Under or Over...(Now What? Series Part V)

October 4, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.

When we are given a gift, the person who gave it to us usually expects one thing and that is use. In using that gift, we have to use it for the purpose in which it was made. Realizing the gift of our salvation from God, and the promise that the Holy Spirit will live within us and guide us can be hard for many to understand. In trying to gain understanding there are trip falls that must be avoided because they cause us to put the focus back on us and off of Him, and when we do we are starting to walk out on our own instead of following God.

Chances are that when some of us were told the Holy Spirit lives within us, we were also told that we better not do anything wrong because now our “body is the temple”. While that is absolutely true, the message affects people differently, and there are two different reactions that can surface and cause people to fall off of their path with God. The two reactions are best described as “underdo” and “overdo”, and both are problematic for many reasons, and are often due to a lack of knowledge about the role the Holy Spirit has in our walk with God.

Before considering either reaction, it is important to know that the word “sin” is what causes a believer to fall off of God’s path and start walking on their own. Both “underdoers” and “overdoers” try to attack the concept of sin in their lives on their own. When this happens, they have dropped their guard on the fact that they were supposed to ask their guide for help.

Understanding the true definition of sin should have an effect on both the “underdoer” and the “overdoer” and bring them back to their path with God. On Earth, we usually define wrongs as intentional conduct, but the word “sin” in the Bible is from the Greek word hamartia, which means to “miss the mark”. If we miss that mark, it is a sin, whether we intended to miss it or not. And it is not only our own sin that causes us to fall off of God’s path, but the sins of others can cause us to do so as well. Armed with all of that knowledge, the two reactions take shape, and both cause God a lot of bad press, so to speak.

To avoid falling victim and aligning with one of the two sides, the best advice is to make sure that you do not apply any definitions or rules to your life by yourself based on your own meaning, but instead you use your gift properly, and

Ask your guide for help.

**Part VI of the “Now What? Series” will discuss in detail the “underdo” reaction, and the truth and mistruths that are those people follow.