In your relationships, do you have a role? Are you the funny one, serious one? Are you the one who leads or one who follows? Sometimes I feel more like a herder than leader. Are you laid-back and easy-going or are you wound a little tight? Are you the chatty one or the listening one? You know what I’m talking about. We all have roles we play in relationships. The roles we play are based on personality, strengths, weaknesses, Spiritual gifts, talents and age of those in the relationship.
You have a role in your relationship with the Holy Spirit. It takes 2 to have a relationship. Relationships take work and communication and time. Last Saturday on the Girlfriend Ministry Facebook page, I posted 14 things the Spirit does in our relationship with Him, and that was not even an exhaustive list.
Now, let’s look at your role in the relationship. What are you supposed to do to maintain the relationship?
1. Walk in the Spirit – Romans 7:6, Galatians 5:16-25, Ephesians 5:8-11
We are to put away the old self. Die to the old self and exhibit supernatural fruit of the Spirit.
What you feed will flourish. What you starve will languish. Are you feeding your spiritual relationship, or are you feeding your fleshly desires?
2. Walk carefully, wisely, redeeming the time and be filled with the Spirit – Ephesians 5:15-18
Girlfriends, we have a limited amount of time on this planet. Are you making the most of it for the kingdom of God?
Being filled with the spirit in this verse indicates two things – 1) It’s imperative – it says, “be filled.” It doesn’t say “fill up when you need it or if you want to.” 2) It’s passive tense – You can’t do this yourself. The Spirit has to fill you. You can’t conjure it up. You can’t fabricate having the Spirit.
The verse also says to “be filled.” We are not to get a cup of it here and there. We aren’t supposed to fill in and around the junk we carry day in and day out. We need to die to self, be empty and void and allow the Spirit to fill you completely directing your path as to what belongs in your life.
3. Live a grateful life – Ephesians 5:19-20
The words that come out of your mouth, are they full of gratitude or whining, griping and complaining?
The words that come out of your mouth, do they reflect that you’ve spent time worshiping God or do your words reflect self-concern, self-centeredness?
4. Stay in the Word and listen – Ephesians 6:17
The only way you can feed your spitiual side is by being in the Word – Galatians 6:8.
5. Do NOT quench the Spirit – 1 Thessalonians 5:19
This is the only one I found that said something we were NOT to do in our relationship with the Spirit.
Quench means to hinder the operations of the Holy Spirit when we refuse to submit and obey the Spirit’s prompting by allowing sin to remain in our lives without true repentance. You can’t be a light if you don’t repent, obey and submit to the authority of the Spirit.
6. Pray and worship in the Spirit – Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 3:3, John 4:24
Every single prayer of the Spirit is answered because the Spirit has communed with God the Father and searched the deep things of God and then reveals to us.
When we worship it isn’t for show. When we worship in the Spirit, the Spirit moves through us. The Spirit gives us freedom from sin, releases us to worship in freedom and in fullness of joy. Is that how you worship?
How is your relationship with the Spirit? Are you doing your part? Are you living a Spirit-filled life? It will make all the difference in the world if you do.