Life in the Spirit Requires Change

Several people asked about what it means to live life in the Spirit. Initially I thought I could answer that question fairly easily. As Penny and I talked about it, I realized there really isn’t a short answer. For today, I am going to focus on the fact that life in the Spirit requires change. To be truly living in the Spirit, you have to surrender your life to God. For those of you who have been Christians a long time, maybe even grew up in the church, you might think that is a given once you are a Christian. I can tell you, without a doubt, that is not the case. For me, I had to realize the full weight of living out of the Spirit before I was willing to completely surrender.

You see, I grew up in the church. I don’t ever remember a time that I did not consider myself a Christian, or that my faith waivered too much. I had been through some difficult times, for sure, and had my faith challenged, but it had never faltered. Due to a series of circumstances (that are another blog or two on their own), I found myself broken and hurting and in a situation that God never intended for me. I had been struggling with so much for so long. I had almost given up hope of ever feeling better, and I was desperate for something that might offer me some relief. When I would pray about it, the answer was as clear as day. I needed to get out of that situation. Unfortunately, I would not let myself even consider that as an option. I kept telling God he needed to find another way. That didn’t work so well. Eventually I stopped praying about it at all. What was the point if I wasn’t going to listen to the answer?

I finally succumbed and told God that I didn’t want my will for my life anymore, only His. I started praying earnestly for His guidance, and for Him to show me the way. Over time this started to happen, and I began making choices based on what I was being guided to do. Let me say again, this SLOWLY started to happen. I had been ignoring or silencing the guidance of the Spirit for so long, I honestly had decided I must not even have the Spirit in me any longer. Thankfully, that was not true. I just had to relearn how to listen and tune in. Once I started doing that, God began opening doors for me. It was at this time that my healing journey began. (That is also another blog or two, but I will get there!)

Once I had recommitted my life to Christ, I began living in a way that reflected my desire to live in His will for my life and not mine. I started actively seeking His guidance and my life began to CHANGE. Spending time in the Word and in prayer, and actively seeking and listening for the Spirit to guide my steps, allowed me regular opportunities to encounter God. I couldn’t help BUT come away changed! I started to truly see and feel that I was fully forgiven and fully free from my sin. Not because I deserved forgiveness or had done anything to earn it, but because of God’s love and grace.

People in my life began noticing a change in me, like… right away. Many made the effort to acknowledge this change, though they often couldn’t put their finger on it. I knew, like a butterfly, this transformation was from the inside out. I realized what they were seeing was the light of Christ shining through the cracks in the cocoon. My faith was all He required. Once I embraced all that it meant to walk in that faith, I wanted to give so much more. I had to surrender my life in order to fully walk in the Spirit. Once I did, complete surrender was the only way of living that made sense.

Once I got a taste of a mountain-top experience, where I encountered the presence of God, the love of Christ, and the guidance of the Spirit, I wanted two things: more of those experiences, and to show others they could have those experiences as well. I thought that everyone who had the opportunity to experience that kind of transformation would jump at the chance, and that once they had a taste, they would seek it more and more. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. You see, once you have had the experience and been changed, you have to live changed in order to truly and fully step into this gift. If we go back to living in shame and darkness, go back to seeking our own will for our life instead of His, if we ignore the guidance of the Spirit, then it dampens that light and keeps it from shining both for ourselves and for others. To fully experience life in the Spirit, you have to accept it, embrace it, and go all in.