I was fuming about a particular situation I wasn’t happy about. I was going to get an opportunity to express my feelings and thoughts, and here I was, making sure I noted all my feelings and thoughts. So, when I finally have the opportunity to express myself, everything will be well articulated and presented. As I prepared, the Holy Spirit interrupted me,
“You can’t say everything you feel,” He said.
“Huh? So I should just pretend and be unreal?” I asked, clearly confused about what the Holy Spirit meant.
“Your flesh works against God, and those feelings are from your flesh, not your spirit. Your spirit is the real you. You won’t be pretending. Actually, you’ll be embracing the real you.”
The Holy Spirit went ahead to remind me of Galatians 5:17, where it says that the flesh and the Spirit of God are enemies. The flesh is an ally of the devil. Therefore, the flesh is, constantly, in conflict with the Spirit. This interruption from the Holy Spirit was a moment. It was a call to embrace the “No Faking It” campaign.
As a Christian, you have to understand that you have eternal life. That’s the very life of God. As Christ is, so are you (1John 4:17). You have the very mind of Christ (1Corinthians 2:16). You move, live and have your being in Christ (Acts 17:28). This means the words you speak, should be God’s words. Your words should be spirit and life. This doesn’t mean that you’ll never have to rebuke people or be “firm” with people. What this means is, even when you’re firm, you’re still exuding spirit and life, because you’re saying what God wants to say through you and not what you feel.
Now, you can’t achieve this quality control without the help of the Holy Spirit. You should know how God leads you. You should learn to ignore what you feel, and let the Holy Spirit inspire what you say and do, and how you say and do what you say and do.
Why is this important? Well, we live in times when everyone is trying to stand up for himself or herself. We attack each other, so easily. We are quick to misunderstand each other. If you don’t defend yourself, you might be dragged on the dirtiest dirt. So, we’ve all developed this second nature that automatically defends us, once we feel attacked, even before we realize what we’re doing or what we’ve done. However, this doesn’t have to be the case of a Christian. Though we’re in this world, we’re not of this world. We’re different. We’re set apart. We’re gods.
We aren’t animals. We’re not programmed to attack once we feel threatened. We have a pure spirit. We can pause and process our environment, thoughts and feelings, with the help of the Holy Spirit, before we make decisions and choices…before we say or do anything.
One major way to apply what I’m saying will be, how you engage on social media platforms. I’ve noticed a trend on social media. A trend where people play around words that obviously insult and degrade other people. So, they don’t really say the exact words, but every other words they’ve used is saying, “You’re stupid. You’re foolish. You’re dumb,” etc. They know what they’ve done, and anyone who reads what they’ve written knows what they’ve done. Sadly, Christians do this too. It’s wrong. It’s, absolutely, wrong. As a Christian, you’re not called to live that way.
No matter the wrong you do, no matter how stupid you sound and act, God doesn’t look down from heaven and calls you “Stupid.” Even when you’re obviously being stupid, the Holy Spirit still encourages you with the best of words, and the Holy Spirit is only repeating God’s heart towards you to you. This should be your cue, when you have to engage with other people, because you’re called to model your life after Christ. You can explain and defend yourself without being rude and insulting. You can be firm, and even rebuke people, without making them feel less of themselves.
You aren’t faking it and being unreal, when you refuse to allow your fleshy feelings control what you say and do. What you feel in the flesh isn’t your true identity. Your identity is in Christ. The flesh is the fake. So, join the “No Faking It” campaign. Embrace the real you. Allow your regenerated spirit take charge.
My Prayer for you and me:
May we always say and do what Jesus wants us to say and do, because we realize that we’re nothing but vessels through which Jesus expresses Himself here on earth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Get in the Gym, and do
Stay Spiritually Fit.
