Who Is the Holy Spirit?Sample

Is that You, Holy Spirit?

Remember the magic of radio we talked about a few days ago? It feels magical, but if you understand a little bit about radio waves, towers, and antennas, some of the wonder fades. Hearing the Holy Spirit’s voice is sort of the same way. We never really lose the wonder, but when we learn how God speaks, it can start to feel more natural.

So, how do we know it’s actually the Holy Spirit’s voice in our head? It’s not as hard as you think. Remember that God wants to speak to you, and He built you to hear His voice. When you hear or feel something you think might be God, you can run it through a few simple tests to be sure.

First, test it against the Bible. Is that voice in your head asking you do something that doesn’t match up with God’s character as described in the Bible? If so, then it’s probably not the Holy Spirit. God never lies. And God will never direct us to sin or to make wrong choices. He loves humanity deeply, even the people that you don’t like.

So sometimes, He’ll ask us to do things that we’re sort of uncomfortable with, like giving someone a second chance after they hurt you or going out of your way to encourage someone you’d rather ignore.

That’s why reading the Bible is so important. The Holy Spirit can use what you read in the Bible to teach you about God’s character so that when you hear His voice it sounds familiar.

Next, you can test it against your own selfishness. As humans, we’re naturally selfish. So, when that voice in your head says to do the unselfish thing, or to think about someone else first—that’s probably the Holy Spirit. You know how it feels when a parent or a teacher encourages you to do the right thing, and you really don’t want to do it? On the inside, you resist it. That little rebellious voice—that’s not God. But, the voice that’s asking you to do what’s right instead of what’s easy—that just might be the Holy Spirit.

One final test—does it sound like something Satan would do? I know this one’s probably obvious, but if you haven’t read much from the Bible, it can be easy to confuse his voice for something good. Satan always makes things sound good, but one of the Holy Spirit’s jobs is to give you something called discernment. Basically, that means the Holy Spirit will help you recognize when something is coming from Satan instead of God. So, if the voice in your head is asking you to do something that sounds a little off, but you can’t quite pinpoint the reason—that’s probably the Holy Spirit helping you recognize the wrong voice.

Sometimes, people can throw God’s name around like a badge to do and say some ridiculous and sometimes hurtful things. Don’t do that. If you ever feel like God is telling you to do something that could hurt someone else, it’s probably not God.

There’s actually a great bonus test we find in the book of Galatians. It talks about the fruit of the spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness. The Holy Spirit’s promptings will line up with those outcomes. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit asks you to be a little more loving. Or patient. Or kind. But He’ll never ask you to be the opposite. He’ll never ask you to be impatient or hateful.

And the great news is that if you aim to please God, He will honor the intent of your heart and make His voice obvious. Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice.” So don’t worry. When He speaks, you’ll recognize Him.

Tomorrow, we’ll bring this all together. Now that you know who the Holy Spirit is and how He speaks, it’s time to start a conversation with Him.