Why Work-Life Balance Is Impossible
February 13th, 2012It seems we are so quick to segment our lives into these little compartments…family, spiritual, work, friends, hobbies, etc… We then talk about and aspire to this thing called “work-life” balance. Have you, like me, been chasing work-life balance and have yet to find it?
While the notion of living a balanced life is a noble one, I believe the main reason we struggle so much with this is that it is simply impossible to balance work and life. Here’s what I mean. Work is a part of life, it is not separate from it. Therefore, it is impossible to balance something that is a part of something else because the “something else” will always weigh more. I believe this false belief has gotten us in trouble because we are striving after something we will never find. At times you will need to spend more time in one area than another. This doesn’t mean your life is out of balance though.
Because life is integrated, we get out of line when we put the wrong thing at the core. If money is at our core, then we will be out of line. If our family is at the core, we also will be out of line. I believe the only way to be in alignment is if we place Jesus at the core of who we are in all areas of our lives, even at work.
Pastor and author John Piper said this, “The aim of all human life in God’s eyes is that Christ would be made to look as valuable as he is. Worship means using our minds and hearts and bodies to express the worth of God and all he is for us in Jesus. There is a way to live-a way to love-that does that. There is a way to do your job that expresses the true value of God. If you can’t find it, that may mean you should change jobs. Or it might mean that verse 2 is not happening to the degree it should.”
I love Piper’s quote. The verse 2 he is referring to is Romans 12:2 which says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Most of us need to transform our minds…in other words, change our thinking about our work.
Work is a very spiritual act. In fact, it was created by God for us on earth as a form of worship. Seriously, this is true. In Genesis, God told Adam to go and work the garden. This was before sin entered the world. This was God’s perfect world…and it included work! In addition, the Hebrew root word from which we get the words “work” and “worship” are the same, Avodah. So in God’s eyes, when we work, we are worshiping Him.
With this in mind, do you need to change your thinking about your work? How would you approach your workday differently if you really understood this? Does this help you to think more positively about your work?











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