I recently had a long conversation with someone who is struggling with the way people work around him and what that means to how he reacts and acts in the workplace. It is hard to be in an office environment where those around you don’t share the same values and principles and you feel like you are always on the spot to either live out your values, principles and faith or choose not to and be like all the rest. The influence of the crowds and peers is a strong one and can feel like a tsunami of sucking out your values and then rolling back over you with the values, or lack thereof, of the others around you. It is why it is hard at work to stand firm in beliefs and to not cut corners, or to not tell the little white lie, or to not say one thing when you really mean something else, or to not fall into playing office politics when you know it is wrong to do so. Peers and influencers within a work setting can be worse than what we grew up with in high school. At this stage of life the ones influencing have careers and paychecks that they can wield instead of just name calling or teasing. It makes it hard to stand tall. But as believers and examples to others we have to take that stand and live out our values, live out our principles, and live out the way we work to honor God. In Colossians we are told that if we do so, we will grow and produce fruit that we may not even be aware has been produced; “Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” On top of the fruit we will get an even greater blessing as we learn to know God better and better. Today, think through where you might be letting others influence the way you work and see if you can’t pull that back into your value set and not theirs. Take this one day and see if when going home tonight you can say I lived and worked today to honor and please the Lord. God has promised fruit for those who will take this opportunity!

Reference: Colossians 1:10 (New Living Testament)