It's Already Yours
Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
— Romans 5:5
Have you ever owned something that you didn't use? Have you ever gone shopping for something, only to come home and find it in your closet already? I have done that. I get this idea that I need a blue shirt. I have in mind exactly what it should look like. Then I go shopping, come home, hang it up, and see that I already have that blue shirt. No wonder I had such a vivid idea of what it should look like.
This is how we can be as Christians. We are searching for things that are already hanging in our spiritual closet, so to speak. Many times we ask God for what He has already given us.
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For example, we pray, "God, give me peace." But the Bible says, "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). God is saying, "Enjoy it to the fullest."
We might say, "God, I need more love," when actually we need to use the love God has given us. We are praying for more of an emotional feeling of the love that God already has given us. God won't necessarily answer a prayer like that. When we love someone, when we forgive someone, it is an act of obedience, believing "the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5).
God has given us everything we need for spiritual growth. Many of us simply need to read His Word to find out the balance in our spiritual bank account. And then we need to start appropriating it.
