Do you feel that you receive adequate recognition for the work you do? I can tell you all of us need recognition and appreciation. It's just a basic human need. Unfortunately, not too often do we find that need met satisfactorily on our jobs. Let’s take a look at this need for recognition and how it relates to those of us who are Christians in the marketplace.

 

I have a dear friend who taught in a Chicago inner-city high school. She shared with me about a particularly difficult boy in her class. He disrupted the class, wouldn't sit still, was never prepared, didn't listen to anything she said—in general, he was a problem student.

 

One day on the way to work she heard a radio program telling about the great need that teenagers have for recognition. It gave her an idea, and she decided to find something for which she could recognize this boy in front of the entire class. So, she asked him to hang a poster for her—a very simple job. But he did it well, so in front of his classmates she thanked him, complimented him on the way he did it, and recognized him for the effort and work.

 

She said to me, "Mary, you wouldn't believe the difference in that boy. That one public recognition turned him around completely. He sat quietly in class, he did anything I asked him to do, he was polite and considerate." She said, "I was simply amazed at the power of a simple act of recognition. So from then on, I just poured it on my students every possible chance I had. It worked like magic."

 

Well, it's true of teenagers, but it's also true of all of us. Who doesn't need some positive reinforcement and recognition for the work we do? I'm the first to admit that I have a need for recognition and appreciation. It just helps you keep on keepin' on, doesn't it? 

 

I once read something from a pastor who said we should picture all the people around us wearing big signboards that say, "Appreciate me." Psychologists tell us that all of us need a certain amount of reward and recognition from others in order to be mentally and emotionally healthy.

 

The problem is that we don't always receive the recognition we deserve. How do we deal with that?