For much of my life, it feels like I’ve been trying to cut corners when it comes to work. No, I don’t mean skimping on my actual job responsibilities. (Though I’ve joked with my boss more than once that I’m retiring at 45.)
The corners I’m cutting are in how my heart and mind meet my daily to-do list. If I’m not careful, I can look at that mile-long list with a mix of annoyance, frustration, and apathy. Between replying to work emails, doing laundry, meeting deadlines, and planning dinner, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed. The tasks seem never-ending.
I don’t know about you, but I long to be productive and purposeful. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing all the boxes checked off at the end of the day! But more often than not, I feel like I’m spinning a dozen plates, just waiting for one (or two, or five) to come crashing down.
And it leaves me wondering—Is this really what God intended when He created work?
Is Work a Curse or a Calling?
It’s a fair question. In a culture that values leisure and sees work as something to escape from, it’s easy to wonder if work is just a necessary evil. After all, Americans spend around 50 percent of their waking hours devoted to it. So, is work a curse, or is it something we were designed to do? The Bible tells us that work isn’t just a consequence of the fall—it’s actually part of God’s good design.
God Worked First: Why Work is Inherently Good
From the very beginning, God Himself was at work. In the opening of Genesis, we see Him as the primary worker, busy creating the world. He worked for six days, shaping the world, the heavens, with no need for a nail and hammer, and then rested on the seventh (Genesis 2:2). This shows that God was the first to do work on the earth. Because God is inherently good, work itself is also inherently good (Psalm 25:8; Ephesians 4:28). When God viewed the fruit of His labor, He called it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). If God’s work is good, then the work He has given us to do is also good.
Designed to Work: Our Calling as Image-Bearers
Since God Himself worked and called it good, it makes sense that He would also call His image-bearers to meaningful labor. In Genesis, God didn’t just place Adam in the garden to hang out and have a good time—He gave him a task. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15, ESV). This is known as the Creation Mandate—the divine calling to subdue the earth, cultivate it, and steward God’s creation (Genesis 1:28). Work wasn’t meant to be a burden, but a way for humanity to reflect God’s creativity, order, and care.
From the beginning, God designed work as a way to glorify Him. When we labor well—whether in an office, at home, or anywhere in between—we participate in God’s original plan to fill, subdue, and steward the earth. This perspective shifts our view from seeing work as merely a means to an end to recognizing it as part of our God-given purpose. As image-bearers, we reflect the God who works, and through our faithful efforts, we mirror His glory to the world.
Work as Worship: Honoring God in the Everyday Tasks
When we see work through the lens of God’s design, it changes everything. Instead of feeling like an endless grind or a necessary evil, work becomes an opportunity to glorify God and reflect His character. Whether we’re meeting deadlines at the office, caring for our families at home, or serving others in ministry, our work is a way to live out our God-given calling.
Our labor, no matter how mundane or demanding, mirrors the God who works. When we approach our tasks with diligence, creativity, and faithfulness, we honor the One who made us in His image. We can find purpose in the everyday knowing that our work, when done unto the Lord, has eternal significance (Colossians 3:23-24).
Why Does Work Feel So Hard? The Impact of the Fall
But let’s be honest—sometimes work doesn’t feel good. It feels exhausting, unappreciated, or even pointless. If God designed work to be good, why does it so often feel like a burden? That’s where the next part of the story comes in. The Bible doesn’t shy away from the reality that work, like every part of creation, has been affected by the Fall.In the next installment of this series, we’ll explore how sin distorted work and why our labor now feels like toil. We’ll dig into how the Fall introduced frustration and futility into our tasks, and how the gospel offers hope even when work feels cursed.
Jessica is a wife, mom, teacher, and sometimes writer. God has given Jessica a great love for writing how the Gospel transforms all areas of our lives — especially marriage and motherhood. She prays your heart will be encouraged here with the truth of God’s word.
