Jasher

Grace Growers are people that God has put around you at great expense and care to help you to grow in the fruit of the Spirit. Grace growers are people who aggravate and infuriate you at every turn. They are insulting, rude, insensitive and you really don’t want to be around them at all. Also, you cannot escape them – you can change jobs, move to another city, no matter where you go in life they will always be there anticipating your arrival and ready to go to work in your behalf.

The reason that God has to use grace growers is because the real fruit of the Spirit only grows in really bad soil. Growing the Spirit’s fruit is kind of like growing mushrooms – both flourish in darkness and manure. You know – where evil abounds – grace much more abounds. God tries to teach us out of his word about his loving character. We read the words in his book but then comes “lab“ time or “OJT” in the real world.

When God teaches us about his kind of love he usually has no choice but to do it through grace growers – it seems to be a fact of life that we just can’t get it out of "the book" alone. We read the words, but fail in the practical application. Somehow we always manage see our particular test as a special exception because of the injustice and hurt involved, which is directed squarely toward us. He will put us in a negative situation to see what our response will be. He wants to see if we will respond to a very negative situation with a reverse spirit. Will we return good for evil in a real life situation? This is not easily done - out of our humanity that is.

Of course I always have the right answer in Theology class, but what of real life? God has to send us these really negative situations so that we can shed (and see through) all of our phony, humanistic, warm and fuzzy, sickly sentimental, reciprocal love, and grow in his kind of love. If we respond in anger or malice toward others we have simply failed the test. No problem though, there are no demerits in Gods program – but the bad news is - we have to take the test over again, and again, and again until we get it right. Once we start passing the test on a regular basis the grace growers seem to disappear and do not affect us much anymore.

One poignant characteristic of immature Christians is they always seem to be easily angered and often use their anger to try to control and intimidate others - often a grace grower - to try to suppress and control our behavior. When we quote scriptures in anger just to control people - we have failed the test – not to worry though - another test is already on the way.

Of course this was tongue-in-cheek, but there is a lot of truth in it. I haven’t done too well over the many years myself, but I am getting better as of late. My greatest failure was back in the mid 90’s when I discovered that my business partner had a personality disorder called “Narcissistic Personality Disorder." I learned this from the DSM-4 which lists about 8 or 9 prerequisites for the diagnosis; I noted that he had all them. Those with this disorder are the most difficult and impossible people to get along with that you could ever imagine. After I had gone through about 12 weeks of therapy as a result, I finally fired him. I had failed the test miserably.

I would guess that all of you have had some experience getting along with difficult people. Any comments on successes or failures?

Boanerges

A friend once told me that we all needed some spiritual sandpaper to wear down our rough edges and that God was glad to supply it in the form of people!

Jasher

That's it. You have it.

Didn't think I would get much response on this one. It's like talking about persecution or martyrdom. Not very interesting subjects - I don't care for them much either. But they are a fact of life.

Boanerges

ALL things work togeather for the good- so we might as well embrace the cross so to speak so we may grow and learn from whatever God allows in our life- brother Larry

sky

With difficult people, you do as an ostrich would do.

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Rom 1:20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Jesus said: "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." John 16:33