When we are willing, God is willing and able to teach us many things. I have learned, sometimes through hard experience, to listen to what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell me. Recently He impressed on me a mistake I have been making most of my life. So often I have made statements like, “Something told me to do such and such,” or “Something told me I should not do so and so.” What God has taught me recently is that it is never “something,” but Someone.

And that Someone is the Holy Spirit. He is, when we listen to Him, our guide, our counselor, our helper, our comforter, and certainly our friend. He lives inside every believer, and He is our greatest source of strength and wisdom.

Charles Stanley (The Wonderful Spirit Filled Life) said that the Holy Spirit speaks to neutral hearts. He declared, “By neutral, I mean being consumed with discovering what pleases the Holy Spirit rather than working to convince Him of the wisdom and brilliance of our plans.”

We, by nature, tend to do things according to our own thinking and will. Instead of being obedient, too often we willfully do what we want, even if it is wrong. This willfulness, sinful as it is, certainly applies to all Christians as well as to unbelievers. As Christians, we want to be good children of God, but we have to contend with the flesh and our “Old man” as Paul put it.

However, it is so much wiser to seek the Lord’s will in all matters. God knows everything, even the future. He is all-wise and quite wonderful. He loves us in spite of us. And God alone deserves glory—all of it. The problem with so many people is that they want glory for themselves. This is due to their pride and vanity.

I preach that humility is probably the very best quality one can cultivate in this life. People who are humble are always loved by others. That is partly because they never feel threatened by humble people. Humble people are happy. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Blessed means happy, and meek means humble.

The book of Proverbs talks a lot about humility. For example, “When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2). Another great one is, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

Humble Christians are wise in that they recognize and acknowledge God as the only One who deserves glory. They never try to steal His glory, as proud people do. Someone has wisely said, “Men who deserve monuments don’t need them.” This is very true. Humility brings a Christian closer to God, and that always increases his joy in life. Scripture refers to this as the “Joy of salvation.”

I agree with Dr. Stanley that discerning God’s will is second in importance only to salvation. So, I will never again say that “Something told me to do it or not to do it.” I now know for sure that the “something” is really the Holy Spirit trying to guide me. Praise God for His love and care.