Doing things well
On Monday, I wrote, ‘His list was not the ‘get it done’ but rather it was the ‘do it well’.’ I’ve let this brew a bit for the last few days, doing things well. I keep returning to the how. How things are done is what God has focused on, it is a strong lesson demonstrated in the life of Jesus.
The Ministry of Jesus
When we consider the ministry of Jesus, what comes to mind are his teachings and his miracles. This is the what of Jesus’s ministry, but what of the how? We could analyze the methods, and that has already been done. The ministry is really a focus on the needs of the people. What he did were teachings and miracles, but he did them for the people. His ministry focus was people. Just as God planned out everything that was necessary for people and created them before He created people, so Jesus focused on the people and what we need. I keep returning to the how. How did Jesus meet the needs of the people?
The manner of Jesus
How is the manner in which things are done, and I can only think that Jesus personified the fruit of the Spirit. Well, I suppose that is no surprise. It is simply that I have not put together that the expression of the Holy Spirit shows up in relation to others. I always think of the fruit and how much I manage to embody them, but not how much I manage to show and incorporate them. Perhaps I am too busy to stop and consider the effect of the fruit in me upon others and how to do it well?
Fruit of the Spirit
‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law,’ Galatians 5:22-23 famously tells us. My hope as a Jesus-follower is that the Spirit develops these in me evermore, as part of sanctification. But do I permit that development in my attitude? Verse 24 says that as one belonging to Christ, I am to have crucified the flesh. No more angry fits. No more jealousy and grass is greener for ‘them.’ No more of my priority, but His. I can’t help but think that some of these things prevent the Spirit from working; they take up too much room in me. And my conclusion is that these fleshly responses have to do with shoving aside the people and the relationships for the simple completion of the interaction. I hurry things along (getting angry and jealous and all that flesh hangs out), just so that I can cross it off my list or move on to what I want.
Does hurry squelch the Spirit?
Is it that hurry enables the flesh and squelches the Spirit? When I hurry along, how can I respond in love? How can I express joy if I don’t stop to share it? Where is the gentleness when I am exasperated over how slowly things are moving? How can I possibly have peace when all I want is to finish? How could I possibly be kind when I am jealous of my colleague instead? It is more likely that my irritation and my anger and my displeasure show than the fruit of the Spirit. Goodness just considering these various situations puts me on edge. And so, I breathe, in and out slowly and refocus. I want to be open to the movement of the Spirit in me. I know that I will have a fuller life if I choose the Spirit over the flesh.
Relinquish hurry
I conclude that I must slow down. That I must relinquish my hurry and choose to set aside my hurry to pick up His priority of doing things well. This change in priority is a change of habit and so will take time and take developing new ones. Perhaps these habits will be based on the opposite of hurry (no, not delay): rest. I think these new habits will be following His pace and incorporating His rest.
