Galatians 5:22-23, 25-26 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law … Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
Notice that the word “fruit” is singular. It is a package from the Spirit of God. When the Spirit produces fruit, you get all nine of them. This is a description of the normal Christian life.
Principle: Characteristics of a Spirit-filled Christian businessperson spill over into the workplace.
This is a litmus test for all Christians, including company leaders. A leader’s influence should have a ripple effect on the company environment. If some of these characteristics are intentionally fostered it will improve the workplace environment. Take kindness for example. Nowadays one cannot assume employees will treat each other as they would like to be treated. In an increasingly uncivilized world and workplace, one way to foster civility is to require it. If the company’s performance appraisal ratings include a section on workplace courtesy, it will allow you to evaluate employees on how well they treat customers and fellow workers. If employees know that rudeness and temper tantrums will have a negative effect on their income or promotability, they will be more inclined to exhibit good behavior.
The surrounding virtues of patience, goodness and gentleness are imbedded in kindness. Most of the rest of the “fruit basket” is universally evident in the lives of true believers which brings up some questions for Christian leaders. Are they evident in your workday life? Do the lives of the believing associates in your company reflect the fruit of the Spirit? If not, have you spoken to them about it? Do you agree that your company would be a better place to work if more of your associates truly demonstrated these virtues? What are you doing to foster this, in addition to living a consistent Spirit-filled life yourself?
Somebody made this wry observation, “God has a personal taste in His children’s output and probably prefers “fruit of the Spirit” over “religious nuts!”
Discussion:
1. Where do you see the evidence of spiritual “fruit” in your business?
2. What steps can you take to encourage kindness at all levels of your business?
3. What role does the Holy Spirit take in this kind of business transformation?
