2. Be Worthy of the Spirit

In my view, there are only two types of actions available to you at any given moment: those that invite the spirit and those that drive the spirit away.  We like to believe, try to convince ourselves that there are lots of neutral activities. In fact, we have a tendency to view the majority of our actions as belonging to this fictional third category.  But this is false.  Moment by moment, choice by choice, I either develop my spirituality or allow it to dwindle.

Now, I'm not certain if the doctrine backs this up, but I have always viewed the spirit in terms of degrees.  I have had spiritual experiences that have practically floored me with their power and clarity, but I often have quiet moments of gentle peace and an overall feeling of well-being that I attribute to the spirit as well.  I know that there are certain acts that would immediately drive the spirit away almost entirely, but I believe that some of my choices have the ability to slowly eat away at the spirit in my life.  I know this because I can still feel the promptings to stop, to choose better, to set my sights higher.

Being worthy of the spirit is all about the choices we make on a daily basis.  It's all about the little things.  It's just as much about the things we do as the things we don't do.  We need to learn to be more aware of the affect our choices have on the spirit.  How do you feel after you talk that way to your kids?  Can you feel the spirit while listening to that song?  What about the feeling that's left in the home after watching that TV show or movie?  We want to believe that it doesn't make a difference, because it's easier that way.  But it does.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."  Galations 5:22-23

I feel a lack of the spirit in my life as a type of fog that settles in.  When I adjust my choices to those that I know that Heavenly Father approves of, it feels like a breath of fresh air, a wind that comes in and disperses the fog, leaving a delicious clarity of mind and focus.  This, to me, is what it means to be worthy of the spirit.