Spirits

What kind of spirit do you have?  Now that would be a conversation starter wouldn’t it?  But it’s a very valuable question to consider.  When you strip all the fluff and layers and, maybe even walls down, that make up the outside you, what would you have left?  People many times say someone is just “mean-spirited” or he has a “good heart”, but what does that really mean?

We have probably all heard that “God is spirit and that we should worship Him in spirit and truth”. (John 4:24)  God formed us and gave us a spirit.  We were made in the very image of God.  What kind of spirit is in you?  Here’s the kind of spirit the Apostle Paul told Timothy was in him in 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

God, first of all, DID NOT give us a spirit of timidity. He did not give us a spirit to be afraid, beaten down, ashamed or unworthy of His love.  He doesn’t want us to be afraid all our lives.  He wants us to live life to the fullest, with passion and zeal, not with timidity or fear.

Look at the spirit God DID give us.  He gave us power.  Power comes through His Spirit that dwells in each one of us.  We have the power of the God Almighty right inside us.  That should make you shiver.  What awesome power, but what an awesome  responsibility at the same time.  God has decided to dwell with you, with me, amazing!

God also gave us two more aspects of our spirit to help us provide the proper context for the first.  That power has to be tempered with love.  We are to have a spirit of love.  Jesus showed us the ultimate example of love in that He was willing to die for us to give us that power.  So we must use the power within us to show those around us that same love of Jesus.

Lastly, and probably most important, is the spirit of self-discipline.  With all that power we have to be careful not to use our spirits in a negative way.  We must be proper hosts for God’s Spirit, never doing anything to offend Him.

So now what kind of spirit do you have?  I am seeking to have a spirit filled with power and love, tempered with self-control.  What about you?

God Bless!