GIF Balancing Home and Work

“It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.”
(Psalm 127:2)

Balancing Home and Work
by Chuck Bentley

It’s difficult to maintain the correct balance between work, family, and other important things if you’re working more than 60 hours per week. There may be occasional periods when excessive hours are necessary, but even in those times relationships suffer.

If you’re a business owner, your actions affect a far greater range of people than just you and your family. When a business owner adopts an excessively long workday that seldom provides time for relaxation and other outside activities, he or she establishes an unwritten policy: “If you don’t work long hours, you won’t get ahead in this company.” This puts the employees (particularly managers) under great stress and eventually makes them less productive.

Turnover in such companies is usually enormous, and they need high salaries to attract workers. The owners believe that if they pay their employees enough, they’ll be able to retain them. But money is only a temporary motivator. It’s true that too little pay will usually force good people out, but too much pay won’t keep them on a job that totally dominates their lives.

When it comes to matters of work and life, strive to shine like a slowly burning candle in the darkness, not flame out like a shooting star. The number of hours you devote to your career can have severe implications for your children.

Remember, the Lord commanded that we rest from all work at least one day for every six that we work. Resting can be a testimony of faith.

Daily Scripture Reading: 

Nehemiah 6-7