You may say, “they call it ‘work’ for a reason.” It’s true work isn’t always fun. It is, in fact, well—work. But like most other things in life, how you approach your work can have a lot to do with how you feel about your work at the end of the day. Here’s three motivators that can literally change, not only the way you feel about work, but how well you work in general. 

1.  Let Faith Produce Your Work

When you’re working away at your job, especially on those days you just don’t feel like being there, using the words “faith” and “work” in the same sentence may sound strange. So, how does faith and work mix? First, trusting, by faith, that you were created to work and in doing so you are living a life of worship—everyday. 

Why is this true? Because work isn’t a product of The Fall. It’s actually something we were created to do from the beginning. Just look at Adam and Eve’s story in Genesis before they fell to sin. 

Here’s good news: even if you don’t like your job, God is in the redemption business. That means for you and I, God is at work redeeming our work. He uses our work for His glory which means everyday you and I can get up and go to work, and if we choose, make it an act of worship. 

That’s why you can always give your best at work—and also why you should.

2.  Let Love Keep You Motivated

How can love be a motivator if I don’t really like what I’m doing for work. I’ve told people, especially young adults, that we’ve all had times we’ve had to work jobs we didn’t like. So, begin with what you have to do (work a job you may not like to pay the bills), grow to do what you can do (a job that taps into your skills set), then eventually do what you want to do. 

Even if you don’t love your job, for most of us, our jobs give us opportunity, or some times make us, interact with people. How about we love the people with whom we interact? What difference do you think it will make if you approached your job every day to make a difference in someone else’s life? 

The ability to care about the needs of others is an indelible mark given to us by our Creator. Loving others motivates us because we understand the value others are as created by God and made in His image. Because all people are God’s handiwork, we can love others regardless of what they do, how much they make, what their social status is, or regardless if they can do something for us. 

Do you want to see you work day fly by? Make it a point to pour your life into others, even if it’s in a simply way to brighten someone’s day, like being deliberately kind. 

3.  Let Hope Help You Finish

Hope is one of the strongest motivators in the world. Hopelessness is equally as compelling to the negative. How can hope keep me going to the end? Because hope produces optimism and optimism changes how you approach every day and every adversity. 

In her book titled Grit, Angela Duckworth explains that people who have hope are optimistic because they “habitually search for temporary and specific causes of the their suffering.” Did you catch that word “temporary?” Hope reminds us that there’s more coming and what is coming is good. But, it’s important to know the object of that hope matters too. 

Having hope in God reminds us that we have a future, and that future is bright! We also live and work in hope because we know that God makes good on all His promises, not the least of which is that He is making “all things work together for good.” That’s in us, for us, and through Him. 

When you’re equipped with this way of thinking, you can make it to the end of even the most difficult and stressful of days. 

By the way, if you’re wondering where these 3 ways to have a good work day come from, here it is:

“We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:3, CSB)

p.s. I just want everyone to know, I love my job. I hope you love yours too.