Is your co-worker your "neighbor?" Even in Jesus' day, people were asking who their "neighbor" was. One thing's for sure, it's someone in close proximity! Today, we're usually closer to our co-workers than to our literal neighbors.
This doesn't minimize the importance of getting to know who lives across the street, but it's in the workplace where we have the most frequent and weighty opportunities to live out one of the greatest aims of our faith: to love our co-workers (and employees) as much as we love ourselves.
So what exactly does that look like at work?
We are patient with all our co-workers, and those we employ.
We genuinely care for their well-being, and express that care through action.
We affirm their abilities, and celebrate their success.
We don't try to impress them with our own success.
We are civil and polite.
We don't take advantage of them.
We are not irritable with them.
We forgive and forget their offenses.
We encourage their honesty, and discourage their dishonest ideas.
We help them lift heavy work loads.
We believe in them.
We hope for their best.
We stick with them through tough times.
We're there for them when they need us.
Does this all sound familiar? If you know your Bible it does. It was written by Paul the Apostle under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in First Corinthians 13. (I just tweaked it a bit to apply to the workplace.)
Onward and upward.
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