Home >> How To Know If A Spiritual Activity Is From God or Not?
Have you ever seen people engaging in some spiritual activity and wonder if that activity is really from God or not? In 1 Corinthians 12:1-3, Paul gives a good guideline in helping you discern whether a spiritual activity is from God or is demonic. The question to ask is: as the people are engaging in this activity, what are they saying about Jesus Christ? Are they exalting Him as Lord? Or, are they cursing Jesus and/or outright dishonouring Him? If they are exalting Jesus as Lord as they do this activity, this should suggest to you that God's Spirit is involved in some way. But if they are cursing Jesus as they do this activity, it's a good sign that this activity is not from the Holy Spirit.
As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:3: "Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit."
In deciding what to think of any controversial matter, always bring it back to Jesus. It's all about Him in the end.
Finally, praise God that He didn't give us all the same spiritual gifts. Instead, the Holy Spirit gave us all different gifts so that we could work together, rely on one another, play off each other's strengths, cover each other's weaknesses, and be part of building God's church together. As verse 7 says, "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."
God has given every Christian a spiritual gift. What spiritual gifts has God given you?
Remember that whenever God gives you any spiritual gift, it's because He has your good and the good of others in mind. Just as God generously gave you spiritual gifts, may you generally use your spiritual gifts to build others up. May you use your spiritual gifts to exalt the name of Jesus together with your other brothers and sisters in Christ.