Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.

--Parallel verses
Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭22‬-‭26‬
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

As I have watched and coached my children in team sports, we try to train them to excel in their performance. I have run through workout drills, pitched baseballs, playing one-on-one basketball, and practiced soccer with them. One thing I find kind of funny is how their confidence can be so strong when they are young. This year, my six-year-old announced (before the coach-pitch season began), “I am probably going to be the fastest player on the team!”  When I asked him how he knew this, without meeting his other teammates and watching them run, he said, “I just know, Dad!”

Spiritually, many of us can be like young kids and have good confidence. But if that confidence is rooted in ourselves and our own abilities, it transforms quickly into conceit.  And conceit leads to provoking each other by putting each other down and comparing worldly wealth, power, position, beauty, etc. It develops into envy and jealousy.

Instead of this type of behavior, our confidence is to be in the Spirit of God dwelling in the heart of every true follower. This Holy Spirit is also shared among all believers in Jesus. We are instructed here to not quench this Spirit-filled fervor and passion.  

Churches can quench the Spirit in their congregations by reserving most of the ministry opportunities, planning, and decisions to paid staff. They then are not asking about and enabling the Holy Spirit’s promptings in the people of the church to move and serve in God’s will. People can choose this type of non-active faith too, by knowing a lot about God, but not putting themselves at risk in relationships to serve others in sacrificial love.

Prophecies are to be tested and approved by the word of God, not avoided altogether because there is a risk they are false. We must let the work of the Spirit of God flourish in our midst, then truly will his Word go out in example, by our lives lived in true loving community.

Thanks Lord, for giving us the gifts of your Spirit. Help me to draw out these gifts in those around me. May I join them in their Spirit-driven ideas to serve and love on others!