Several years ago, I was certified as a personal trainer. As such, I was called on to provide clients with help in becoming fit by getting stronger or, perhaps, losing weight. Through exercise instruction, coaching, and encouraging, I served as each client’s advocate in reaping the benefits of physical fitness. In the person of the Holy Spirit, God has provided believers with a “personal trainer” for our spiritual fitness (John 14:26).
When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and receive the gift of salvation, we can then become filled with the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus as the Helper or Paraclete. The word Paraclete literally means “one who comes alongside to help.” Just as a personal trainer comes alongside clients to help us to initiate change in their lives to become physically fit, so the Holy Spirit comes alongside us as believers to help initiate change in our lives to become spiritually fit.
A personal trainer uses various types of exercises and equipment in order to help a client develop strong muscles. The Holy Spirit helps us to develop our spiritual “muscles” through the use of the Word and by producing in us the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). In doing so, He helps us to become more and more like Jesus. The result is that we become spiritually stronger and able to be His witnesses in all the world (Acts 1:8).
Hiring a personal trainer to help with your physical fitness can be an expensive proposition, but receiving the help of the Holy Spirit, our spiritual “personal trainer,” is free to all believers. And the best part is that, while a personal trainer is with you only for the amount of time you paid for in a training session, the Holy Spirit is always with us and will be with us forever (John 14:15).
A Worshiper's Journal 