If you’re not, knock it off. If you are, access some of the other escape routes we’ve already explored in this series or the final one we will unpack next week.

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: 4 Biblical Ways to Escape the Comparison TrapDevotional: 2 of 4Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. (Job 41:11)On April 7, 2019, Craig Arttez Brewer walked into a Waffle House and started handing out $20 bills to strangers. For whatever reason, Brewer chose not to extend his generosity to all the restaurant’s patrons, only some. One customer who did not receive one of Brewer’s generous gifts became furious and stormed out of the restaurant. A few minutes later, the customer returned with a gun, shooting and killing Brewer on the spot.This tragic true story illustrates an important truth: God is the creator of the universe. He created us and every good thing in this world, and thus, he is free to do with our lives whatever he pleases. Just as the angry Waffle House customer had no right to Craig Brewer’s generosity, we have no right to God’s. Because we sinned against our Creator, the only “claim” we have against him is the claim to eternal separation from him (see Romans 6:23). That is what we deserve. Everything else—from our salvation, to our jobs, to the breath in our lungs—is a good and merciful gift of grace.And it is that truth that can free us from soul-sucking comparison. Last week, we saw that confessing our pride is the first way to escape the comparison trap. Here’s the second: Thank God for the goodness he has shown—to you and to others. Thanking God for the goodness he has shown you turns your focus away from what you want to what you have already been given. And thanking God for the goodness he has shown others helps you remember that their success too is a gift from God—even if they aren’t followers of him!This is where many of us can get hung up. Let’s say you’re competing for a promotion at work and you lose out to a lying, womanizing colleague who hates the ways of the Lord. That can be a tough pill to swallow. But God’s Word promises that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father” (James 1:17) who “sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). And so, we can trust that God knows what he’s doing—even when he allows the “unrighteous” to prosper.This morning, I want you to think of just one person you tend to compare yourself to. Thank God for the goodness he has shown them—their talents, prosperity, health, etc.And thank him for the unmerited goodness he has shown you, joining Jacob in praying, “I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant” (Genesis 32:10).

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: 4 Biblical Ways to Escape the Comparison TrapDevotional: 1 of 4If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else. (Galatians 6:3-4)Today is my 37th birthday. I don’t know about you, but for me, birthdays are the perfect trigger for falling into the comparison trap. Because birthdays offer us a “scorecard” of sorts—especially in a world that is obsessed with success at an early age. If we’ve made more money than our peers or parents have by a certain age, we can feel proud and arrogant. Conversely, if we have failed to sell a company, reach the C-Suite, or achieve some other goal before someone else, we can feel jealous and bitter like we’re “falling behind” and “life is passing us by.”How can you wage war against these feelings? How do I plan to escape the comparison trap today? By confessing and repenting of my pride. Because as Paul makes clear in Galatians 6:3-4, pride is the root of all comparison.Save Paul, nobody has articulated this better than C.S. Lewis who said in Mere Christianity: “We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.”It’s easy to see how pride is the root of comparison that leads us to feel superior to others, but it is also the root of us feeling inferior to others. If I feel jealous that someone has accomplished more than I have by a certain age, that is ultimately rooted in a feeling that I deserve the good gifts God has given them, but not me. And that is pride.So, if you find yourself falling into the comparison trap today, start your escape here: Confess your pride to the Lord in prayer and ask for his power to “take pride in yourself alone, without comparing yourself to someone else.”

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Working in ExileDevotional: 5 of 5I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:22-23)Today concludes our five-week series exploring biblical principles for working in environments that are increasingly hostile to the ways of the Lord. Today’s passage contains the final principle I want us to explore:Principle #5: Christians are called to become all things to all people for the sake of the gospel.One of the reasons why God has you working “outside the camp” is because it is through the work of mere Christians—not primarily pastors and religious professionals—that God will save the lost in our "post-Christian" context. But to make disciples at work you, like Paul, must “become all things to all people”—doing everything you can (other than sin) to build relationships with non-believers. This could look like having lunch with a different co-worker once a week to get to know your colleagues personally or following your office’s favorite sports team so you have something to talk about on Monday mornings. There are a million practical outworkings of this principle. But let me draw out one more—a controversial application that, if you haven’t already, you will certainly have a chance to practice soon.Let’s pretend that a woman you work with shares that they’re now identifying as a man, and they ask that you start referring to them by the male pronouns “he/him.” As a Christian, you hold to a biblical stance that sexuality is defined by God alone (see Genesis 1:27 and Matthew 19:4-5). So, what do you do?Some faithful Christians I respect argue that you should refuse to use your friend’s chosen pronouns, as doing so would give the appearance of condoning sin. But according to one of the more serious studies on this topic, one Christian researcher found that “None of my interviewees were inclined to interpret a…Christian’s pronoun hospitality as an automatic indication that this Christian agreed with everything about the way in which the trans person expressed their gender.”Conversely, another expert has found that “people typically view using their pronouns and chosen name as a basic act of courtesy and respect that’s necessary for continuing relationship” (emphasis mine). With all that in view and with the principle of “becoming all things to all people…for the sake of the gospel” in mind, I would encourage you to practice “pronoun hospitality” in the workplace and use your friend’s chosen pronouns. Now, that doesn’t mean you never confront their sin! But I pray that we, like Jesus, would be relational first and confrontational second (see John 8:1-11), “so that by all possible means [we] might save some.”My friend, I pray that this series has been incredibly encouraging and helpful to you. Your workplace is likely to become less and less friendly to the ways of Jesus. I pray these principles will help you be faithful to Christ and his mission as you work in exile.

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Working in ExileDevotional: 4 of 5You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. (Matthew 5:13)Last week, we explored the biblical call to “live such good lives” amongst our non-Christian co-workers that they have nothing credible to say against us (see 1 Peter 2:11-12). And we saw that that includes our submission to all authorities—even bosses who are antagonistic towards Christianity (see 1 Peter 2:13-22). But we are only obedient up to a point. In the rare instances in which an authority explicitly asks us to contradict the Lord’s commands—when they ask us to lie to a co-worker, embellish the truth to land a deal, or stop talking about Jesus—we are free and obligated to dissent. We choose to obey God, not man (see Acts 5:27-32), otherwise our “salt loses its saltiness” and “is no longer good for anything.” That brings us to our fourth principle for working in exile:Principle #4: Christians are called to disobey directives that contradict God’s Word in a distinctly God-honoring way.Why a “distinctly God-honoring way”? Because even when we refuse to obey an earthly authority, we can do so in ways that do and do not glorify God.There are a number of case studies for what God-honoring disobedience looks like in the book of Daniel (see Daniel 1:5-14, Daniel 3:1-18, and Daniel 6:6-12). Here are three characteristics of godly dissension that we see in these passages.First, we disobey respectfully. When Daniel was asked to eat defiled foods from the king’s table, he didn’t just say “no” to his boss. “He asked the chief official for permission” to abstain (Daniel 1:8). Now, we can assume that had Daniel not received “permission,” he still would have obeyed God and not man. But by asking for permission, he disobeyed respectfully.Second, we disobey constructively. Instead of simply refusing to adhere to the Babylonian diet, Daniel offered a creative alternative aimed at blessing the very employer that was asking him to disobey the Lord (see Daniel 1:12). Daniel understood that he (and we) are called to “seek the peace and prosperity” of the non-Christians we work for and this shines through even in his disobedience (see Jeremiah 29:1-7).Finally, Daniel and friends show us that we are called to disobey resolutely. When Daniel’s friends were asked to bow down to a golden idol, they refused in no uncertain terms saying, “we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:18). We must do the same, trusting that regardless of the consequences, God will work everything for our good and his greater glory (see Romans 8:28-29).

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Working in ExileDevotional: 3 of 5Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (1 Peter 2:11-12)We’re in a series exploring five biblical principles for working in exile. Today, we come to our third principle, straight from Peter’s letter “to God’s elect, exiles” (1 Peter 1:1):Principle #3: Christians are called to live “such good lives” that non-Christians have nothing credible to say against us.Though he lived hundreds of years before Peter penned the words of today’s passage, Daniel (of lion’s den fame) offers a terrific case study of what this principle looks like in practice. Like you and me, Daniel worked in exile—specifically as an official inside the Babylonian government. And he modeled the goodness Peter describes in today’s passage on at least three levels.First, vocational excellence. Daniel 6:3 tells us that Daniel “so distinguished himself” among his peers that King Darius “planned to set him over the whole kingdom” of Babylon. Daniel was a master of his craft. That’s the first dimension of the exemplary goodness he displayed while working in exile.Here’s the second: personal integrity. When Daniel’s co-workers heard that their boss was planning to promote Daniel, they “tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel…but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy” (Daniel 6:4). Daniel didn’t just possess good technical skills. He possessed good and godly character.The third dimension of Daniel’s goodness was his submission to authorities—even authorities who hated his God. After searching for “corruption” in Daniel and any act of disobedience to the Babylonian king, finally his peers gave up saying, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God” (Daniel 6:5).Next week, we’ll explore that “unless it has something to do with the law of his God” caveat in depth. But today, here’s what I want to encourage you to do: Pretend that your co-workers, like Daniel’s, wanted to discredit you and your witness. How would they do it? What would they point to?Would they point to the way you talk about others behind their backs? Or how much you drink when you’re out with your colleagues? Or the bit-too-friendly relationship you have with a co-worker of the opposite sex?Whatever it is, repent for the sake of the gospel. “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong,” no accusation can stick.

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Working in ExileDevotional: 2 of 5And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)Last week, we saw the first of five biblical principles for working in exile—namely that a Christian’s default position should be to rush into dark workplaces, not retreat from them. This is in line with Jesus’s prayer in John 17:15-18 when he asked the Father to send his followers “into the world.” But in the same breath, Jesus also asked the Father to “protect them from the evil one.” You see, while Jesus never intended for his followers to isolate themselves from the world, he has called us to insulate ourselves before going into our dark workplaces and communities.How? Through study of God’s Word (see John 17:17) and Christian community. That’s what the writer of Hebrews is urging in today’s passage: that we insulate ourselves by “not giving up meeting together” with other believers. That brings us to our second biblical principle for working in exile:Principle #2: Christians are not called to isolate from unbelievers, but we are called to insulate ourselves through God’s Word and Christian community.I’m going to assume you’re already in the Word on a regular basis. But if you’re like many modern Christians, the community piece doesn’t come as easily. I’d argue that every Christian professional needs two types of Christian communities.First, a local church. There has been a lot of debate about the importance of the local church in recent years. Personally, I can’t get around the strong biblical case for committing to a local body of believers.Second, you need a community of believers who understands your specific work and can help you answer highly situational questions such as:Should I agree to my client’s request to use pictures of homosexual couples in our marketing campaigns?How can I push back on my boss’s vision for a new product that will exploit the poor?How do I go about firing a client for the way they treat my team?Where can you find a group to help you answer questions like these? If you work at a large company, consider joining or starting a Christian or interfaith Employee Resource Group (ERG). If you’re curious to learn more about how these groups work and why they’re so effective, listen to my interviews with the leaders of Amazon’s and PayPal’s faith-based ERGs. If you don’t work at a large company, but still long to insulate yourself with a community of Christians who share your vocation, consider joining The Word Before Work Community led by yours truly.If you want to serve as a faithful ambassador for Christ in your post-Christian workplace, being in Christian community is not optional. Find one to get plugged into today!