Real Life Q&A with Camy Tang

June 2004

Q: If the Holy Spirit is supposed to be inside me, why do I still do stupid things? Why isn't it easy to obey God?

A: The Holy Spirit is not some magic genie. God doesn't just pour love, patience, kindness and other fruits of the Spirit inside of you so you behave like a perfect Christian. YOU ultimately still make your own decisions about what you do or don't do.

Your actions—what you choose to do—aren't the starting point. The first and foremost thing you need to do is give yourself wholly to God. "Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God." Hebrews 10:9. Not my own ideas of what I should be doing, not my own desires about what I'd like to do, not my own actions to ensure the outcome I want. I have to make sure I have the right attitude--is my heart desiring God's will before my own? Is God's purpose and plan for me more important than my own self-centeredness?

Then something supernatural happens. If I am walking side-by-side with Christ, suddenly all those fruits of the Spirit come spewing out of me—love for my whining sister, kindness toward my unreasonable mom, patience with my annoying brother. You know it's GOT to be God because NO WAY were those things inside of me before.

But it doesn't stop there. As I keep walking with Christ—daily submitting my heart to Him, trusting Him to lead and guide my actions—and as I start to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit in my daily actions more, slowly that power of God inside me starts to change me. Suddenly it isn't such a struggle for me to calm down and not snap at my siblings, suddenly it isn't so hard to remember to pray before meals, suddenly I've stopped cussing so much.

If you were a tree, you'd need to dig deep your roots to find water. Then your fruit gently buds and ripens on your branches. As a child of God, dig deep your heart into the Bible, into Christ's will. Then the Holy Spirit—water—flows through you to help spiritual fruit bud and ripen, and bless the people around you.

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