Walking Worthy in the Workplace and Life: Recent Episodes
Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop
Walking Worthy is a podcast ministry of The Christian Working Woman. Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop discuss topics that are relevant for work and life.
What does it mean to be a servant leader? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about how we can show up at work and lead in a Christ-like way. They discuss how we lead in our jobs, whether we are a leader or not.
They also talk about:
- The importance of getting to know people when you are in a leadership role.
- The key attribute of being open to feedback from other people.
- The difference between having an abundance mindset versus a scarcity mindset in leadership.
- How we can open doors of opportunities for other people.
- What it looks like to invite the Holy Spirit into leadership.
- How servant leadership is a mindset.
What does it mean to share our faith at work? On Walking Worthy, Julie Busteed and Lisa Bishop talk about the practical dos and don’ts of sharing faith on the job. Lisa shares the story of how she became a follower of Jesus because of her workplace.
They also talk about:
- How sharing faith on the job is relational.
- Strategies for how to approach prayer in this area.
- The importance of doing your work with excellence.
- Thoughts on how Psalm 15 relates to work.
- How to create an invitation and make it available to others.
- Questions to ask to plant the seed.
The Psalmist exhorts us to hide God’s word in our hearts. On Walking Worthy, Julie Busteed and Glenna Marshall talk about how we should do that and why we should do that. They also discuss Glenna’s journey and her book, Memorizing Scripture.
They also talk about:
- How memorization bridges the gap between reading from the Bible and pray life.
- The symbiotic relationship between meditation and memorization.
- The ultimate goal of memorization.
- How God designed our brain to memorize.
- The various methods that can be used to memorize Scripture.
- How people can continue with the practice of memorization.
Do you struggle with patience? Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about practicing patience with coworkers. When you are working, you are associating with people you might never choose to associate with—and yet you are with them for hours each day and it can try your patience.
They also talk about:
- How to practice patience with someone who might be difficult.
- The fact that you don’t have to feel patient to be patient.
- What the Bible says about patience.
- If there is ever a scenario where we should not be patient with a coworkers.
- The importance of identifying a pattern of impatience.
- The prayer that has been life-changing for Mary so many times.
Do you ever wonder what your true calling is—God’s calling for your life and your work? On Walking Worthy, Lisa Bishop and Joanna Meyer talk about her book, Women, Work, and Calling. Joanna says this is an important conversation because men and women were designed together as a team and the idea that one flourishes without the other isn’t true to Scripture; however, there is a real gap for women around leadership and public life.
They also discuss:
- What prompted Joanna to write her book.
- What happens when women hold back.
- The importance of stewarding talents.
- How to demystify the concept of “calling” in the workplace.
- What does it look like to live out gifts.
- What it means to be a relationally generous person.
Is it a good idea to make New Year’s Resolutions? They often fizzle out pretty quickly. Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about making commitments—not resolutions—on Walking Worthy. They say New Year’s Resolutions don’t often achieve their goals.
They also discuss:
- The importance of vision and focusing on what you want to achieve and create in your life.
- How to find the discipline to put that vision to work.
- Some practical things we can do when we know there are habits that need to change.
- The importance of small improvements over time.
- How to live in peace with other people.
- The importance of listening to advice and accepting discipline.
It’s the Christmas Season! So, everyone is happy—right? Well, the truth is, more people experience depression and sadness during the holidays than at any other time. Why? Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about that on Walking Worthy.
They also discuss:
- Why people are sad at the holidays.
- How do you work through the sadness.
- How we can minister to others who may be sad.
- Praying for these relationships to see the person as Jesus sees them.
- The opportunity for reconciliation in relationships and the importance of humility.
- The importance of finding ways to “be Jesus” to those who are hurting.
Our world is full of divisiveness, but as Christians we are called to love others and do our best to live at peace with everyone. Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about how we do this in our divisive world on Walking Worthy. They also discuss:
- What it means to be an ambassador of peace.
- How to position our hearts before God.
- The power of words.
- The importance of seeing people through God’s eyes and sitting at the feet of Jesus.
- That God’s Word has the power to transform.
- How to love one another and be peaceful.
One of God’s commandments is to remember the sabbath day by keeping it holy. Does that apply to us today? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about what sabbath rest is. They admit it is a struggle to incorporate into life regularly. They also discuss:
- How it is a rhythm that we need to learn.
- Why it was—and is—important to rest.
- If this sabbath rest is a certain day we all must take—or do we choose the day.
- What kind of activities give us rest—the kind of rest God is talking about.
- How do we deal with our new electronic world that is now available.
- How to refrain from busyness and slow ourselves down.
Does your faith give your work purpose or does your work give you a perspective on your faith? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about this and more. They converse about various attitudes toward work—and how work is a gift from God. They also discuss:
- That God created human beings to work—and work was great until sin entered the picture.
- Paradise was not vacation; it was a vocation.
- A shift in work perspectives among the generations.
- How to go into the workplace as a missionary.
- That our lives are not divided between the scared and the secular.
- Attitude and how we are showing up in the workplace.
Are you working in a toxic workplace? Do you feel trapped in that job? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about how to navigate a toxic workplace and how to decide when to leave that job. They also discuss:
How anger has escalated in the past several years. How access to social media and online has been a blessing and a curse. How to address when the people you work for have evil, corrupt ways of dealing with people. The importance of grounding ourselves in the Gospel, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Praying for the things we can’t see and the people in leadership. How to know when it is time to leave.
Is there a difficult discussion that you are avoiding with someone in your life? Do you need some tools to help you navigate that conversation? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about important helpful hints on how to navigate difficult conversations. They also discuss:
How sometimes a difficult conversation and conflict can be the same thing. Why our work, our relationships, and our lives succeed or fail one conversation at a time. Why we avoid difficult conversations and the importance of timing. That the motive or intention should be to enrich the relationship. Understanding how God might be spiritually forming us through these conversations. The definition of a clearing conversation—and the benefits of it.
Have you ever thought about how your emotions impact you, your health, and your decision making—and what does the Bible say about our emotions? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about the complexity of emotions and the profound impact they have on our lives. They also discuss:
How to measure our own internal weather and the importance of self-agency. Why and how God meant us to use emotions. Identifying the emotion and bringing it under the submission, authority, and love of Jesus. The challenges of emotional hijacking. The importance of wisdom and discernment. Inviting the Holy Spirit to come in when we are struggling.
Why is it important for Christians to see their jobs as their personal mission field, a place God has put them? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Tim Vickers talk about how to integrate faith and work. He says it is important because we proclaim on Sunday morning that Christ is Lord of all, and then very often on Monday morning we live as if Christ does not exist. They also discuss:
- Letting faith be relevant to every dimension of life.
- If Christians believe it is necessary to lie to succeed in business.
- The danger of accepting the normalized values in our workplace.
- The objective of the Equipped Influencer ministry.
- Four ways to still go into negotiations and not lie.
- The importance of seeing people as people in business.
Have you ever considered the power of what you think and the power of how it affects who you are? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about mindset. They examine not being conformed by the pattern of this world but being transformed by the renewing of your mind. They also discuss:
- How our mind informs how we feel and our emotions, which impact our behaviors and our outcomes.
- Examples from their lives about the importance of being conscious of their thoughts and how to replace it with good thoughts.
- The difference between behavior modification rather than heart transformation, which comes from renewing our mind.
- Spending time in the Word of God so you have the truth.
- Creating new neuropathways so that an automatic response is to what is true.
- The Holy Spirit dwelling in our body and having the mind of Christ.
Do you know the power of thank you? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about how gratitude changes not only you but others. They discuss how there are studies done about how gratitude change your brain—and that we have known this since the Old Testament when they gave sacrifices of thanksgiving from the very beginning. All throughout the Bible, we are told to be gracious, grateful, and thankful all the time. They also discuss:
- Worship songs that describe the power of thankfulness.
- A sacrifice of praise, which means praising God even when you don’t feel like it, and how it changes you.
- Examples of how gratitude changes us.
- How to overflow with thankfulness.
- Verses that point to the importance of praise.
- How we can develop a culture of gratitude where we live and where we work.
Are you thriving or just surviving on your job? Are you compromising things that are most important? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Sharnell Weathersby talk about her time spent in the corporate sector and how through that season of her life she also had small children at home—and she learned how to have a career and learned how to integrate it as a mom and a wife.
They also discuss:
- Her story working in the corporate sector and how she discovered what else God had for her.
- How to thrive and do it in a way that puts you in a position to be a good leader for yourself and those you have been called to lead.
- The importance of having a good foundation and knowing God is the center.
- The significance of starting the day right.
- The Thrive Without Compromise workshop that will take place at the Weekend Getaway.
- The importance of boundaries and thinking with the end in mind.
How do you make a good decision? If you are faced with several good options or several poor choices, how do you choose? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about how many people make poor choices—both big and small—and how to make good choices. They also discuss:
- How some choices can be just a little bit out of alignment with the truth of God’s Word.
- Why what we think about will become what we live out.
- Examples of people in the Bible who made really bad decisions.
- Examples from their own lives like money and words.
- Principles that are in Scripture and the importance of seeking counsel from Godly people.
- That the Father disciplines those who he loves.
Can your job also be your ministry? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Sharon Baloue talk about her testimony about how God has led her into the career that she now has. She shares the degrees she has, how she homeschooled her children, and the career she initially had chosen and why—and then the job she ultimately landed in instead. They also discuss:
- How she felt led by the Holy Spirit to her career as a tutor.
- How she felt she would do this even if she weren’t compensated.
- How the Holy Spirit is teaching her how to come alongside the students.
- Stories of how she has both taught and ministered to students.
- One example of spiritual warfare that existed.
How do we handle difficult conversations with the people we work with and with our friends and family? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about how difficult conversations can be scary and often there is fear that it might jeopardize the relationship—when often not having the conversation often jeopardizes the relationship. They also discuss:
- How to measure the health of a relationship.
- That confrontation is essential in any kind of relationship, but especially when you have a leadership role.
- Examples from life and the Bible.
- The need to keep a clear motivation and the end goal and to pray and prepare for the conversation.
- The importance of considering that you aren’t confronting the person, but rather the problem.
- The difference between how women and men handle hard conversations.
Is it okay to be a competitive Christian and to be aggressive as a workplace Christian? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk all about this topic. They admit their own competitiveness—and talk about if being competitive is a bad thing as a Christian woman in the working world or in life. They also discuss:
What is healthy competition and what it looks like to have a competitive spirit to want to excel. Why a competitive spirit that isn’t properly used can be destructive. The importance of getting rid of ego and pride. Becoming okay with how God has created you and enjoying how God has created other people. How comparison can keep us from our destiny and our calling.
How can you determine if you need to seek professional help or just a good listening ear from a trusted friend? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Deb Gorton discuss the rise of the number of women who need counseling and the reasons why the pandemic caused this increase. They also talk about:
How mental health has a physical component to it. When to get professional help and how therapy can be one part of the equation. How to recognize other women who need counseling and how to approach them. The importance of talking about and normalizing counseling. How different cultures and communities have different stigmas about mental health.
What does it look like to live in the world, but not of the world—to live set apart, especially in the workplace? On Walking Worthy, Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about how to live a separate life, according to Christian principles, when other people are not, and still be loving, kind, and yet, not compromise. They also discuss:
What set apart even means and why we should live set apart. The importance of being part of the community and how Jesus modeled this. How to discern how to be a part of the team and how to decide what work-related social events to go to. The importance of living a curious life and living a question-generating life. The new work culture and the importance of love.
What do you do when you've made a mistake on the job? Or you've blown your witness with a coworker? How do you recover? Mary and Lisa share some of their experiences and how God used the mistakes for his glory.
How do I navigate challenges on the job? How do I deal with tough situations and do it in a Christ-like manner? Mary and Lisa discuss these topics and more on this episode.
Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop tackle the question, "Does it matter to God what job I have?"
Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop discuss identity - how much identity should we get from our job?
Miriam Neff and Valerie Neff Hogan join Mary to discuss our upcoming seminar on Wise Women Managing Money.
Click here to learn more about the June 4 seminar.
Our words carry life and death. Join Mary and Lisa as they discuss the power of words, and what to do when you make a mistake.
Mary Lowman and Lisa Bishop talk about how to balance leadership and excellence in the workplace--with humility.