The gift of the Holy Ghost was given to us at confirmation, and we are blessed to have that guidance with us all the time as we strive to live worthily to keep it with us. But, we are told that the Spirit of the Lord cannot be in unclean places, and it can be a challenge to keep ourselves ready to receive the promptings and the constant peace that can be ours.
Often we think of losing the Spirit as something that happens after something major, such as a large sin. But as we go about our day and things pop up to distract us, we are in danger in countless little ways of chasing the influence of the Spirit from us.
These ways include: seeing something on TV or hearing something on the radio that’s inappropriate, getting into an argument with a spouse, losing patience with a child or a co-worker, getting angry at another driver on the road – each of these things can cause the Spirit to leave until we’ve calmed down and are ready for it to come back.
But how do we know when we’ve lost the Spirit?
Think for a moment about the description of a truly charitable person found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-5:
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
“Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.”
Charity is a gift of the Spirit, and when we have lost the Spirit, it’s difficult for us to have charity. These attributes tie right in to my thesis:
When we have lost the Spirit, we find it hard to suffer long – we become intolerant. We find it difficult to be kind – sharp words fly out of our mouths. We can be envious of others, or be overly proud. We can behave in ways that we know are inappropriate, but we don’t seem to care as much. We are easily provoked, and we think the worst of those around us.
When we find ourselves easily angered and can’t seem to bring our emotions under control, let’s take a spiritual inventory and see if by chance we’ve lost the Spirit. Some time on our knees will bring everything back into focus, and we’ll be able to go forward with the confidence of knowing that we’re not alone.
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Gospel Doctrine — Did Not Our Hearts Burn?
Tristi Pinkston is a full-time blogger in Movie Reviews and Media Reviews. To read more by this blogger, click here.