Spiritual formation is not new. It’s not a passing fad or a market strategy.

Spiritual formation is the lifelong process of responding to God’s grace to be shaped into the image of Jesus, for the glory of God and the sake of the world.

We can trace this idea and language back to the writers of the New Testament.

As you remember, Christianity began with a Jewish Messianic movement in Jerusalem, but its message was for all humanity. It quickly spread beyond Jerusalem and by the apostle Paul’s time, there were as many non-Jews as Jews in the Jesus movement. That sparked some passionate debate.

Observance of the Law was central for Israel’s identity as the people of God. Many Jewish leaders in the Christian movement believed that anyone who wanted to be in God’s family – and experience the promises offered to Abraham’s descendants – also had to adhere to the same Law.

Some of those people went to Galatia to impose their understanding on the new Galatian Christians. Paul was livid, and his letter to them was passionate and prophetic. But it is this powerfully pastoral statement that I want to focus on:

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you… Galatians 4:19 NIV

In the midst of all the hard – the tension between Christian factions, public division, debate over orthodoxy, and enforcement of external regulations, (sound familiar?) – Paul ached, as best as he could imagine, like a woman in the throes of labor…longing for something new to be born in them.

Sometimes we think that conditions must be right for transformation to happen. We need to go on a retreat. We wait for a less hectic season at work. Or we hope for the day when our kids are less demanding and when life is a little more predictable. But those never come.

We at Workmatters wholeheartedly believe that one of the richest fields for our spiritual formation is our work. In our work we can yield to the Holy Spirit and be formed into the image of Christ. The character of Christ can be formed in us in the everyday, ordinary, and sometimes mundane aspects of our work.

We have talked about the 7 Pillars of Faith & Work for a long time at Workmatters; Love, Integrity, Excellence, Service, Balance, Calling, and Influence. They are guideposts to help us practically apply faith to our work. But as we move forward, I contend that these are also 7 Postures of Faith & Work. Living into them at work puts us in a position open to spiritual transformation.

Giving clear feedback, extending grace, building relationships, honoring your commitments, working with purpose, pursuing margin, setting boundaries, collaborating with others, submitting to your boss, and doing hard things are all opportunities for us to become more like Jesus.

No matter how good your “quiet time” is in the morning, God’s desire is for you to abide in Him throughout the day and to shape you into the image of Christ in your work.

Thanks for reading! Next week I’ll weigh in on what we mean by being formed into the image of Christ at our work.