Signs of the Holy Spirit Within Us | Daily Devotional

“And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know by the Spirit he gave us.” —1 JOHN 3:24

The New Testament teaches us that it is vital we know the Holy Spirit is living and working within us. To know to what extent will either deepen our relationship with Christ, or prompt us to seek more of His Spirit, but passive we cannot be if we are going to experience all that God will do in our lives.

There are three indications that give evidence of the Holy Spirit’s working in us. The first is a hunger to know Jesus. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, who Jesus says will testify about Him (John 15:26), bring glory to Him (John 16:14), and the Spirit will take from what is His and make it known to us (John 16:15). By the work of the Spirit, Jesus Christ will become central in our lives. He is going to step out of history, out of the Bible, and become a living person within our hearts. Unlike the casual observer, we become preoccupied with Christ, and have an insatiable desire to know Him better.

The second evidence of the Holy Spirit’s working in us is a hunger to be Christ-like. In Galatians 5:22, Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; all of which can be reduced to one word… character. The fruit of the Spirit is the character of Christ, and we have an appetite to be like Him. Thirdly, is a hunger to serve Christ. The Spirit of God will breed a ‘servant spirit’ within our hearts, in which we discover a new compassion for the world and an appetite to serve in Christ’s agenda. Of course, our self-interests don’t disappear, but as we bring our lives in submission to Christ, our focus changes from what we want to what Christ wants.

A hunger to know Jesus, a hunger to be like Him and a hunger to serve Him – the word ‘hunger’ is used deliberately because it isn’t that the evidence of the Holy Spirit is that we know Christ, are being Christ-like and that we serve Him, but that we have a ‘hunger’ to do so. In our spiritual lives, we will never know Christ enough, be like Him enough or serve Him enough. In fact, the more we are fed by the Holy Spirit, the more our appetite increases, and we never reach that point of not being hungry anymore.

Dear Lord, thank You for your Holy Spirit in me. I pray for an ongoing hunger in getting to know You, be like You and serve You.

In which of the three areas do I need to seek the work of Christ’s Spirit more?