6 Wise Advice for Young Working Adults

If there is any verse of chapter in the Bible that has the most sound and wise advice for the life and thoughts of today’s Young Working Adult more than the rest of the Bible, I would say it has got to be Matthew 6. The whole of Matthew 6 are actually the words of our Lord Jesus and every issue he brought up seemed to be the main issues faced in the life of any young person who has come out into the working world.

Wisdom 1: Don’t blow your own trumpet when you give to the needy (Matt 6:1-4)

Now who likes a proud person that can’t stop talking about the good deeds they have done? Nobody that I know of. Unfortunately, in the working world, there is a tendency to want to promote the good causes you have done, especially in companies or organizations.
When I was a teen, I joined this Martial Arts group to send some rice to the needy in the villages. I thought how nice of them to do this annually. Before I knew it, when we arrived at the village, there were some reporters there as well and we started posing and taking photos of the amount of rice we were giving and the ‘ceremony’ of handling the rice over to the villagers. The following day, our photos were in all the local newspapers. The act of the giving was noble, but the act of self-proclaiming to the world of your giving, was just too much for me, I did not go away from the experience feeling a sense of gratitude and satisfaction, rather I felt a little more like a manipulator that used the needy and the poor for the gain and publicity of my organization. Needless to say, I never joined another one of their good cause again.
Matthew 6 says: When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets….do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret.
Give, continue to give, you just don’t have to tell the whole world about it. Your reward is in heaven.

Wisdom 2: Have a Secret Prayer Life (Matt 6:5-13)

Matthew 6 says when you pray; do not pray standing around the street to be seen by others that you are praying. I sincerely do not think this verse means we should never attend public prayer meetings and pray as a church again. I think it really means we should have a secret prayer life that is more than just the weekly or monthly prayer meetings. For eg. Our church has only twice a month of corporate prayer meetings. It would be a shame if that is all the prayer we do for the whole month. There might be some of us that go to these meetings faithfully and it seemed to others we are intercessors and prayer warriors, but we never pray at home or in our own alone time. That just won’t work. God wants to have a relationship with us, and that means unceasing open line to God all the time. This is a big challenge to young working adults due to our really busy schedules, especially those in the rat race. I would suggest you can pray even sitting at your work table. Just don’t put God aside to that one hour of your 24 hours only. You should set aside time for long prayers but if you are struggling to even pray 5 minutes, how about just praying all day while doing your work. While you are typing that assignment, talk to God telling Him to help you with it; while you are chatting with your colleague, talk to God ask Him to help you be the light. Matthew 6 says don’t be like the pagans thinking they will be heard because of their many words, your Father knows what you need before you ask him. I had experienced this recently, the thought just came to my mind of what I wanted to say to God, but before I finished the sentence He already answered the prayer. I was just so amazed.

Wisdom 3: Forgive others who hurt you if you want to be forgiven by God (Matt 6:14-15)

This is really the truth that every Christian should know, but somehow is the least practiced. Recently, I even heard an older Christian deemed a leader telling someone about some past hurts and saying that they will NEVER forgive that person ever due to how hurt they were. When I heard that, I was quite bemused and understanding at the same time. I knew how real it feels to be unable to forgive someone as I had experienced it myself before. However, I also knew and believed entirely Matthew 6 which said God can’t forgive us unless we first forgive others. I also experienced that, how the world changed after I decided to forgive. Forgiving someone is not a feeling or an emotion. It is not possible to ‘feel’ like forgiving someone and then only do it. It is a choice, to decide to do it regardless of your feelings. It is only when you decide to forgive the person that the actual healing takes place. God will do the healing; you just need to make the decision. However, if you are a Christian and you proclaimed that you can never forgive someone, then you will have to wait a rather long time before that feeling of anger and bitterness could ever pass, most likely it would never disappear. Young Working Adults face this issue a lot, and it is so crucial that they learn to forgive early on in their working life. In the working world, there could be so many experiences of hurts; when people want to climb the corporate ladder, they could do anything to step on you; from name-calling, to back-biting. If your unforgiveness piles up, it can just become deadly to your relationship with God. Choose to forgive that person today, even if you don’t feel like it. If you know someone who was hurt by you, make it a point to ask for forgiveness. You never know that the person might be struggling in their relationship with God just because of you and their unforgiveness toward you. If you take the first step, it could just change their minds.

Wisdom 4: Don’t show-off your ‘righteousness’ (Matt 6:16-18)

Actually Matthew 6 was talking about fasting, do not fast and tell the whole world about it by showing it on your face or actions. Have you encountered someone who declared to everyone they are fasting and therefore don’t ask them to do anything tiring etc? They just hint out loud how good they are since they are fasting. Well, Matthew 6 warned us against doing that. Again, like prayer, our rewards come from what is done in secret, not outwardly to get favour and praises from men.

Wisdom 5: Invest in Heaven, not on Earth (Matt 6:19-24)

This is basically an advice on money. It is quite common when we enter the working world that we start to accumulate more money. We are either one of those that save most of it, or one of those that use up all of it. There are also young adults that chase after money, a better job, more promotions, etc. Not to say any of these is wrong, but Matthew 6 tells us we can’t serve both God and money. You either love one and hate the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. It is quite common that young adults stop serving God once they enter the very busy working life. Many of them are just really active in youth time, but once work life starts, everything is dropped. What is the ultimate reward from working too hard? Money is increased of course. What is the ultimate reward of serving God? A closer relationship to God and rewards are only seen in heaven. We keep hearing of so much crime and thefts going on in Malaysia, some are getting so worried about their many possessions. Well, if you invest your treasure in heaven, you can be assured no thief can ever steal it.

Wisdom 6: Don’t worry, be happy and seek God first (Matt 6:25-34)

Once again, money is the root of all worries! I hardly worry, but when I do worry, it is nearly always to do with money, or the lack of it. Sometimes we worry whether we have enough until the end of the month, whether we can pay the bills etc. Well, God assured us in Matthew 6 that we don’t have to worry over anything. We don’t have to worry about our clothes, our food, for God knows exactly what we need. Instead, we should seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to us. It’s just so plainly written and so very true, for those of us who have ever worried over anything, you’d know that at the end of all the worrying, nothing can change. Only when we trust God fully and just commit everything to Him, then will we see Him work amazing wonders in our lives.

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