I was asked to write a devotion for a weekly email that is sent out to students at the college I work for. This is what I wrote…
I used to lift weights pretty regularly. If you know me this may come as a surprise to you, but I played football in high school and as a result lifted weights in the off-season as well as competed in weight-lift meets. I always did pretty well for my weight class. I actually enjoyed lifting weights in high school. The coaches and other players were there to encourage and push me to lift as much as possible.
After football season ended my senior year I had seventh period of school free to go home. A couple of friends and I decided to get a membership at a gym in town. We wanted to keep working out to maintain what muscles we had (they had more than me). The great thing about working out at the gym is that there was a trainer who would give us direction on what weights to lift and how many reps to do. He would push us to do more and would make us redo a rep if we didn’t do it right.
Now I hardly ever lift weights. I don’t have the drive. There’s no one to push me to do more. I find that I need the encouragement in just about any exercise I do. I need someone to either tell me to keep lifting (or running) or to lift and run along with me. The same is true in my spiritual life. Physical training is very important, but spiritual training is of eternal importance. Our bodies are temporary, but our spirit lasts for ever. This is what Paul tells Timothy: “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8). He says this right after he tells Tim to train himself to be Godly. This is not an easy task to do alone. In fact, it is impossible! That is why Jesus sent us a Helper, the Holy Spirit. I guess you could say that He is the ultimate personal trainer.
Jesus made the promise to his disciples in John 14 that the Holy Spirit would come. While the disciples didn’t fully know what Jesus meant when He said he had to go away but that He would send a helper, I imagine that if He would have just told them He was going away and not mention sending them any help, they would have been very discouraged. Just like in physical training it is more beneficial to have someone with us there encouraging us and teaching us how to perfect out skills. Jesus went as far as to say that it would be better if He went away so that the Spirit could come (John 16:7).
Do we really live like we believe that having the Spirit of God inside of us is better than having Jesus walk beside us? Jesus sent the Spirit to live in us so that we may be trained to live a Godly life and look more like Him. And just like physical training bares evidence, so does spiritual. Instead of bigger muscles, though, what is evident is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in our lives. If we truly have the Spirit of God in our lives, these characteristics will be evident in our lives.
This week think about how the Spirit can work within you to make you more like Jesus. Read John 14:15-31, John 16:1-16, and Galatians 5:16-26 and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you.
