Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 1 John 3:18
Since you have purified your souls in obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brothers and sisters, fervently love one another from the heart, 1 Peter 1:22
As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. Ephesians 4:14-16
John, Peter, and Paul moved and inspired by the Holy Spirit knew the importance of truth and love. Do you love the truth? Even when it points out your prideful arrogant ways? What is the truth? In this time and culture truth has become personal belief, which is probably the furthest thing from the actual truth. Truth is ONLY found in Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6
Our understanding is VERY limited. The older I get… the more I know … I don’t know. In pure science this paradox is being encountered more and more as we dive deeper into the quantum state of things. When ‘think’ we know … but in discovery we find there was SO much we were missing or just plainly got wrong. So many scientific theories lay on the trash heap of knowledge being disproven and totally wrong. I believe the same thing happens in most human endeavors of discovery and theory. We get SOME things correct, but we actually miss more than we get right.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12
This ‘revelation’ of understanding ‘in part’ also can relate to spiritual understanding. Theologians often disagree with the interpretation of certain passages in scripture. Our intellect will only take us so far. How then can we know? This is the mystery the academics can’t explain …and that is the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit within an individual who has given their complete and utter life to Jesus Christ and invited the Holy Spirit into their body, soul, and mind.
This is where the old-testament prophets walked and lived … in the life the of the Spirit. After Pentecost (Acts 2) the entire ekklesia (called out assembly of believers) had the same access to the Holy Spirit just as the old-testament prophets did. Paul even explains this phenomenon of the Holy Spirit’s gifts and power moving through believers in 1 Corinthians chapters 12 and 14. Has the Holy Spirit changed since those days? Does God change?
We get so many things wrong because we are like little children in our understanding. Our current ‘religious system’ rarely teaches people to move beyond 3rd grade in spiritual understanding. Most sermons are preached at a 3rd grade level of understanding, yet we ALL have the internet and a ‘seminary’ of information at our finger tips if we want academic understanding of ANY kind. What’s missing? Deep relationship with the Spirit of God. Because it can’t be achieved through academic study and ‘mind’ work it is often belittled and dismissed by most current American “spiritual leadership”.
But is the spiritual realm void of truth? IS the relationship with the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit something to be put on the back burner of your life? How does one learn to listen to Him in their inner most being / heart and mind?
What truth is the Holy Spirit leading you to? What truth is He revealing to you? Are you seeking Him? Are you diligently asking Him questions? Do you really want the Holy Spirit to begin to teach you? Or are you still looking to human teachers for your ‘truth’?