Worship In Spirit And Truth
od desires his worshipers to worship Him in spirit and truth.
Worship in spirit and truth
Did you know Jesus did not command worship to be carried out in a specific place? Jesus did not tell the woman at the well where people should worship. Jesus told the woman and us today that we are to worship God in spirit and truth wherever we are.
The word truth means the principles or commandments that Jesus taught. It is true that we can worship God, so we worship Him. An idol would be against what Jesus and the apostles taught. We cannot worship idols wherever they might be. Other idols we might choose to worship would be money, fame, movie stars, etc. These would be wrong to worship.
Now, let us examine the word spirit. This word refers to the emotions or attitudes of those desiring to worship. We have heard of men having a mean spirit. God would not accept worship from a mean-spirited person. His attitude or spirit is not acceptable to God. A person who is filled with anger about something could not worship God. God would not accept worship from an angry person. A hateful person's worship would not be acceptable in God's eyes. All we choose to give to God is to be given willingly, whether money or our time. God would not accept any amount of money given to him as worship if it was given grudgingly.
Another example: This person is a very loving and caring person. This spirit would be acceptable, but this person has set up money or the love of money as an idol. This person's worship would not be acceptable to God.
The hardest part of Jesus' teaching to accept and understand is where we can worship "in spirit and truth."
WHENEVER A PERSON IS IN THE RIGHT SPIRIT AND IS DOING SOMETHING JESUS HAS COMMANDED, WE WORSHIP GOD.
The following is just one example to consider.
A Father and his child are kneeling at their bed for bedtime prayers. The child gladly anticipates this time and welcomes the time with his father. The child's prayer may be faltering, but he is doing his best.
The father is upset because the child takes too long.
They are both doing THE TRUTH. Which one has an acceptable attitude before God?
Whose worship is accepted by God?
We worship God whenever and wherever we are doing something that Jesus taught us to do (the truth), and we do it with the right spirit.
WHENEVER WE ARE DOING SOMETHING Jesus has taught, we can worship God in some way. It may just be a praise to God and giving thinks to God. It might even be asking for help from God.
Larry E. Whittington