Most of us have the natural tendency to compartmentalize our
lives and then put on a
”
gameface
”
for each (gentle and loving at home, aggressive and proactive at
work, pious at church, hyper-competitive on the playing field,
etc.). God wants us to rethink that notion; He wants us to realize
that all aspects of a healthy lifestyle are intertwined.
Most of us have the natural tendency to compartmentalize our lives and then put on a “gameface” for each (gentle and loving at home, aggressive and proactive at work, pious at church, hyper-competitive on the playing field, etc.). God wants us to rethink that notion; He wants us to realize that all aspects of a healthy lifestyle are intertwined.
Consider, for example, your workplace. I’m convinced that if you can’t be a Christian at work, you can’t be one anywhere. Why? Because your workplace is one of the primary areas God uses to build spiritual maturity in you. Let’s look at just one of the ways He does this: by using your job to strengthen your character. The way this process works is laid out in Romans 5:3-4, “We can rejoice when we run into problems and trials for we know they are good for us — they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us.”
What does it mean to have strong character? It means to have the character of Christ. What is the character of Christ? It’s the fruit of the Spirit: Galatians 5:22-23 tells us the nine components of this fruit: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” How does God produce this fruit in your life? He does it by putting you in the exact opposite situations!
Consider how God can grow this nine-fold fruit in you:
He will teach you love by bringing some hard-to-love people into your life. It’s easy to love the loving people, but far more challenging to love those who are hard to love.
He will teach you joy (an eternal value, as opposed to happiness, which is based on the rollercoaster of circumstances) by allowing you to see that He is greater than even your biggest problems, disappointments and failures.
He will teach you peace by allowing you to work in a job that’s chaotic, forcing you to rely on Him for peace rather than your circumstances.
He can teach you patience in all sorts of ways. Sometimes He gives you an obnoxious, irritating boss. Sometimes He lets you experience those patience-testing traffic jams on the way to work.
He will teach you kindness by putting some people around you with obvious emotional needs.
He will teach you goodness by bringing some ethical decisions into your life, or He may allow you to have a boss who is unethical and desires you to be same way.
He teaches you faith by allowing you to get into situations where you will need something beyond your own abilities and resources to succeed; you will need to trust in God.
He teaches you gentleness by allowing you to be criticized unjustly, thus giving you the opportunity to forgive and realize the same thing happened to Christ.
He teaches you self-control by putting you in places where you have no supervision, situations where you could act inappropriately if you so chose. It’s been said that one of the greatest tests of our character is how we act when no one else is looking.
These are the nine facets of the Fruit of the Spirit, but just remember: it takes time for fruit to ripen. All of us have eaten a piece of fruit that was picked green and not allowed to ripen on its own. We quickly learned that it tastes nothing like fruit ripened on the vine or while attached to the branch. The fruit of the Spirit is the same way. Jesus said, “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.” (John 15:5).
When developed naturally, fruit develops slowly. So does a Christ-like character. It’s not something you can expect to happen overnight; it’s a process, not a onetime event, so don’t get frustrated by thinking you are not making progress fast enough. Look at the problems you face at work as an opportunity for spiritual growth and ask God this question: “Lord, what are you trying to teach me in this situation?”
What it really comes down to is this: God has one ultimate goal for your life, and He will use every job you ever take and every problem you ever experience and every person you ever meet to accomplish that goal. That goal is for you to think and act like Jesus Christ would think and act if he were in your exact situation. Romans 8:29 says, “God decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son… We see the original and intended shape of our lives in Him.”
