Biblical productivity is an approach to personal productivity that emphasizes the purpose and motivation behind accomplishment as taught in the Bible.
There is no shortage of books—not to mention podcasts, blogs, and apps—all promising to help you grow in in personal effectiveness.
The sheer breadth of the productivity genre is a testament to the universality of the problem: We all want to get more done, better manage our time, change our habits, and reach our goals. But the mindset with which we approach personal productivity matters—it matters to God.
Every teaching on personal productivity comes with a philosophy baked in. How could it not? To ask about your effectiveness is to ask about your purpose. Self-development naturally drives us to life’s biggest questions:
- What do I want out of life?
- Why have I been put on this earth?
- Who am I seeking to please?
- How do I change?
Unfortunately, the answers provided by the unbelieving productivity gurus are often in conflict with what God’s Word tells us about these most important questions of life. But thankfully, God’s sufficient Word does speak clearly on these matters. If we’re going to be productive in a way that pleases God, we need to start with what the Bible tells us about who we are and what we’re here for. And then we can approach practical productivity strategies from a foundation of truth.
Let’s examine the five biblical pillars of Christian productivity.
The 5 Pillars of Biblical Productivity
1. You belong to God
“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
– 1 Corinthians 6:19b-20
The desire to be productive most often originates from the assumption that “this is my life, so I want to make the most out of it.” But that premise is false. If you’re a Christian, you have called Jesus “Lord,” and in so doing you have surrendered your rights. It’s not your life, it’s His. You were bought and paid for with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. So while the world says, “you belong to yourself, so use productivity to get the most out of life,” the Bible says, “your life is a stewardship, so make the most of it for God.”
The is the first premise that Christian productivity is built upon. The reason a believer in Jesus Christ should care about their personal effectiveness enough to set goals, get organized, or develop habits is because their life is a stewardship from God.
2. You are empowered by God
“for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” – Philippians 2:13
Self-improvements experts will tell you that the power to change and get things done comes from “awakening the giant within” or hacking your brain through psychological tricks. But God’s Word says the power to get things done—the things that truly matter—comes from God. Grit, motivation, and hard work matter, but Christians recognize that true personal effectiveness comes from God working through us by His Holy Spirit. The world says be productive in your own power, the Bible says be productive in God’s power.
3. You exist to glorify God
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” – 1 Corinthians 10:31
For the unbelieving world, personal productivity is simply a means to achieve personal greatness. It’s a toolset to help you achieve your ambitions, improve your status in the world, get rich, or simply overcome your negative self-perception. But all of these miss our true purpose.
You’ve been created to bring glory and honor to the God of the universe. You’re life is to be a flashing arrow pointed towards the heaven, blinking “Glorious, glorious, glorious!” So while the world says be productive so you can glorify yourself, the Bible teaches us that we are here to glorify God. Personal productivity is just the bag of skills we utilize to help us be more effective in fulfilling this great life purpose.
4. You were saved to work for God
“who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” – Titus 2:14
Now, the question may arise, “But what am I to be productive in?” When we speak of productivity in Christian terms, we may be tempted to think that the only productivity that matters to God are those activities we relegate to the “spiritual” area of your lives—reading the Bible, praying, going to church, charity, and the like. But a truly Christian conception of personal productivity must take into account that all of life is an opportunity for service unto God.
We were saved not just to wait around for heaven, but to be zealous for good works. Good works is a category that includes anything done by faith. You do good works when you love you serve your employer or clients with excellence, when you cook for your kids with a heart of service, and when you work as unto the Lord in every domain of stewardship (Colossians 3:23). The content of Christian productivity, therefore, is good works. It’s the thing we are seeking to be fruitful in. So while the world might say “be productive in your work,” the Bible says “be productive in the good works I’ve prepared in advance for you to walk in” (Ephesians 2:10).
5. You will stand before God
“So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” – Romans 14:12
Our motivation to get things done can come from many places. We can be motivated by money, urgency, fear of reprisal, the opinions of others, or a desire for status. Worldly productivity will tell you to take the fuel wherever you can get it. But Christian productivity understands that why you work is as important as what you work on. God cares about your motivations. And the New Testament makes clear that an eternal perspective should shape our view of productivity.
While the Bible makes clear that we saved by grace through faith and not on account of our works (Ephesians 2:8–9), it makes equally clear that for believers in Jesus Christ there awaits a second judgment (Romans 14:10–12; 1 Corinthians 3:10–13; 2 Corinthians 5:10). There is a first judgment that is unto eternal life or eternal death, which depends on whether you have believed in Christ or not (Revelation 12:11–15). But for those who have put their trust in Christ there is a second judgment unto reward (Revelation 22:12). It is this second judgment which the New Testament constantly points to as a source of motivation for faithfulness and fruit bearing in this life.
We labor because we know in due season we will reap a reward (Galatians 6:9). We steward these lives with excellence because we want to hear “well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23). Faith is a matter of believing in the promises of God, secured for us in Jesus Christ, and part of those promises is the promise of reward for faithfulness (Hebrews 11:6). So as a Christian seeks to be more productive with his or her life, they do it not to lay up treasures here on earth, but instead focus on storing up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19–21).
The world says be productive so you can get more of this life, but the Bible says be productive so you can gain more of the next.
How biblical productivity changes the way you work and live
These five biblical truths form foundation for how Christians should think about the subject of personal productivity from a biblical perspective. But they lead to many practical ramifications for how we approach our life and work.
Here are a few examples:
- Your goals are about God’s glory, not yours: Effectively setting and reaching goals is a skill. But not every goal is created equally. Christians pursue goal-setting not as a means of self-aggrandizement, but in recognizing that the goal of all goals is the glory of God.
- Time management is time stewardship: It’s not just about fitting everything in, it’s about being faithful with the time the Lord has given you. He has numbered your days (Psalm 90), He has given you specific good work to walk in (Ephesians 2:10), and so faithfulness requires that you redeem the time He’s given you with skill and excellence (Ephesians 5:15–16).
- Habits are a matter of character: Replacing bad habits with good ones isn’t just about improving the quality of your life. Fundamentally, Christians pursue habit transformation for the sake of moulding our lives to be more pleasing to Christ. Even the development of habits for our physical health, career, or hobbies are done with the ultimate aim of becoming more like Christ. Understanding that the power to change comes from God, we pursue habit transformation as not merely a matter of will-power and systems, but the Holy Spirit working in us to transform our character.
And there are many more practical productivity matters I could mention here. But we have a whole website for that. Or consider diving into Waypoints to Well Done program. There you’ll learn, step-by-step, how to get clear on your calling, get organized in your productivity systems, and get consistent in your habits, so you can get more done for the glory of God.
Books on biblical productivity
My book Redeeming Productivity has a chapter for each of the five pillars I outlined above, along with practical strategies for applying them to every area of your life.
Here are some of my favorite books on Christian productivity.
- What’s Best Next by Matt Perman
- Do More Better by Tim Challies
- Redeeming Your Time by Jordan Raynor
