God's The One
The 7th verse in 1st Corinthians, chapter 3 of “The Passion Translation,” speaks of transformation for each of us. Recently, it has touched my heart regarding my pride. It should motivate us to give God all the glory for any good that comes from us. A reminder that God is the one who brings about positive change within us.
Pondering over this verse the last few weeks has been enlightening. Actually, the entire third chapter of 1 Corinthians is helpful. I encourage you to slowly read through it and ask God if He has a message for you. Even though Paul’s teaching in this chapter has undertones of correction, I find it comforting as related to a current situation in my life.
The church seems to be more and more divided and honestly, it saddens me to think about how this must grieve our Heavenly Father. My personal belief is that conviction is the role of the Holy Spirit, no one else. This is one lesson I have learned, maybe the hard way. For example, I was one who never hesitated to confront and saw nothing wrong with this at any time. God gave me a glimpse of my own self-righteousness, and this led to a shift; instead of confronting all the time I began praying for God to convict someone who has hurt or caused injustice to me. A greater shift began to happen and today I realize God never needs my help with whom, when or with convicting another person. Instead, God invites me to bring Him the times when others' actions or words hurt or offend me. However, God helps me set personal limits in relationships. However, to be moved in matters of moral or spiritual growth is entirely up to the Holy Spirit and He doesn't even ask for my opinion. Interesting how reflecting back we can see how shallow an area of our spiritual life used to be, isn’t it?
What is our role and responsibility to ensure we are open to the perfecting work of the Holy Spirit? These steps require intentionality and spending time alone with God not just within our spiritual communities.
Accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Ask the Holy Spirit to teach us.
Be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Learn to recognize where the Holy Spirit is at work for a shifting of our hearts.
Move aside and allow for God’s work to be accomplished.
It is our responsibility to be open to the Holy Spirit by asking for wisdom and understanding from Him. This is where we truly become more like Jesus, deep within our hearts first. Like this verse says, “it is God who brings the growth” - it is all because of the Lord that I have progressed in my faith, my spiritual understanding and hopefully I look a little more like Jesus. Friend, is that something you desire?
Dear Father, Help us to recognize it is always You who brings about supernatural growth. Give us a desire to cooperate with what you are doing within our hearts to make us more like You. May holinees be what we strive for and thank you for never giving up on us. It is a privilege to see You at work in the world, one we should not take for granted. Amen
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