You need more of the Holy Spirit (2)

The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom beyond our knowledge, power beyond our strength, and gifting beyond our ability. With His help, we become better than our best effort and better than our best thought. We become the best version of ourselves possible. Of course, this takes a lifetime. Hence, Paul wrote, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” It’s hard to imagine a farmer planting a crop of beans and then being surprised that it didn’t produce corn. Why? Because you reap what you sow. Yet some of us seem shocked when the seeds of sin yield their crop. So what are you planting? Love or hate? Joy or ingratitude? Patience or impatience? Self-control or self-indulgence? You cannot break the law of sowing and reaping, but it can break you or make you – if you keep sowing the right seeds. Want a bumper crop? Then you need more of the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit can’t fill you if you’re full of yourself. So a prerequisite to having more of the Holy Spirit is being honest, being humble, and being hungry. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the nine fruits the Holy Spirit produces in our lives. So if you want more of the Holy Spirit, it means you literally want more love, more joy, more peace, more forbearance, more kindness, more goodness, more faithfulness, more gentleness, and more self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23 NIV). The good news is, you can have as much of the Holy Spirit as you want.