Born of the Spirit

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Have you ever gotten an idea to call or text someone, not for a special occasion but just to see how he was doing? And when he answered, you discovered that he was feeling lonely or in need of some kind of help? And maybe he told you that your call was an answer to his prayers? Giving you that idea is just one way that the Holy Spirit works. 

Have you ever felt a desire to become active with a charity, or get involved in a ministry in your parish, or volunteer your time for a cause that’s meaningful to you? Have you ever felt dissatisfied with the status quo and then also felt a persistent ache to make a change? When we sense an insistent pull in our heart toward a particular action, we can trust that the Spirit is leading us. 

After Jesus’ resurrection, He sent us the Holy Spirit to be our inspiration, our guide, and our strength. When we’re ‘born from above’ – that is, when we’ve been baptized and we allow the Spirit to help us live in holiness – He’ll work in us. We can’t see the Spirit but we can see evidence of Him, just like we can’t see the wind blowing but we can see tree branches bending and waves crashing. 

When we pay attention to the promptings in our hearts, like those described above as well as others, we see evidence of the Spirit working in us. With experience, we recognize that those ideas are put there by Him. We don’t come up with them on our own, and we can’t force them. We can’t control when and how the Spirit will guide us; what we can do is open our hearts to Him. We learn that when we make ourselves available to Him, He’ll give us His gifts as we need them: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Then, when we follow His lead and take action, we find ourselves moving closer to God.

Through all of this, we discover that God is creating something new in us, maybe in little ways but something new just the same. We may look back and see that He was leading us toward someone or something that would draw us closer to Himself. Or, He was using us to draw someone else to Himself.

Let’s make ourselves available to the Spirit. Let’s pay attention to His promptings and pray for His guidance and strength. Let’s let Him lead us toward Himself.

“(Jesus said,) ‘You must be born from above. The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’” – John 3:7-8

Open my eyes, that I may see You. Open my ears, that I may hear You. Open my heart, that I may love You in the people around me.

Thank you for reading my reflection.  All thanks to God for giving me the ideas and guiding my words!    © 2025 Gina Bedell   

  

Through these reflections, I invite you, the reader, to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other qualified persons in order to grow in your faith and understanding of God’s love and will for your life. 

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P.S.

Pray for peace at home and around the world. Donate to a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the people around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.