Spirit of Virtue
“And beside this, giving all
diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge” (2 Peter 1:5).
Virtue
has been defined as behavior that displays high moral standards, goodness, and
righteousness. Unfortunately, it seems to be on the endangered species’ list in
today’s times due to the world considering a virtue as being what’s popular
with the majority. Things that were once considered as virtuous such as males
being men, females being women, two-parent families, females being fully
clothed, prayer before meals, and profanity being frowned upon, are only just
some of the examples where society has lost its virtue compass. To stand up for
righteousness gets you labeled as a deplorable, homophobe, xenophobe, and other
names ending in “phobe.” Nevertheless, God warned His people that there would
be a day when right would be called wrong and vice versa. The Bible says, “Woe
to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light
for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who
are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight” (Isaiah 5:20-21). Despite much of the
world’s resistance to virtuous living, those who seek to please the Lord must
do so in Spirit and in truth.
The
Holy Spirit is present with the believer to lead and guide us in the ways of
God in accordance with His righteousness. Because the Lord is Holy, the Spirit
instructs us concerning the Godly path that we should take to ensure that we as
the bride of Christ are ready for His soon return. The Bible says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing
her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself
as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy
and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27). The Holy Spirit doesn’t base His
virtues on what is popular, seasonal, or considered as politically correct. He
places the virtue of God within the believer to convict us of right and wrong, moral
and immoral, Godly and ungodly.
How
would a person know right from wrong other than the Holy Spirit convicting
their hearts? The world wants to deny the existence of God, but the things that
they once considered as moral behavior came from the very Ten Commandments that
were handed down to Moses from God himself. Just as children are aware of
behavior that is either right or wrong, we are without excuse as to the virtue
of God. The
Bible says, “Even small children are known by their actions, so is their conduct
really pure and upright?” (Proverbs 20:11).
The Holy Spirit is the believer’s guide to
holiness. It is through the Spirit that we as believers have a desire to live
upright lives because we are unable to do it within our own strength. This is
why it is important not to entertain everything into our ear and eye gates, for
the Spirit is not able to live in a place full of worldly filth and unwholesome
garbage brought through many of today’s airwaves, movies, games and more. The Bible says, “Finally,
brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).
We are to allow the Holy Spirit to do a work in and through us, which can only
be done by total submission to His will.
Spirit of Fear for the Lord
“The fear of the LORD is the
beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs
1:7).
Many
people are encompassed by fear from what they hear and/or read in the daily news.
The threats of wars, economic collapses, violence in the streets, disease, and
job insecurity are just a few of the concerns that can make one experience
anxiety over the unknown. But God never gives a person a spirit of fear with regard to the fear of the flesh. He gave us the Holy Spirit who gives us a
fear for the Lord. The Bible says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of
fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
The fear of the Lord means having a reverence for God and honoring Him through
our obedience. The Holy Spirit helps the believer to have the desire to fear
God and give Him glory for He is our Lord, Creator, and Provider. Our reverence
for Him also allows Him to take care of all of our needs. The Bible says, “And
my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ
Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
There are many within the body of
Christ who has become compromised; therefore, they have a lack of reverence
for God and the things of God. To tell them that they are to live sanctified
lives sounds like foolishness to their ears. Holiness has been replaced with a
worldly urge to be thoroughly entertained. Instead of having a desire to please
God, the emphasis has been placed on what
can I get from God instead of what I
can do for God. The fear of the Lord has been minimized or completely
reduced and replaced with works, seed offerings, and the traditions of men. Yet,
the Spirit awaits those who claim to be in the true body of Christ.
Unfortunately, many who say that they are a part of Christ’s body are nothing
more than prosthetic limbs. Although a prosthetic can function as a limb, it
will never be part of the true body. Nevertheless, to become the actual body of
Christ means to deny one’s sinful nature and to submit completely to the Spirit
of God instead of being in a lukewarm state. The Bible says, “I know your deeds, that you are
neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you
are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth”
(Revelation 3:15-16).
God
desires for His people to have a fear for Him by worshiping Him in Spirit and
in Truth, which can only be done by the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says, “God
is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John
4:24). When the believer fully submits to the leading of the Holy
Spirit, he/she will be able to honor God with their whole heart, soul, and mind.
The desire for God is a hunger that will never leave them because it will be a
fire that is forever burning, which is the fire of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says, “But
I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is
in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it
in; indeed, I cannot” (Jeremiah 20:9). The desire to please and honor
God will be of great importance to the believer who is sold out for Him. It
will not matter what others say or do if God is getting the glory.
We
are to continuously honor God with our lives and allow the Holy Spirit to lead
us in the way that we should go. Lip service is not enough, but life service is
what God requires. Every believer must evaluate themselves to see if the Spirit
of fear for the Lord resides inside them in order to be found worthy in the
end. The
Bible says, “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord”
(Lamentations 3:4).
No comments:
Post a Comment