THE ART OF LIVNG FROM GOD’S SPIRIT
Christians have never felt themselves to be orphans. The vacuum left behind by Jesus’ death has been filled by the living presence of the Spirit of the Risen One. This Spirit of the Lord fills the life of the believer. The Spirit of truth that lives with us is in us and teaches us the art of living in the truth.
What configures the life of a true believer isn’t the anxiousness of wellbeing or the struggle for success, or even the obedience to an ideal, but the joyful seeking of God’s truth under the impulse of the Spirit.
The true believer doesn’t fall into either legalism or anarchy, but seeks the truth with a sincere heart. Their life isn’t programmed by prohibitions, but is encouraged and moved positively by the Spirit.
When this experience of the Spirit is lived out, the believer discovers that to be Christian isn’t a burden that oppresses and tortures our conscience, but allows us to be guided by the creative love of the Spirit that lives in us and makes us live with a spontaneity that is born, not of our selfishness, but of love. A spontaneity in which one renounces her own selfish interests and entrusts herself to the joy of the Spirit. A spontaneity that is regeneration, rebirth, and continual reorientation toward God’s truth.
This new life in the Spirit doesn’t only signify an interior life of piety and prayer. God’s truth generates in us a new way of living, confronting the way of living that arises out of lies and selfishness. We live in a society where lying is called diplomacy; exploitation is called business; irresponsibility is called tolerance; injustice is called status quo; sex is called love; license is called freedom; lack of respect is called sincerity.
With difficulty can this society understand or accept a life bolstered by the Spirit. But it is this Spirit that defends the believer and makes him walk toward the truth, freeing him from social lies, the farse and intolerance of our selfishness.
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
