Week 10: Welcoming the Influence and Desires of God
Have you ever noticed how young children imitate the behavior they see and the language they hear at home? That’s because their biggest influence is typically their immediate family. Their sense of identity, their values, their desires are all shaped by their home environment. However, as children grow older, they attend school, ingest media and entertainment, build relationships with friends – all of which have the potential to influence their desires and behaviors. As adults, we too have the potential to be influenced by many things in this world – but as Christ-followers, we believe that God must be our ultimate influence and He gives us the desires that come from Him.
Scripture reminds us that God is working in us, influencing us, helping us to desire the things that are right and pure. But we are also instructed to diligently “work out” our salvation, and one aspect of this process is welcoming the Holy Spirit’s authority in our lives (Phil 2:12-13).
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. […] Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Gal. 5:16:18, 5:24 NLT
When we welcome the Holy Spirit’s authority and guidance in our lives, we also welcome His desires. When we welcome His desires, our behavior will follow. Allowing the Holy Spirit to guide our lives is a day-by-day, moment-by-moment strategy for Christian living. The Spirit can lead us in so many ways – to help us problem-solve in a specific way, make a certain decision, share an encouraging word to another – but we must be ready and willing to receive and respond to His influence.
Inviting God’s influence and authority into our lives means living a consecrated life. It means submitting to His lordship in every aspect of life – relationships, career, finances, ministry, and so on. That’s why we pray in the Spirit, listen to and apply the Word of God, and actively worship God with our lives. We resist worldly influences so that our minds can be renewed (Rom. 12:1-2). We stay connected to a community of believers, like we do here on this platform, where we talk about the Scriptures and principles for Christian living and encourage each other to honor God in the way we live.
Please take a few moments to consider how you are actively welcoming God’s influence in your life and resisting ungodly influences. Share your responses to one or both of the following questions:
1) Have you experienced God giving you new desires that come from Him in place of worldly or sinful desires?
2) Are there ungodly influences that you may need to “weed out” of your life so that you can make room for the Holy Spirit’s influence?
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