Many driver’s education instructors prefer that their students attend classes before they spend any time being taught by their parents. The reasoning is that these qualified teachers would rather teach about driving properly without the influence of the bad habits an older driver might impart.
In many ways our faith can become distorted and flawed if we follow too closely what we are accustomed to practicing in our religion. Sometimes our practice of faith is influenced too heavily by human tradition. Sometimes our faith can be guided more by human thinking than by the leading of God.
In his first letter to the believers in Corinth Paul talks about what has guided him in his teachings. What has NOT influenced him? What guides his messages? What is the result?
It can be challenging to practice discernment, that ability to determine what is correct and what is flawed. It is easy to have our faith and our beliefs influenced heavily by the traditions our churches practice and by the traditions we have honored over the years. It is easy to be influenced by popular beliefs in our society.
But like Paul we must be certain that we are being guided by the Spirit of God and not the spirit of the world. Our faith choices must be led by the Lord and not by the thoughts and desires of ourselves or other people.
As we work through our faith journey, as we make decisions about what we believe and how we will love out the love of God, we must seek direction from God. We must open ourselves up through prayer and meditation, through Biblical study, through holy examples to receive the guidance that the Holy Spirit can provide. We must open our hearts, souls and minds to the leading of the Spirit to gain a new way of looking at our faith.
With this new perspective on our relationship with God we can approach how we live out our faith in a new way. We can become people who are able to truly love others. We can be the people who share the good news of Christ with those who need to hear it.
DAILY CHALLENGE: How do you know you are being led by the Holy Spirit in your faith?
