Listen

I say be guided by the Spirit and you won’t carry out your selfish desires. A person’s selfish desires are set against the Spirit, and the Spirit is set against one’s selfish desires. They are opposed to each other, so you shouldn’t do whatever you want to do.

Galatians 5:16-17

Think

It’s not always about you.

I remember talking to a friend about our mutual friend’s struggles. As I began to talk about how I wanted to help and how I was feeling about their situation, my friend spoke those words to me. His words were harsh, but were a wake-up call that I remember to this day. It is easy to let our own thoughts, feelings, and wishes get in the way of what may be best.

In today’s passage Paul suggests a remedy for that — the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is always at work around us. When we begin to be more attuned to what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives, it becomes more difficult to be distracted by our own thoughts and wishes.

When we wonder about our faith, maybe my friend’s words can guide us. It’s not always about you. What is the Holy Spirit doing around you? Maybe that is the answer.

Dale Tadlock

Pray

Jesus, remind me that today is about sensing what the Holy Spirit is doing in me and around me.

Help me to seek the Holy Spirit and not just what seems right to me.

Amen.

Go

We are travelers on a journey
Fellow pilgrims on the road
We are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ light for you
in the nighttime of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.

Richard Gillard in “The Servant Song” (1977)