“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” — Mark 8:36

Do you know where the term workaholism comes from? In 1971, pastor and psychologist Wayne Oates coined it to describe an uncontrollable drive to work—one that slowly crowds out the rest of life. The insight didn’t come from a study alone, but from lived experience. The story goes that one day, his son had to call his office in order to schedule an appointment…so that he could spend time with his father.

In the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas observed that human beings are deeply performance-driven. He argued that we are constantly striving to acquire four things: power, money, pleasure, and honor (what we might today call fame or approval). Imagine what he would think of our culture now.

We chase these things because we lost something richer. In the Garden, we turned away from the Provider. The One who delights to give every good and perfect gift. Rather than trusting Him, we chose to trust ourselves and pursue independence. The result was an endless rat race, searching for power, money, pleasure, and fame.

Why power?
Because we want agency. We want to feel effective and purposeful. In the Garden, we were given a simple job: steward, protect, and serve God’s creation. Once we severed ourselves from God, that given purpose faded, and we were forced to manufacture our own definitions of success.

That leads to money.
Why do we want more of it? Because money assigns value. It tells us what we’re worth. Having lost the intrinsic worth of being made in God’s image as His beloved sons and daughters. We were connected by relationship, not performance. By breaking that connection, we begin comparing, competing, measuring, and stacking ourselves against others.

Over time, the soul grows hollow.
So we turn to pleasure. But pleasure only offers temporary relief. Its a dopamine hit that briefly mutes our deeper hunger. Nutritionists note that the first bite of chocolate cake releases the strongest chemical response; every bite after is simply chasing that initial hit. The same is true of drugs, scrolling, notifications, and countless distractions. One of the reasons that sin behavior is appealing is because, for a moment, it feels good. But it never satisfies.

That bring us to our deepest longing. Our souls are restless because we long for honor—affirmation, approval, being seen.
We were created for relationship: with God and with one another. But after grasping for fruit in the garden because it was “pleasing to the eye,” we became ashamed of our nakedness and vulnerability. We hid. We covered ourselves. We blamed God and each other. That fracture left us desperate, isolated and alone.

By pursuing power, money, pleasure and fame, we have become isolated, addicted, worthless and purposeless.

So the question remains: What are you working so hard for? And how may that be squeezing God and others out of your life?