Prioritizing a Work-Life Balance

On Kevin Hart’s TV show, Hart to Heart, he has candid conversations with celebrities. Since Hart is a show business mogul, he often picks his guests’ brains about what makes their businesses so successful. Mark Cuban, an investor on the show Shark Tank and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, told Hart that one key to success is to go all in. “Business is the ultimate sport….It is non-stop….There is no such thing as work-life balance.” Hart agreed completely with Cuban’s assessment.

An alternate perspective

In their view, in order to become a wildly successful person at work, your work never stops. You can’t be worried about being home by 5 p.m. But getting home for dinner and having weekends free is exactly what most people think of as a work-life balance. Just recently, I was chatting with a man (I’ll call him Charlie) who had started a new job. He said, “In the interview process, the company highlighted the difference between working for them versus other companies: work-life balance.” This company promised Charlie he would be home for dinner with his wife on a routine basis. He wouldn’t be burning the candle at both ends. He’d be able to work hard, but also be able to have time for rest and play.

According to Cuban and Hart, Charlie doesn’t stand a chance of becoming successful. He’s got split commitments. Yet, Charlie has been a faithful husband to his wife for nearly forty years. He has lifelong friendships that are still vibrant and life-giving. He enjoys the work he’s able to do each day. It challenges him and he’s developed skills that make him very good at what he does. He may not become a billionaire anytime soon, but I look at him and see success written all over him.

How do you measure success in your life? Charlie’s success is proven by his relationships, not his work. He’s a great employee, but not at the expense of his relationships. In fact, what makes him a great employee is his relationships.

It starts with God

The quality of your relationships begins with God. God initiated the connection with us. He didn’t stand afar off, waiting for us to come calling. Instead, he came into the far country to find us. He became like us in all ways, experiencing life with all its bruised knees and broken hearts, and made it possible for us to experience life with him with all his righteousness and glory. He showed us that the best relationships are marked by love, service, and transformation.

Don’t forget about yourself

God's transformative power of grace realigns your relationship with yourself. As the beloved children of God, we can treat ourselves as God does. He extends grace, mercy, and love time and again. He does not punish or shame us. He has taken that punishment and shame upon himself in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we don’t need to work ourselves to the bone in order to earn God’s favor. Instead, we work from a place of secure love. Regardless of how “successful” we appear in the world’s eyes, we are assured that we are co-heirs with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17), and that nothing will ever separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39).

Extend grace to one another

God’s relationship with you empowers you to treat everyone like your neighbor. In Jesus’ famous parable about the Good Samaritan, his point is that no matter who we are or where we are, God has called us to love everyone we meet. Therefore, when we are working for a frustrating boss or with an unreliable co-worker, we treat them as neighbors. We ask what they need, we express our own needs, and we respond to harsh words with a gentle answer. Likewise, at home, we are not tyrants, but neighbors of our spouses and children. We honor them as God’s image bearers. We follow through on our commitments and responsibilities to them. We are generous with our time with them. We love them as God in Christ loves us.

The difference between Mark Cuban’s view of success and Charlie’s is stark. Cuban views his work as a sport. Sport insinuates winning and losing. While Charlie views his work as a vocation. Vocation is about honoring God through what he has called you to do with your work. Vocation emphasizes service over victory. Cuban sees work as a way of life. It’s “non-stop.” While from Charlie’s point of view, work is one part of life. It does stop at times in order to make room for many other parts of his life like family, friends, and worship. He knows his vocation as an employee is not his only vocation. God has also called him to be a husband, father, friend, and most of all, a beloved child of God.