Of layoffs and self-worth: You are not what you do

The best way to invest in yourself is to reflect on this truth: that there is a God who has given His all to give value to your life by redeeming His son’s life for yours;

Joseph J. Bucci , Bio and Archives--September 18, 2026

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I have for many years attended Business mixers and networking events. I go to build relationships with other business professionals; and am always intrigued to find out exactly what people do. I love listening to attendees tell their stories, describing their job and sometimes giving a short version of their business sales pitch. For those who are engaged deeply in their work, it is always a joy listening to people express a sense of satisfaction over things that they have accomplished. According to one source, in a survey by the employee engagement company WorkProud, 43% of US full-time employees responded that they had the highest level of pride in their work (Segal, 2021).

Our work is often about doing, because that is why we are paid. Our pay is not a reward for our doing, like a dog who is rewarded for doing his business outside. Our pay is remuneration for the labor effort that we exert to accomplish different tasks. The greater the task and responsibility, the greater the pay. That’s the way pay systems work. We are not paid for being, and this becomes very evident when a person loses their job. Suddenly, they stop doing things for pay. Because people are so accustomed to doing, and all their talk of their jobs is about what they do, it becomes more difficult to adjust to not doing any longer. But our lives are not about what we do, but about who we are inside.

The Christian faith reminds me that my self-worth is not in what I do, but in who I am; and more importantly, in Whose I am. According to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “You are not your own, for you were brought with a price (ESV).” I am a child of the Father, who bought me with a ransom paid by His Son Jesus (1 John 3:1-2). My only role, as the Apostle Paul writes, is to “walk as children of light… and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8, 10).

This has helped me a little bit as I have grown older to see my job as more than just an accumulation of the tasks that I do. My job is not who I am.........

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