“Do you not know that you are the temple of God

and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)

This is an immensely glorious truth. And, if you are like me, you find it hugely challenging, too. It’s way beyond the grasp of the human mind, but these words that the apostle Paul first spoke to the church in Corinth come to us by entering our minds, then they filter down (so to speak) into our spirits.

The Bible confirms that, even though our natural minds cannot receive spiritual truths, God Himself makes them known to us supernaturally. In fact, He has already done so: “God has revealed them to us through His Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:10; my italics). 

So, in faith, we can ponder and draw on the amazing implications of our being the places where God chooses to make His home. Here are just a few thoughts that have been coming to me.

The first is the profound reassurance that God is always present, within you and me: “For He [God] Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). However unworthy I may feel at times, and however much I may mess up, the fact is that the Holy Spirit is always there, closer to me than my breath.

The Holy Spirit is our unfailing comforter and the One who leads us into all truth, reminding us of the things that Jesus has said to us [Footnote 1]. He is also our friend who wants to have relationship with us. I confess that, in the past, while I would commune personally with the Father and with Jesus, I wrongly perceived the Holy Spirit as an emotionally distant part of the Godhead who was, nevertheless, very practical in helping and empowering us in different ways. Then it dawned on me that I was the emotionally distant one!  

I came to see that the Holy Spirit desires much more than the one-way relationship that I had effectively been imposing upon Him. On the contrary, He desires to have intimate and ongoing fellowship with each of us [2]. Since then, I’ve been learning to dialogue with the Holy Spirit, and to contemplate His presence within me, and within us all, with increasing awe and wonder. 

Since the Holy Spirit is within us, His qualities such as wisdom and revelation [3], counsel and might [4] are within our reach, through our trust in Him. His fruit [5] is also within us and available to put into practice in our daily lives. And because the fruit of the Spirit is within us, we have a supply of love that can never run dry; we can dig deep and find joy in the midst of pain, and experience peace even when we’re surrounded by turmoil.

This fruit all comes by faith, though – not by human effort. If I grit my teeth and try to show genuine kindness in the face of insult, for example, it won’t work. It’s only by leaning into the Spirit and consciously trusting Him to flow through me that the true fruit of kindness bubbles to the surface. It does take practice, though!  As we consciously occupy the seat of our true identity in Christ, we can find grace to move in the opposite spirit to how the enemy would want to propel us. That is the power of the cross working in our lives!  Sometimes, though, it’s really hard because our old-Adam nature wants to demonstrate the opposite, especially in difficult situations.

The important thing is not to give up but to keep at it! Above all, to know that the Holy Spirit is always with us and for us. And that the supreme power of the cross and Jesus’s shed blood is always working on our behalf. With Him, we cannot fail our heavenly calling: “Thanks be to God who leads us, wherever we are, on his own triumphant way and makes our knowledge of him spread throughout the world like a lovely perfume!” (2 Cor. 2:14, PHILLIPS).

By Ann Shakespeare   26 October 2022

 Footnotes:

[1] John 14:26 and 16:13.

[2] 2 Corinthians 13:14.

[3] Ephesians 1:17

[4] Isaiah 11:1-2

[5] “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).