The Characteristics of the Holy Spirit

Luke 3:22

And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

One of the critical needs of the believer is to be led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the part of the Godhead that moves inside of the believer at the moment of salvation. Think about this; you have part of God living inside you if you are saved. Oh, if only we would truly understand this truth, we would all live our lives so differently. However, the characteristics of the Holy Spirit show what He wants to do for you. Let me share several characteristics of the Holy Spirit.

First, the Holy Spirit is like a dove. We have all seen the dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, but what does that mean? The dove is everywhere, which shows that the Holy Spirit is everywhere. No matter where you go, you have the Holy Spirit living within you as a believer. His presence in your life is guaranteed the moment you got saved. However, the influence of His presence is determined by how much you yield to Him. Whether you live a life of sin or of serving God, you will always have all of the presence of the Holy Spirit living within you if you are a believer. Sadly, many take for granted His presence in their lives and grieve Him because of where they go or what they do. This is why we are cautioned in Ephesians 4:30, And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. The dove is a very tender bird, and the Holy Spirit is tender and can be grieved by the actions of the believer. This does not mean the Holy Spirit is weak; it simply means you can grieve the Holy Spirit, which is never good for the believer.

Second, the Holy Spirit is our Comforter. John 14:26 teaches, But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost…. In our time of grief, the Holy Spirit brings comfort to our lives. However, if we have grieved Him through our actions, we limit His ability to comfort us. You should live your life pleasing God so the Holy Spirit is able to fully perform His comfort in your life. If you have quenched the Holy Spirit, you have quenched His power to comfort you.

Third, the Holy Spirit is like a fire. Luke 3:16 says about the Holy Spirit, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Fire has a two-fold meaning. First, it means the Holy Spirit is there to empower you to do His work. Acts 2:3 describes this well, And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. What did the Holy Spirit do in the lives of these believers on the Day of Pentecost? He empowered them to do God’s work, and three thousand souls were saved. The same Holy Spirit who seals you, leads you, and comforts you, also wants to empower you to do God’s work.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit being like a fire means He will also chasten us. When you grieve the Holy Spirit, the same power He wants to use to empower you is used to chasten you. I would hate to think the Holy Spirit would use His power to chasten me. Why would He chasten us? He chastens us so that we will use His power to do God’s work. He chastens us to bring us back to God.

Are you using the power of the Holy Spirit properly? Are you living in such a manner that does not grieve Him? Be sure to live your life in a way that allows the Holy Spirit to do His fullest work in your life, for His work will always lead you to do the work God made you to do for Him.