The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace . . .  — Galatians 5:22

I don’t know why I’ve been so aware of this lately, but people in general are pretty much miserable.   Very few people even feign happiness anymore.  When you talk to them, they all believe pretty much that a change in their environment or a change in their circumstances would make things better and, I guess, make them happier.  I remember living like this not too long ago.  I can still get caught up in this type of thinking from time to time. Fortunately, I am better at recognizing it, stopping it, and moving past it.  

Here is the thing: The Bible says that loving people that you don’t necessarily like or want in your life, having joy in your heart regardless of your current situation, and a true peace of mind are byproducts of living by faith in God and being filled with His Holy Spirit.  One can not simply manufacture love for someone he or she doesn’t like.  Neither can they manufacture joy or peace in their hearts and minds.  These are fruits produced by living God’s way.  

Over the years, I’ve seen teachers, even Christian teachers, desire for certain students to leave their class and never return.  Not one thought goes into the fact that God may have placed that student in their path to make a difference in that student’s life.  I guarantee you 100% of the time, that student is just as unhappy with his or her overall circumstances as you are with yours.  The only command we are given towards them is to love them.  You, on your own, may feel that you can’t do that, but God, through you, can.  We simply have to allow Him to do just that.  He loved you and didn’t give up on you when you weren’t all that desirable, right?

At the end of the day, don’t we all want to enjoy our work?  Don’t we all want to go home feeling good about what we do?  Don’t we want to have energy to do other things that we enjoy doing? 

I do, and I’ve learned that if I stay focused on things that I can’t do anything about, I stay miserable and I stay tired.  But, when I focus on what God has placed right in front of me to deal with, and I simply do my best to love my students and joyfully teach the subject that I love, then man, I leave my work so much happier and so much more content.  

What about you?  How do you leave work on most days?

Later. 

Adam