How do I know whether I am being led by the Holy Spirit? That may be a question we don’t ask ourselves often enough. There are many voices competing for our attention today. We hear them on television, on social media, from the people around us, and sometimes from within ourselves. With so many voices telling us what to believe and how to live, how do we know which one to follow?
Look with me at 1 Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.”
Paul warned Timothy that there would be those who would depart from the faith because they listened to deceitful spirits and false teaching. The danger is that deception doesn’t always look like deception. Something can sound reasonable, and it can even sound spiritual, and still not be from God. Deception can draw us away from the truth of God and His direction for our lives.
That is why we need to know God’s Word.
The Holy Spirit will never lead us contrary to what God has already revealed in His Word. Jesus said that the Spirit would guide us into truth. When we spend time reading and studying the Bible, the Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to teach us, correct us, and help us recognize what is true and what is false. It is important to be able to discern the lies of deception from the truth.
Being led by the Spirit involves more than simply knowing what the Bible says. We are also called to choose to follow His leading. Paul reminds us of this in Galatians 5:16 when he writes, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Paul told the Galatians, “walk by the Spirit.” Walking by the Spirit or keeping in step with the Spirit is a conscious choice. Paul describes the struggle that takes place within us. The flesh pulls us toward one direction while the Spirit leads us in another.
I don’t think any of us have to look very far to recognize that struggle. There are times when we know what God wants us to do, but something within us wants to go the other way. There are times when anger, jealousy, selfishness, or some other desire of the flesh begins to take control. The question becomes: Which one am I going to follow?
Fortunately, Paul doesn’t leave us wondering what a life led by the Spirit should look like. In Galatians 5:22–23 he tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
That gives us a pretty good way to examine ourselves.
When I believe the Holy Spirit is leading me, I can ask: Does this agree with God’s Word? Is my life drawing me closer to Christ? Is the fruit of the Spirit being evidenced in my life, or am I feeding the desires of my flesh?
We are not going to get it right every time. The very fact that Paul describes a struggle between the flesh and the Spirit tells us that the struggle is real. But every day we have a choice about which direction we are going to walk.
With all the voices speaking around us, we need to make sure we are listening to the right one.
Know His Word. Listen to His Spirit. Follow His leading.
In Christ,
David “PK” VanderKlay
