The Truth
In one of my classes today we talked about the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth, here is an excerpt from my journal.
The part about the Spirit of Truth really hit me hard. Both he and Imelda have really been showing me this aspect of what we are called to be. We are called not just to tell the truth but to be true, with true motivations expressed in true words. The church in the west has compromised the truth of God in order to earn the approval of man. I count myself as chief in this sin. My version of love is so different from Jesus. I am so filled with the fear of man that I cannot express the truth in love. I almost always operating in a worldly wisdom that is foolishness from God's perspective. Men hate the light, they cannot receive it. I really am deceived if I think I am anything in the Lord, the only way I can arrive at a high opinion of myself as far as spiritual maturity is concerned is by comparing myself to the rest of this wicked and depraved generation. Normal is really not OK. The norm in this generation is “the thoughts of their hearts are only evil all the time.” The church fits in with the world because we are filled with the same attitude (and essentially the same beliefs) as the rest of the world. Church is so devoid of the experience of God because we have not loved truth.
The part about the Spirit of Truth really hit me hard. Both he and Imelda have really been showing me this aspect of what we are called to be. We are called not just to tell the truth but to be true, with true motivations expressed in true words. The church in the west has compromised the truth of God in order to earn the approval of man. I count myself as chief in this sin. My version of love is so different from Jesus. I am so filled with the fear of man that I cannot express the truth in love. I almost always operating in a worldly wisdom that is foolishness from God's perspective. Men hate the light, they cannot receive it. I really am deceived if I think I am anything in the Lord, the only way I can arrive at a high opinion of myself as far as spiritual maturity is concerned is by comparing myself to the rest of this wicked and depraved generation. Normal is really not OK. The norm in this generation is “the thoughts of their hearts are only evil all the time.” The church fits in with the world because we are filled with the same attitude (and essentially the same beliefs) as the rest of the world. Church is so devoid of the experience of God because we have not loved truth.
It is only by the Spirit of Truth that we can experience real love. The world has rejected the truth of God, and thereby reject all of God. We hate the light because it exposes the darkness of our deeds. We hate the depths of the honor, glory, and love do to him because of who He is. We cannot accept the truth of the person of God because we want what who He is demands. As John points out in chapter 14:15-21, we cannot have the security of knowing that we are the children of God unless we are willing to accept the truth of who he is, and the demand of obedience placed on us by virtue of his character.