Book Review: "Finding a Job You Can Love"

     The book “Finding a Job You Can Love,” has been an incredible blessing to me! This in-depth explanation of “motivational patterns” and the impact they have on our lives was both powerful and convicting. Poignant and easy to understand concepts bombarded my brain with every chapter I read, it’s amazing to me how such a small book can contain so much information! The authors managed to create a beautifully clear picture of how God intended for us to view, seek out, and enjoy our work. I very much agreed with the authors’ emphasis on God’s desire for us to be working for His glorification in any and all aspects of society. Too often Christians tend to relegate God’s glory to the realm of sermons, Sunday school, and missionaries, and disregard it in all other facets of life.
     The research behind this book is astounding to me: the proven idea that every single person possesses a different set of “motivated abilities,” and different “central motivational thrusts” behind the exercise of them, thereby leading to the unique motivational patterns of every individual! In my reading of the helpful examples given throughout the book, I was able to quickly identify some of the attitudes and motivations present in my own life, as well as recognizing some that are apparent in the lives of my family members and friends. Not only does this book address the strengths presented by certain motivational patterns, but it does not hesitate to also mention the sins each pattern tends to lean toward. Some of the descriptions made me squirm, when I recognized my own sinful self, mirrored back to me through the pages of the book. Though somewhat uncomfortable to ponder, when viewed through the lens of motivational patterns these compulsive sinful inclinations are made somewhat easier to understand and deal with effectively. Thankfully, I know that the Holy Spirit is constantly at work to sanctify me more and more each day!
     The fact that God created humans to experience pleasure through our work for Him is sweet knowledge. This book expounds upon the critical importance of identifying what kinds of achievements are actually enjoyable to me, in order that I might find a great job to fit the God-given talents that He purposefully designed me to delight in exercising! The fact that I can look at my past enjoyable achievements to discern the best vocational direction for me is encouraging and exciting. I do not have to try to be something I’m not, or try to live up to my selfish aspirations or the expectations of others. I simply need to find my place in God’s kingdom and work my best for Him. I was specially made to fill a specific role, one that allows me to rightfully invest the gifts God has graciously bestowed on me and yield as much good fruit as I can, all the while enjoying His pleasure in seeing me working as He intended for me to. This is the kind of vocation I, as a Christian, ought to be striving to pursue.