Living filled with the spirit of...

What to do when...You know you messed up

Romans 8:14-15 (NIV)
¹⁴  because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵  For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.  

I just read an article that said the word 'spirit' is used nearly 700 times in the Bible, and usually is followed by the word, of.  Spirit of...fear, spirit of the Lord, spirit of power, spirit of truth, and so on. I have written before about the spirit of fear I once lived in. When my business was failing (before I knew Jesus personally), I was afraid of many things. I was afraid to check my mailbox, I jumped when the phone would ring, I was even afraid that someone would discover the fear I lived with.

I know now that my life of fear was consequences of my actions, or sometimes, my lack of action. Had I faced my fears head-on, (the spirit of courage), I could have saved myself so much pain and anguish. When I hit the bottom, or found myself in the pit, (as Beth Moore puts it) I decided there had to be more to life than the way I was doing it. I cried out to God for help and He responded in ways that eventually changed my entire life and grew my faith.

To get to this point, I had to recognized that I messed up, I had to admit that hiding my head in the sand only added to my fear. My first 'mess up' was thinking I could handle it all by myself. I had to learn to humble myself and ask God for help - even though I didn't really know Him. But this act of reaching out changed that too.

Now, life it good, not perfect, but good. God has used His Word to minister to my fearful heart and freed me from bondage. I have a new spirit of hope and a spirit of joy.

Romans 8:14-17