Experiencing whole-hearted love for God and neighbour is how Stevens and Ung describe the sort of purity that will counteract the struggle of lust and develop the fruit of love in our workplaces. ?
Such purity of heart looks like this:
- Seeing God in all spheres of life (Psalm 24:3-4)
- Experiencing God working through us (John 5:19,36)
- ‘Willing’ one thing – singleness of heart and action (Jeremiah 32:39)
- Living an undivided life (Psalm 86:11)
- Being joined to God – ‘… loving God for who he is, no more, no less’
Unsurpisingly, the bible character chosen as an example or purity of heart was one of my favourites – Daniel. ?Having spent most of my working life in one or other sector of the public service, Daniel is one of my heroes – a lifetime of public service living out the command of Jeremiah (29:7) to, ‘… seek the peace and prosperity of the city.’?[You can listen to a sermon i preached recently on Daniel here]
Here are the characteristics of Daniels 60+ years of public life under at least eight different rulers (changes of CEO were quite a regular occurrence back then too!):
- In times of crisis, he does not panic but prays and glorifies God (Chapters 2 and 4)
- He does not flinch from speaking the truth even when it is unpalatable (Chapters 2, 4 and 5)
- He leads an utterly blameless life (Daniel 6)
- He cultivates a vibrant prayer life (Daniel 2 and 6)
Public servant or not, there is much we could learn from the life of Daniel. ?I would also strongly recommend Larry Peabody’s book,?Job-Shadowing Daniel – Walking the Talk at Work (Outskirts Press, 2010) ?for deeper insights into Daniel’s life.?
?Next time: Gluttony: excessive consumption of food (Chapter 4)
Stevens, R. P., and Ung, A. (2010).?Taking Your Soul to Work: overcoming the nine deadly sins of the workplace.??Grand Rapids, Michigan. Eerdmans
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