The Holy Spirit makes us new. The Spirit is a Reviver, moving us from despair to hope, and from death to life. The Spirit is the Reformer, bringing us from oppression to justice, and from exclusion to hospitality. The Spirit is the Refiner, bringing us out of falsehood into authentic selves, and from evil into goodness. And the Spirit is the Re-router, moving us from paths of hate to acts of love, from prejudice to affirmation.
But these movements are not always easy. They are like new births that might come with labor pains. But the Spirit is with us through these new births, like a midwife. The Spirit stays with us through every moment of the struggle and the joy, never leaving us to bear it alone. The Spirit hears our groans and intercedes with sighs too deep for words. The Spirit gives us hope and courage.
This message is excerpted from the Bible study “The gift of the Spirit: A divine wild goose chase” by Sara Olson-Smith in the November/December 2021 Gather magazine.
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