He couldn’t get a job years after his graduation from school. He decided to volunteer in a company. He worked with them for a few years without pay; aside from the stipends he received once in a while. He was so resourceful and dedicated that the company decided to employ him. Today, he manages his own firm.
Friend, you need to live beyond salary. I know that the situation in the country can be very frustrating. People end up having a survival mentality; they need job badly. May be not job, but salary. Legitimate demands and obvious needs can birth a sense of deprivation in people, which often pushes them to consider getting a job for salary.
Rather than working for salary and survival, work for growth and contributions. Don’t let your dedication and contributions to a job be determined by salary. While salary can be one of the motivations for getting on a job, it must not be the only or primary reason. It should be growth and contribution (Genesis 30:29).
If all you have to show for your months or years of working in a place or with a person is the salary you get, you have filed for bankruptcy in life without knowing. If salary is your only motivation, you would soon conclude that you are being used (Colossians 3:22-25). Nobody can truly pay you. You are worth more than salary; don’t reduce yourself to it (Genesis 14:21-24)!
Develop yourself through the job. You should not teach in a school for years without being able to set up one for yourself afterwards. Why would you retire in a government establishment and not be able to set up a private practice for yourself? You should not work as an associate with a pastor and be a failure when God calls you out to start an independent ministry; you have just wasted your time working with that man.
Stop complaining and start becoming. Think like a business owner. Think like your boss or employer. Don’t join the bandwagon of disgruntled employees, always having one thing or the other to complain about (Philippians 2:14-15). Live for a higher purpose! Work to own. Work to become. Work for growth and contributions! Work for greatness! Work is not a curse.
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria