Dear friends, do not believe every spirit. (1 John 4:1)
I am proud of my youngest son. At thirteen he decided to bulk up and put on some muscle, so he started going to the gym with me at 5:30 a.m. When most of his friends were still sleeping, he was pumping iron. Motivated to be better, he was pushing himself to extremes to the chagrin of his peers. Not even a week had passed and he came home with comments from the naysayers who remarked that he was doing this because he was trying to impress the ladies. The “spirits” around the school were telling him that he couldn’t do it.
What my son faced was a modern-day example of why John wrote to the young church. Although the spirits John mentioned are spiritual in nature, listening to the wrong ones have lasting ramifications. To believe every spirit you hear is to welcome insanity. Those spirits are very much alive and can do immeasurable damage in our lives.
How many times have you stopped yourself from doing something simply because “they said” not to do it? Have you ever stopped to ask yourself who “they” is? Countless damage has been done, opportunities lost, and healthy risks avoided simply because we have believed a loosely contrived statement from “they.” Just because someone says something, doesn’t mean that you have to believe it!
Be wary of whose influence you follow.
Devon Smith is district superintendent of the Tri-State District of The Wesleyan Church, and founder/director of the CROSS Training ordination program at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
© 2020 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
