Life in the Spirit

Sitting around a bonfire this weekend, we talked about how encounters with people of other faiths help us to grow in our own faith. One of the group told the story of a family member who is Evangelical asking her why her son needed to be confirmed. She replied, "So that he can receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit." When he asked her, "What are the gifts of the Spirit?", she replied, "I don't know, but I'll find out." In near shock, he replied, "You mean, you are putting him through all this, and you don't even know what you are receiving?!"

As she told the story, I had to admit that I couldn't name the gifts of the Spirit myself.

This conversation was an answer to something I had been reflecting on in prayer during the days leading up to Pentecost. "What does it mean to live in the Spirit?" The answer (for now) - living in the Spirit means receiving and using the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We first hear about these gifts through the prophet Isaiah in his description of the Messiah:

The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD. (Is. 11: 2-3A)

These gifts which we receive at Confirmation and which the Spirit is happy to renew in us daily enlighten our minds so that we can see God's will clearly, strengthen us to do his will and console us through the difficulties we will inevitably face. They are ours for the asking. In fact, they are our birthright as adopted daughters and sons of God. We should reflect on them during our prayer and make use of them throughout the day.

But, God has even more for us.

If we live by the Spirit putting to use these seven gifts, then our souls will bear the fruits of the Spirit. These fruits are the effects of the Spirit's presence and action in our lives. Saint Paul lists them for us in his letter to the Galatians: "[T]he fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Gal. 5: 22-23). Which of us would not want all of these fruits of the Spirit to mark our lives?

Let's make it a point of learning what these gifts and fruits of the Spirit are so that we won't be caught off guard when someone asks us what it means to be confirmed or to live in the Spirit. These days following Pentecost are a good time for us to reflect on the gifts we have received, and most importantly, to put them into practice so that we can bear abundant fruit to the glory of God!