By the sheer grace of God, I started working early; I remember I still had classmates when I first handed in my monthly report at work. That meant a few shillings in my wallet before I finished school, but shillings didn’t often arrive at the same pace as wisdom; as I look back, here are 10 things I would do better starting out again.

Photo by Ninthgrid/pexels


1. Save more money

Ouch! I had to start here. There is something about being young and naive; I mean, literally, the only money that gets saved is the one your employer saves for you legally (meaning you rely on social security laws to teach you that today is not the only day). Starting out again, I would put aside more. It’s interesting how long the saving culture takes to grow on us. I look at my (involuntary) social savings now, and I suspect I could have done a little more. I constantly remember that the ant in the book of Proverbs is there to teach us a lesson: gather as much as possible before the weather changes. So go ahead, even if you have no commander, like a National Social Security Fund or URA.

2. Relationships first

To be honest, I tried, but work pressures tend to make us more task-driven. My temperament kind of rescued me, but I still think I could have been more intentional if I had to do it again: talk to workmates at lunchtime instead of gazing at my gadgets, listen more, and generally be interested and curious about what outlasts outputs—people.

3. Sharing my faith in love

Man, I was such a firebrand when I had just come to know Jesus. God in his providence probably used my zeal, but I recall incidents where I could have just tried to befriend people rather than start arguments, and who knows, God could have used that more widely. Instead, my faith featured a lot of proving facts and brawling rather than living out what I believed. It takes time, I know, but yeah, I should have started sooner.

4. Respect my unbelieving workmates

This is related to the above; there is a tendency to grow boisterous, a tendency that comes with being zealous. It caught me, I think, doing this again. I would respect my workmates first as people made in the image of God, at least for starters, before I engage them in the possibility of being reborn in Christ. This realisation kind of came late too.

5. Learn the ropes of productivity

Quite late to this party too, but yeah, I should have known that reading about “redeeming the time in Ephesians” or “numbering our days in Psalm 90” is one thing, and implementing implications is another. God’s grace rescued a lot of my folly in time usage, but I still could have used my hours more vigorously if I knew what I know about productivity today, namely, understand a theology of work, develop a commitment tracking system, set regular long-term and short-term goals (beyond your boss’s), and evaluate as much as you can, among others.

6. Cultivate a robust theology of work

I stumbled into employed work as a headless chicken, and because ideas have consequences, I was often swept away by the prevailing secular narratives about work. Survive, hassle only, tick boxes, do what you like. As a result, some jobs I left could have used more of my endurance, and some workmates could have seen more Jesus in me.

7. Unplug and grind

I shudder at what could have befallen me if I had started out my work in today’s age of TikTok, yet  i wasn’t safe either from social media distractions, namely the massive Facebook excitement that crept into our analog lives back in the day. We scrolled more on desktop, and boy! Hours slid by as we amused ourselves to death too. Small minutes here and there could have built a legacy to be admired. Yet our young energies often got tossed by ‘clicking’ rather than beholding God’s glory through outputs. (I am told things haven’t changed much ever since)

8.Work to serve

Probably resulting from poor theology, but I should have viewed myself as more of a servant than I did when I first started out. All work is meant to love neighbour, yet there were many times that I worked to please the boss and ended up insecure, weary, and frustrated. I wonder what difference it would have made if I had thought through God’s purpose for me in that workplace beyond the salary and the field allowances.


9. Handle job loss better

I had episodes where I suddenly lost work, and I recall anxiously rushing into job interviews and job prospects out of fear rather than faith. My identity had been tied to that corner desk and all its perks, and now it was all gone! If I had to do it again, I would remind myself more that my calling doesn’t come from my employer but from God. I would probably give myself more to cultivating entrepreneurship or unanxiously waiting on God’s perfect timing for the next workstation while redeeming the time in between.

10. Appreciate God’s gifts and current station better

There are moments in conversations with workmates or chit-chat with friends where my discontent about work sounded louder than my satisfaction with where God had me; those heart-draining small talks undermined God’s sovereignty by elevating those in our circles who hit a quick deal or cut corners to enrich themselves. We often elevated and adored the wicked who prospered, as if we knew not Psalm 72. Quite related to this, I think I kind of spent so much time hanging out with friends who talked more about high-paying jobs, than they did about creating value.

I am thankful for God’s kindness in preserving me through the worst of my work mistakes, and now as I look out at a sea of those younger than me entering workplaces, my prayer is that they can share in the graces I enjoyed without sinking in the folly I did.

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