Four weeks ago we began a study of the valuable contribution that young people can and are making to the cause of New Testament Christianity and how we as adults should respond to their efforts. Today is post number five.
“For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?” (1 Corinthians 2:11).
What is it within man that controls our actions, our decisions, and the manner by which we approach life? You see, man functions on more than raw appetite or sheer emotion. When God made man as His crowning creation after forming the animal kingdom He distinguished man by forming us after His own image and in His own likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). That thought is admittedly multi-faceted, but part of that distinction must be the ability of man to have rational thought in the decision making process, contrasted with the animal kingdom.
It is that inner part of man that is sometimes called the conscience, but can also be correctly labeled the spirit of man. That inner spirit that guides our actions can be good or it can be evil. It all depends on what we do with it.
Some neglect the development of their inner spirit and it serves them no righteous purpose throughout life. Others train their inner spirit in righteousness and it serves them well, both inwardly and outwardly as examples to those around them.
This, in part, would be why when Paul was encouraging Timothy to be an example of Christianity to those around him, even in his youth, told him that part of it was being an example in spirit. However, for him to be an example in spirit it was going to require the development of that inner spirit. How could Timothy, and we, develop that spirit in such a way as to be pleasing to God?
- Educate it. In the very next verse Paul went on to tell Timothy of the need to give attendance to reading, that would be study of the scriptures. In his next letter Paul expressed this thought further by telling Timothy to “study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Education requires instruction and what better material could we educate our spirits with than the perfectly sufficient word of God (2 Peter 1:3)?
- Encourage it. To develop a behavior you have to encourage that behavior. One thing I’ve learned as a parent is that if we want our daughter to develop certain manners or mannerisms then we have to encourage them. Anything less establishes a digressive pattern that will result with her regressing into her former ways. Developing our inner spirit properly will take an immense amount of encouragement and discouragement. We must encourage our own righteous behavior and discourage our own improper behavior. Constant examination must be our companion (2 Corinthians 13:5).
- Expect it. We are naturally our own best and worst critics. We see our faults more intimately than anybody and we know our potential better than anybody. Thus our honest and frank expectations will serve us well in our attempts to develop our spirits properly. We must expect our own personal success as much as we expect success in the lives of others.
Paul’s question mentioned above (1 Corinthians 2:11) is an honest assessment of the manner by which God expects us to govern our lives. The spirit within man knows what is within man. But what it finds and accepts ultimately are dependent on what we do to develop it. If we truly want to be dependable, trustworthy, and exemplary Christians in a world that exists in stark rejection of New Testament Christianity, we must be an example of the believers in spirit.
-Andy Brewer