We spend most of our day at work. If we’re going to be good witnesses for Christ, “being a light in our workplace” would be a natural place to start, wouldn’t it?

But sometimes that sounds a lot more feasible on a Sunday after an encouraging sermon than it does after several days in an exhausting or abrasively unchristian work environment.

So how can we go on displaying good works that would make our co-workers want to turn and glorify God (Matthew 5:16)? While daunting, it’s not impossible. Let’s take a look at seven practical ways we can bring the light of Christ to our workplace!

1. Affirm: Tell others that what they do matters

It’s easy to recognise laziness or incompetence in other people that causes more work for us. But how often do we go out of our way to recognise the positive impact of another person’s work?

Did your boss provide you with helpful feedback on a project? Have you noticed any strengths in the trainee you’ve been working with? Do you have a certain co-worker you can rely on for clear, organised work?

Let’s learn to pick up on small details that we can recognise and affirm in others in order to encourage and lift them up!

2. Admit: Own up when you’ve made a mistake

Especially in our workplace, it can be tempting to cover up our mistakes. But instead of working to advance our own careers, let’s humbly own our mistakes and work hard to reduce any potential negative impact of them.

By doing this, we have the opportunity to promote Christlike humility (and not ourselves).

3. Apologise: Use your shortcomings to point others to Christ

We’ve all had that day when work makes us feel like pulling our hair out. In these moments of feeling overwhelmed by the demands of work or frustration at other’s actions, we’re prone to lose our patience or speak carelessly.

It’s easy to forget that our co-workers have their own personal lives and struggles.

Whether our co-workers thought it significant or not, we can apologise for our short tempers, ask forgiveness where necessary and most importantly, clarify the kind, gentle and patient character we are called to display.

4. Appreciate: Talk about things you are thankful for

Complaining is one of the easiest conversation starters. But we can vocalise our thankfulness instead!

Maybe we have one good friend at work or an opportunity to get involved in a new project. We can be thankful for the work skills we’re developing that will be useful later in life!

In practice, thankfulness will contribute to a more positive work environment, and it’ll also help us train our minds to count as well as thank God for the blessings we have.

5. Assist: Offer your personal time to help a co-worker

When 5pm rolls around, many of us couldn’t be more thrilled to both mentally and physically check out of work.

But it can be really impactful to consider using some of that precious non-work time to serve the people we work with every day. Whether it’s offering to help a co-worker move into a new home, or bringing a meal to someone recovering from surgery, let’s show God’s love to our co-workers by serving them with our time whenever we can!

6. Accompany: Find creative ways to build relationships

There are plenty of work-friendly and appropriate ways to be more social with our co-workers. Invite them to a sports game or organise a work-friendly baby shower for a soon-to-be parent! Perhaps a new restaurant nearby could inspire lunch with co-workers.

Making time to socialise with our co-workers creates space to build more than surface deep relationships, which is the best springboard for us to share the Gospel with them.

7. Advocate: Take prayer for your co-workers seriously

It’s easy to forget that our co-workers have their own personal lives and struggles. We can look around even a small office, and know that plenty are struggling with some combination of infidelity, addiction, family conflict or depression. It’s often not visible.

So, let’s take prayer for our co-workers seriously. As we pray for God to help them, we can remember that the greatest help they can know is God Himself. In the same spirit that Jesus prayed for those who persecuted Him, let’s look at those around us and pray diligently that they may come to know God (Luke 23:34).

If we think about it, our co-workers are some of the people we have the most opportunity to share the Gospel with or display Christ-like character to. So let’s enter our workplaces with a renewed sense of intentionality to share Jesus’ light in all that we do!

This article was first published on YMI and is republished with permission.