“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” – Romans 8:16
Certain things happen the moment you put your trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You become new creation. The righteousness of Jesus is credited to you. Your sins are forgiven. You receive eternal life. You are united with Jesus Christ. You are adopted by God as His beloved child. And the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, begins to live within you, sealing you as belonging to God forever. Your body becomes God’s temple on earth. All that happens in an instant.
That begins a lifelong process of following Jesus, sacrificing and serving Him while growing and changing in the power of the Holy Spirit to become more like Jesus. Over time, the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) should begin to appear in your character, replacing your rough edges. This process will be uneven. You will have successes and you will have failures. Sometimes you will feel close to God and sometimes He will feel distant. Sometimes you will grow rapidly and sometimes you will doubt your own salvation. You may well doubt God’s presence in your life at times.
It’s for these times of doubt that Paul reminds us of the Spirit’s testimony. If you’ve seen spiritual growth in your life, then you can trust that you truly are God’s beloved son or daughter. If you aren’t the same person you were when you first believed in Jesus, you can trust God’s presence in your life. If you’re changed for the better, you can trust that God’s Spirit is working in you, even if He’s moving slower than you’d prefer. If you have more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control than you did previously, you really are sealed by the Spirit. If you have a spiritual gift that you’re using for God’s Kingdom, you can be certain of your citizenship in that Kingdom. When you doubt, review the testimony of the Spirit in your life and continue to faithfully #FollowJesus.