Sometimes, in our Pentecostal circles, we feel like speaking in tongues is the end goal of being filled with the Spirit.
I know as a teenager, all I wanted at summer camp was to ‘get my tongues’ … and maybe a few girl’s msn usernames. Yes, msn was a thing when I was a teen.
At the end of the day, it was too often just an experience that didn’t take root in my life.
If being filled with the Spirit is just a checkbox on a list to us, we will be utterly disappointed.
If being filled with the Spirit is just relegated to a time and place for us, we will be utterly disappointed.
We’ll never fully understand the Spirit’s power at work within us, unless we understand it changes everything.
It can’t be locked in a room with 4 walls.
It has to affect every area of our lives.
According to Acts 1:8, being filled with God’s Spirit is about so much more than an experience in a room, or a checkbox on a list. It’s about Power for Purpose. More specifically, power to accomplish God’s purpose.
And what is God’s purpose?
That none should perish.
That we would be the light of Jesus in this dark world, illuminating the shadows with his hope and grace.
And we need His power for that.
That’s not something we can conjure up on our own.
Being filled with God’s Spirit is about trusting in His power at work within us daily to accomplish His purpose, everywhere we go.
So let’s not teach our students to seek tongues as the end goal.
But let’s help them understand the purpose.
God’s purpose.
And we surely need His power to accomplish that.
Check out the interview below with Mark McMillan from Cold Lake Community Church on how they incorporate teaching and practice on living a Spirit-filled life with their teens.