Cooperating with the Holy Spirit

Did you know that you have a part to play in your transformation process?

God doesn’t just force change on you. He is powerful enough to force

change on you, but he doesn’t work that way. He is not controlling.

Instead, He waits for us to cooperate with him. So, we actually have a

role to play when it comes to spiritual growth.

Let’s be clear: effort has nothing to do with your salvation, but it has much to do with your spiritual growth

At least seven times in the New Testament we are told to “make every effort” in our growth toward becoming like Jesus (Luke 13:24; Romans 14:19; Ephesians 4:3; 2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 4:11; Hebrews 12:14; 2 Peter 3:14).

You don’t just sit around and wait for it to happen.

Eph. 4:23 “Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.”

“Let” the Spirit. It takes cooperating with the Holy Spirit. You have

a part to play in your transformation process. Again, God is not

controlling. I think some of us grew up thinking of God as controlling.

The truth is, God won’t MAKE you do anything… even though he has the

power to. He wants us to allow him access so that he can change us.

Here are three ways to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in order to grow spiritually.

First, we must choose to let go of old ways of acting.

“Everything — and I do mean everything — connected with that old way of

life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it!” (Ephesians 4:22 MSG)

Second, we must change the way we think. “Let the Spirit change your way of thinking” (Ephesians 4:23 CEV). The Bible says we are “transformed” by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2 NIV).

The Greek word for “transformed” is metamorphosis (used in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18),

and it’s used today to describe the amazing change a caterpillar goes

through in becoming a butterfly. It is a beautiful picture of what

happens to us spiritually when we allow God to direct our thoughts: We

are changed from the inside out, we become more beautiful, and we are

set free to soar to new heights.

Third, we must put on the character of Christ by developing new, godly habits.

Your character is essentially the sum of your habits; it is how you

habitually act. The Bible says, “Put on the new self, created to be like

God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24 NIV).

When you partner though life with the Holy Spirit and listen to him

and allow him to transform your thoughts and heart, you will experience

real, lasting change. You don't have to "try harder," to change. Just

listen for his voice (and you learn to hear his voice by spending time

with him in his Word and through prayer), allow him access to work in

your life and then obey what he asks you to do. 

He will guide you and transform you... if you let him.