The question, "Why to you desire the Holy Spirit?" gave me great pause. The idea behind the question, obviously, is to discern whether the Holy Spirit is desired for MY benefit or for the benefit of the Church.
Researching Scriptures on the subject, it quickly becomes evident that individuals are gifted with the Holy Spirit for the building up of the Church, not for purposes of personal aggrandizement or ego gratification.
i fear that my motives may be mixed--like the motivation for everything else in my Christian walk--i want to please God, i want to build up the Church, but (most of all i must admit) i also want to benefit myself. i have been seeking after the Spirit, primarily, for purposes of inner cleansing--for sanctification--for freedom from my sinful ways of thinking, feeling, speaking, and acting. i am not sure whether this wish is based upon a desire to please God or a desire to be seen as saintly by others, but in any event, the desire is selfish in nature and is probably the primary reason why i have been unable, up until now, to experience the indwelling Spirit in all of His glory and Power.
Hopefully, coming to a conscious understanding that the Holy Spirit is a PERSON, not a blind spiritual POWER, will help in this regard. The Holy Spirit is, after all, God and trying to USE God for one's own end is, to say the least, risky business!
Researching Scriptures on the subject, it quickly becomes evident that individuals are gifted with the Holy Spirit for the building up of the Church, not for purposes of personal aggrandizement or ego gratification.
i fear that my motives may be mixed--like the motivation for everything else in my Christian walk--i want to please God, i want to build up the Church, but (most of all i must admit) i also want to benefit myself. i have been seeking after the Spirit, primarily, for purposes of inner cleansing--for sanctification--for freedom from my sinful ways of thinking, feeling, speaking, and acting. i am not sure whether this wish is based upon a desire to please God or a desire to be seen as saintly by others, but in any event, the desire is selfish in nature and is probably the primary reason why i have been unable, up until now, to experience the indwelling Spirit in all of His glory and Power.
Hopefully, coming to a conscious understanding that the Holy Spirit is a PERSON, not a blind spiritual POWER, will help in this regard. The Holy Spirit is, after all, God and trying to USE God for one's own end is, to say the least, risky business!
