Your Spirit Prov. 18:14 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Many things in your life are affected by your spirit. Therefore, it is important for you to maintain your spirit. Notice these things about your spirit that can go wrong. You can have:
A wounded spirit – Prov 18:14 – The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear? When your spirit is strong and healthy, you have a good defense against infirmity. When your spirit is wounded, it affects your health and your relationship to others; it’s unbearable. If your health is getting you down, be sure to check your spirit. Fast, pray and read your Bible to be sure that your spirit isn’t contributing to your infirmity and difficulties in your relationships with people who are close to you [because of bitterness and the like]. Strengthen your spirit with more Bible, more prayer, less stress related to weariness, contention worry and frustration.
A broken spirit – Prov 15:13 – a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart, the spirit is broken. There are times when we need a broken spirit, as David did after the affair with Bathsheba. It is part of true repentance [2 Cor 7:10, godly sorrow]. But sometimes, our hearts are sorrowful over something that shouldn’t break our spirit. Sadness is around us but the Lord ministers to us in our sadness and the fruit of the Spirit abounds in us so that we still have a merry heart and therefore a cheerful countenance. In other words, you must be careful to not let sorrowful things break you spirit. In death we sorrow not, even as others which have no hope [1 Thes 4:13]. Be very careful when you are going through relocation, marital difficulties, job related stress, and financial stress to strengthen your spirit.
A defiled spirit – 2 Cor 7:1 – let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. When your spirit is defiled, it affects your holiness and the cleanness of your flesh. Much sin is the result of a defiled spirit. That’s the danger with music, movies, internet, social media, and so forth. These have a defiling affect on your spirit. And if you don’t cleanse yourself, sin is going to dominate your imaginations, thoughts, dreams and actions. Talk radio, news, and internet searches can be very distressing. Check to see how these things are affecting your fellowship with the Lord. They may be dominating your thoughts.
A wrong spirit – 1 Cor 2:11 – you can often have some practical insight into the lives of others because of the spirit of man that’s in you. The spirit of man knows the things of man. You can see what’s going on and what’s wrong. But you must be careful, if you are going to minister to a person, to rely upon the Spirit of God for the things of God that must be ministered to them. If you rely upon the discernment of the spirit of man rather than the Spirit of God to provide godly wisdom, you’ll make a mess. The spirit of man doesn’t know the things of God.
An evil spirit – 1 Jn 4:4-6; Jas 3:13-18 – much of what passes for the spirit of truth today is really the spirit of error. The devil is very subtle when he leavens truth with his errors. A very good example is what has happened in Christianity through the mega-church movement. When Rick Warren wrote about the purpose-driven life, he introduced a group accountability method of dealing with sin. This comes from psychology and not from the Bible. It has borne bad fruit in the lives of Christians and in churches. The sensual release that comes from telling others your sins is devilish. This is not at the cleansing promised by the Lord [1 Jn 1:7-9] through the blood of Christ.
Conclusion: be very diligent to maintain your spirit and to check your spirit when things are awry. You may find that a wounded spirit is at the root of some of your health problems, a broken spirit is at the root of your sadness, a defiled spirit is at the root of your sin, a wrong spirit is at the root of your discord and an evil spirit is at the root of your confusion and evil work. Be sure to constantly maintain your spirit through ample Bible reading, prayer and fellowship with the Lord.