Patanjali, the ancient yoga sage, described Inspiration like this, “Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” I feel that this is a great way to describe our relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.
God created each of us with great possibilities. He wants us to be the best we can be. He wants us to expand and flourish, so that we can serve each other, preserve our world and experience joy and contentment. But we can't fully do that by ourselves, with just our own ideas, grit and determination. We need to be inspired, or in-spirit. The good news is, by allowing the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts, we can unleash those dormant forces, faculties and talents that God created within us. And, in turn, discover our true selves.
Unfortunately, modern society hinders our ability to experience inspired lives. Instead of being filled with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we see what society considers success and status and become filled with desires. And we imitate those who have achieved what we desire. We follow their paths, not our own. I have met far too many people who have fulfilled many desires, yet are still unfulfilled. They yearn to be inspired.
To live inspired lives, we must 'throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” (see Hebrews 12:1) Instead of being conformed to this world, we must be transformed by renewing our minds. (see Romans 12:2) This means that in order for our dormant forces, faculties and talents to become alive, we must let go of our world-influenced parameters and perspectives. Because they cloud, distract and distort.
I'm not talking about detaching from the world. Christians are called to engage the world. I'm talking about not living according to the material expectations of the world, detaching from the social construct so that we are not hindered or entangled.
To live inspired lives, we must first empty ourselves, not in order to be empty, but in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to be inspired. Only then will we discover and release the greater person within, God's true creation.
