Culture

He’s Still Working On Me: Preparing for Life-Long Faithfulness

Benjamin Quinn | October 21, 2026
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Editor's Note

Equipping articles aim to equip ministry leaders to advance the way of Christ in all of culture by 1) clarifying a particular cultural issue, 2) identifying the challenge it presents to Christians and the Church, and 3) offering a way forward for Christians and ministry leaders. These are typically short-form and not comprehensive in nature.

This article is part of our theme, The Way of Christ in Apologetics and Culture.

This is an excerpt written for the Co-Labor Initiative.

One of my favorite church songs as a kid was “He’s Still Working on Me.” You may recall the lyrics…

He’s still working on me
To make me what I ought to be
It took him just a week to make the moon and the stars
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars
How lovely and patient he must be
He’s still working on me.
 
It is amazing that our God made the whole creation in six days. Yet, he takes a lifetime to work on us. How lovely and patient he must be, indeed.

The more we exercise these disciplines, the more we desire them—and the long-term effects are truly good for us and others.

Of the many difficult parts of our work life, I find the grind of life among the hardest. By “grind,” I mean the monotony of day after day, month after month, and year after year of waking up, going to work, coming home, and doing it all over again—for decades. Early mornings, late nights, every day back to the computer, the combine, the construction site, the airport, the spreadsheets, the classroom, the noise, pressure, expectations, emails, and on it goes.

In our twenties, the job and career prospects are exciting and energizing. But by our thirties, the reality of the years of work-life ahead of us begins to set in. The highs and lows may even come as welcome disruptions to the routine, even when they bring struggles of their own.

Yet, God keeps working on us with the call to lifelong faithfulness. This is the call for every Christian, regardless of job title. So how do we prepare for this? Two suggestions:

First, he works on us through the filling of the Spirit.

And this begins with a heart posture of daily dying to self and inviting God to work through every part of our lives, remembering Jesus’ prayer, “Not my will but your will be done.”

Paul illustrates this well in Eph. 5:18 when he instructs us to be filled, not with wine, but with the Spirit! The point is not a prohibition on alcohol, but an admonition to be filled and directed by the Spirit of God and not by the things of the world.

Just as with wine, the Spirit’s control in our lives is directly related to our intake of Spirit-filled activity. In the verses that follow, Paul exhorts us to four things: 1. addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 2. singing, 3. giving thanks to God in Christ for all things, and 4. submitting to one another. In other words, what does it look like when we are filled (drunk!) with the Spirit of God? It looks like encouraging one another with Scripture, singing to the Lord, always being thankful, and being humble enough to submit to one another.

Second, he works on us through faithfulness in disciplines.

From this passage in Ephesians 5:18-21, we can discern at least four disciplines that should characterize our lives. We must recognize from the outset, however, that faithfulness in discipline begins with cultivating the conditions around us. Returning to Paul’s contrast with drunkenness in verse 18, a person only becomes drunk by making provision for drunkenness. They make plans to purchase the alcohol, scheduling it in as a protected priority. They often take time to invite others to join in, making it a communal affair, and there may even be music and celebration to accompany it. In other words, priority and preparation are required. And the more often one does this, the more skilled he becomes at making provision for it—it becomes an ingrained habit of life that leads the body to desire drunkenness, even though its long-term effects are bad.

Similarly, to be filled with the Spirit begins with making provision for it—protecting its priority in our lives and putting ourselves in the context to receive and participate in Spirit-filled activity day by day. And, the more we exercise these disciplines, the more we desire them—and the long-term effects are truly good for us and others.

These disciplines include such things as meditation on Scripture, prayer, bodily activities, and intentional submission.  Beginning with Scripture, Paul tells us to address one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Doing so requires a steady diet of reading and reflecting on God’s Word in Scripture. Daily intake of Scripture can take many forms. Personally, I prefer a balance of short passages for daily meditation mixed with larger portions of Scripture often coupled with our church’s sermon series or small group focus, alternating between Old Testament and New Testament throughout the year. However one goes about it, daily intake of God’s word is imperative for the Spirit-filled life for both personal encouragement and for encouraging others.

Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is a sure and comprehensive guide. Though brief, the prayer of our Lord begins with the reminder that God is God and we are not, yet the God of the universe invites us to call him the Father—a most intimate title. Moreover, the movement of the prayer touches every part of life leading us to confess our sin and extend forgiveness to others, to rely on our Father for “daily bread,” just like children, and to admit that we need his help to avoid temptation. There is no room for arrogance in prayer; and there is no room for arrogance in the Spirit-filled life.

Bodily activity. Paul identifies singing as evidence of the Spirit-filled life. What is so special about singing? One thing is that it is a movement from the soul through the body. Have you ever felt disappointed or angry, then a song came on that lifted your spirit and suddenly you felt better? This is an example of how our bodies and souls relate to one another. To lift our voices in song to the Lord, even when we don’t “feel” like it, is a discipline for life-long faithfulness. Other examples such as bodily exercise and meaningful conversation also serve to direct our bodily activity in virtuous ways.

Submission. Sadly, we tend to limit submission to marriage conversations. But, the truth is that submission is for everyone. The Christian life is a daily dying to self and surrender (submission!) to God’s authority in our lives. And, as part of our surrender to Jesus’ Lordship, we also humbly respect the authority of our pastors and our church family in our lives. We don’t outsource every life decision to them, but we do look to them for guidance especially in difficult seasons. And we receive correction when wander from the way of Christ.

Faithfulness in disciplines is hard. But it’s necessary.  We invite the Lord to keep working on us so that at work, at home, in our communities, on social media, and at church we glorify Christ for a lifetime!

The next verse in the song “He’s Still Working On Me” says,

There really ought be a sign upon my heart
“Don’t judge me yet, there’s an unfinished part”
But I’ll be perfect just according to His plan
Fashioned by the Master’s loving hand

Just as the Lord is patient with us, we must also be patient with ourselves. As the song reminds us, “There’s an unfinished part…” But, indeed, we will be perfect according to his plan and in his timing—fashioned by his loving hand.

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PhD Apologetics and Culture

The PhD in Apologetics and Culture is to prepare persons to teach within an academic setting or work within a church and/or campus ministry seeking to have an effective apologetic voice by understanding and engaging culture with the truth claims of Christ.

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Photo retrieved from Unsplash.

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Benjamin Quinn

Director of the L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture

Dr. Quinn is an Associate Professor of Theology at SEBTS and serves as the Director of the L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture. He is the author of Christ, the Way: Augustine's Theology of Wisdom (2022), Walking in God's Wisdom (2021), and the co-author of Every Waking Hour (2016). He has been married to his wife, Ashley, since 2004, and they have four children.

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