The Christmas season is already here, and while it can be easy to see this as a time to sit back and enjoy everything we’ve been blessed with, it’s important to remember that God has blessed each of us to be a blessing. Time and time again, in the stories we’ve heard from businesses across the country, it’s been made clear that we are to treat our business as a gift from God. It is our individual calling to steward that gift well.
This is a time of year when it is easier than ever to pay it forward, so to speak. How can you use the gift you’ve been given and the blessings that come with it to make a difference in someone else’s life?
Take a moment to read this excerpt from Douglas McKelvey’s 2017 book, Every Moment Holy, titled “A Liturgy for Those Who Employ Others”:
What a gift, O Lord, to be so blessed
that I might extend this bounty to others
in the form of honest employment,
whereby they might also bless and provide
for those who depend upon them.
Teach me each day the way of Christ--
how better to serve those I would lead.
Give me wisdom and mercy
in my dealings with those I hire.
May I be patient, and gracious,
and slow to anger, recognizing always
your image within those I employ.
May I trust first in you as my provision,
that I might relate to others
not as tools and commodities,
but as fellow pilgrims and fellow beggars,
desperate for divine love.
Teach me to seek the eternal good of
my employees, even over my own profits.
Let me relate to each of these,
your unique creations, in light of the priorities,
not of the kingdoms of this world,
but of the better kingdom of Heaven.
And may I,
by the graciousness of my interactions
with these employees,
establish a tone and a culture
of kindness and grace
that will permeate every room and
corridor and hall of this building
like a sweet perfume,
like the aroma of Christ.
May those who labor here do so with
a sense of peace
and purpose
and calm,
with a sense that they are valued
and respected and appreciated,
and may my dealings with them be
a steady witness and invitation,
beckoning each to respond more fully
to the call of your Spirit.
O Lord, be present in this place.
Be at work in our work.
Be at your labors in this place of our labor.
Amen.
Once you’ve read that, maybe give it a second read, then a third, and maybe print it out and hang it on your wall. What would it look like in this season of giving if you used your resources to make each of your employees feel valued, respected, and appreciated in a way that served as a clear witness and invitation to follow after Christ?
That is a powerful testimony.
The desire of the righteous ends only in good,
the expectation of the wicked in wrath.
One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
and one who waters will himself be watered.
The people curse him who holds back grain,
but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it.
-Proverbs 11:23-26
Blessing others is not a one-way street. When you look to pour into others based on a desire to share what Christ has done for you, the impact will be evident. It may feel like you’re giving away your time, money, or other resources, but in reality, you will see how much more valuable it is to see Christ working through you to serve others.
The goal of a faithful, giving spirit is not that you would say, “I guess I have to bless this person,” but instead, “Wow, I get to bless this person.” This season can be your opportunity to go beyond doing that one annual meal that everyone seems to enjoy. Maybe this year, you find a way to get more personal and look for opportunities to make an impact on an individual level with some of your employees.
Even Jesus’s ministry reached both the crowds and the individual. How can you find a way to shape your ministry after His?
