Our Role in Spiritual Self-Governance

Our Role in Spiritual Self-Governance Devotional Reading— July 12, 2023

For most of my life, I held firm to the thought that humanity cannot self-govern based on the lack of desire and learned behaviors. Yet, I just listened to a Devotional Reading entitled “Prove Yourself” in which the author, E.G. White, provides biblical proof that God created us with the ability to govern ourselves if we willingly ask for the indwelling and help of the Holy Spirit.

Praying for guidance from the Holy Spirit, I began researching the Christian believer’s role in spiritual self-governance. And then I prayed again asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the plain-talk breakdown of a theologically complex subject.

We have received God-given Innate Gifts: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” —2 Timothy 1:7

We are recipients of God’s Grace: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” —Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV

We have the Holy Spirit as our Teacher, Guide, and the Giver of all Spiritual Gifts: 1. “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him–the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:2). 2. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Since we were born into sin—inherited from our earthly parents, Adam and Eve, we require the continuous help of the Holy Spirit: “The heart is deceitful above all things And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” —Jeremiah 17:9

“The Christian principle of self-government is God ruling internally from the heart of the believer. In order to have true liberty, man must willingly (voluntarily) be governed internally by the Spirit and the Word of God [the Bible] rather than by external forces. Government is first internal (causative), then extends outwardly (effect).” Dr. Elizabeth Youmans

“Create a clean [pure] heart in me, O God, and renew a right [faithful, steadfast] spirit within me.” —Psalm 51:10

Do we desire to have clean hearts by living righteously? Are we willing to surrender and obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit in every aspect of our lives? Our internal heart’s desires reveal themselves through our external lifestyles indicating if we put God first and have the desire to follow and obey Him.

How do we begin and end each day? What are we praying for? Our prayers of surrender must be specific: “Lord, I surrender myself to You today. I ask You to anoint my mind with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and I pray for the wisdom and discernment to recognize and resist the spiritual warfare of temptation. Give me the strength to overcome my internal battle of desiring the things that are not part of Your plan for my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Leviticus chapters 19 and 20 record the Lord’s emphasis on being holy. The word for holy in Hebrew is “qadash,” which means to be sanctified, consecrated, and dedicated or to be separated from the world and worldliness.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” —2 Corinthians 5:17

As new creatures, our love for God is demonstrated by clean [pure] hearts as evidenced by our faith, obedience, and surrender to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. We intentionally avoid sin and worldly activities when striving to live Holy. In humility, we realize that we desperately need Divine Intervention to overcome temptation and sinful habits which is reflected in the time we spend in prayer and Bible study.

Our way of living reflects whether we have surrendered ourselves fully to God or not. If we continue to engage in the same behaviors as we did before accepting Jesus as our Savior, it indicates that we still have corrupt hearts.

We must be honest in our spiritual self-assessment: “Do I desire to be a child of God or a slave of Satan?” There is no middle ground. Either we are thinking, speaking, and practicing our previous sinful behaviors by falling into the same temptations of pursuing self-satisfaction or we recognize that we are sinners saved by grace and intentionally surrender and consecrate ourselves to God every day.

Our Spiritual Responsibility: “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” —1 Chronicles 16:11.

During a church’s Children’s story, the question was asked, Have you ever prayed and asked God to help you? The little boy who appeared to be about 7 or 8 years old answered, Yes, I didn’t understand how to do the math problems. I prayed and asked Jesus to help me, and He did, I got all of the answers right.

Like a young child who does not have the intellectual maturity to analyze and try to figure out how God will intervene, all we need to do is pray in faith and believe that when we ask for the presence or help of the Holy Spirit, we will receive an immediate answer of yes to our prayers.

The Holy Spirit who can be everywhere to everyone remains a mystery. Jesus told Nicodemus: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” —John 3:8

God honors those who desire to have a pure heart and put forth the effort to invite the Holy Spirit to govern their lives. We use our sound minds to make the right choices in conjunction with the power of the Holy Spirit. Our resistance to the evil of worldly temptations requires using self-control and immediately praying for the Divine Strength to overcome.

Although we practice spiritual self-governance, we cannot fight spiritual warfare or transform ourselves into the likeness of Christ without the Holy Spirit. Because of the inheritance of a sinful heart, we need the intervention of the Holy Spirit every second, minute, and hour of the day. Jesus promised if we ask for the Holy Spirit’s Divine Power, we will receive it.

Breathe on me, Breath of God
Until my heart is pure
Until my will is one with Thine
To do and to endure…Edwin Hatch

We need the Breath of the Holy Spirit to breathe on us throughout our earthly journey. Human Effort and Divine Intervention is the only way we will continue on the Path of Righteousness. Sanctification is a lifelong [earthly] journey of spiritual transformation. And we desperately need all the Divine Help that is available!

How do we know the Holy Spirit is working within to transform us?

Praying and studying the Scriptures become second nature. Our hearts overflow with love for God. We strive to have a clean heart through surrender, faith, and obedience. We resist temptation and sinful activities by saying a firm no to our desires and the influence of others. We seek to please God by praying for the revelation of His will and governing our desires to be aligned with His will.

Yes, the Christian’s ability to practice spiritual self-governance along with the Holy Spirit’s presence gives us the power to overcome sin. With faith and God’s grace from which we have received the Holy Spirit, we can live righteously and have clean hearts.

Prayer: God, we ask You to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We desire a clean heart. We pray for the Breath of the Holy Spirit to breathe on us. Lord, we express our willingness to surrender to Your will and make a covenant vow to faithfully obey that we may be governed by the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ Holy name, we pray. Amen.

© 2023 Steps 2 Success with Spiritual Solutions and Woman, You Are Loved by God Ministries