Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

by Francis Chan

The truth is that the Spirit of the living God is guaranteed to ask you to go somewhere or do something you wouldn’t normally want or choose to do. The Spirit will lead you to the way of the cross, as He led Jesus to the cross, and that is definitely not a safe or pretty or comfortable place to be. The Holy Spirit of God will mold you into the person you were made to be. This often incredibly painful process strips you of selfishness, pride, and fear.

A sure sign of the Holy Spirit’s working is that Christ is magnified, not people.

Let’s pray that God would empower us so radically that we would get no glory. That people would see our works and glorify God.

My purpose in these questions is to get you to take 1 Corinthians 12 seriously, to believe that you have been given a manifestation of the Spirit and that your church, the worldwide body of Christ, and the world are crippled without your involvement. I write this because I love the church and want you to trust that you are more than just a helpful addition. You need to believe you are a vital member. As real estate brokers, salesclerks, restaurant servers, baristas, teachers, dietitians, therapists, students, parents, farmers, school board members, and city council officials, you are vital members of the body of Christ. Ask yourself, Do I believe the church needs me like a body needs a mouth?

It is true that God may have called you to be exactly where you are. But it’s absolutely vital to grasp that He didn’t call you there so you could settle in and live out your life in comfort and superficial peace.

Unconditional love may have existed, but I never saw it.

“Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on”

Jesus praises her for her revolutionary faith, for holding nothing back. She literally gave everything she had, even though she was a “poor widow” with no other means of income or support. And Jesus holds her up as an example.

What if He asked you to sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor? Could you do it?