Don’t Kill the Spirit

Years ago a young mom with two young boys asked me if my boys ever fought. Keep in mind I have triplet boys. I responded truthfully and said…..all the time! Sometimes I think they came out of the womb fighting. I frequently found myself saying to them, “Boys…you are brothers…stop fighting with each other!” Unfortunately, I don’t think it helped. This young mom sighed with relief knowing my boys fought too.

Usually when my boys fight the consequences are pretty mild. Some hurt feelings. Some strong words. Not too bad. But when followers of Jesus fight, there are huge spiritual growth consequences.

In Ephesians 2, the Apostle Paul wrote that the church is like a building, joined together in Christ and rising to become a holy temple. He went on to write, “In him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). In him means in God.

“In which God lives by his spirit.” That’s important. The point is you are built up in your relationship with Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Part of being built up means growing spiritually. It is very difficult, maybe impossible, to grow spiritually without the power and presence of the Holy Spirit at work within you.

One of the quickest ways to hurt your spiritual growth is to live in conflict with other followers of Jesus. Later in Ephesians, Paul shared this advice: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Why is the unity of the Spirit so important? For starters, the same Holy Spirit lives in every follower of Jesus. When you are not unified with another follower of Jesus, the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace is broken. This brokenness diminishes the power and presence of the Holy Spirit at work in your life. This brokenness diminishes your spiritual growth.

I think this is why Paul admonished the Thessalonian followers of Jesus with the words in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, “Do not quench the Spirit.”

The bottom line is you want to experience ongoing spiritual growth, which requires the power of the Holy Spirit. This means you must live at peace with all other followers of Jesus.

Is there another follower of Jesus you are experiencing conflict with right now? If so, you are quenching the Holy Spirit within you and hurting your spiritual growth.

Make it a point to do something about it. Do everything in your power as much as it depends upon you to be reconciled to your spiritual brother or sister. Renew the power of the Holy Spirit within you. Maintain the unity of the Holy Spirit through the bond of peace.

I guarantee you will not regret it. Your spiritual growth will not regret it either.