Qoheleth Christian Living, Gleanings

Steering Our Spirits

In his book I Declare War: 4 Keys of Winning the Battle Within Yourself, author Levi Lusko gives a survey of our spirit in the Scriptures.

What the Bible says about our Spirit

  1. When you are saved, your spirit is the part of you that is most affected: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
  2. When you sin, your spirit gets off-kilter and needs recalibration, like a compass near a magnetic field: “Create in me a clean heart, 0 God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10 ESV).
  3. You must learn how to control your spirit, and then practice doing so, especially in times of anger: “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (Proverbs 16:32).
  4. Your spirit can have good intentions, but it can be overcome by sinful desires and needs to be fortified by prayer: “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38).
  5. A calm spirit causes you to have a quiet confidence: “He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit” (Proverbs 17:27).
  6. We can ask God for a spirit marked by generosity just like his: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit” (Psalm 51:12).
  7. An extraordinary spirit leads to open doors and promotion: “Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom” (Daniel 6:3 ESV).
  8. God is drawn to those who have a spirit marked by humility and those who lift their eyes to him when in pain: “The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

Learning how to steer your spirit by managing your thoughts is incredibly important. If your spirit is out of control, it’s dif­ficult to put your life under God’s control.

Levi Lusko, I Declare War