Like A Dove

I love doves. I decorate my Christmas tree every year with fake renditions of these lovely sweet birds. A dove always reminds me of the Holy Spirit, God's dearest gift to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ.

A dove is a beautiful, graceful, pure white, and gentle-natured bird. Because of its appearance and character, a dove is used to represent peace, love, grace, purity, loveliness, and gentleness.

The Bible uses a dove to represent the Spirit of God at the baptism of Jesus. When Jesus came up out of the water after John baptized Him, the Bible says that the heavens opened up and the Spirit of God in the likeness of a dove came to rest upon Him.

"After His baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water,

 the heavens were opened

and He saw the Spirit of God

descending like a dove and settling on Him."

Psalm 3:16

Through the representation of a dove, God was revealing to us the characteristics of His Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is kind, gracious, loving, and peaceful. God's spirit is gentle and without fault.

The presence of God through His Spirit is a lovely gift from God to all believers. The moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, the Holy Spirit comes to reside in us. In other words, God's presence is in all believers.

"Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,

who lives in you and was given to you by God?

You do not belong to yourself."

1 Corinthians 6:19

I think many times Christians don't really comprehend the meaning of this verse because, if they did, they would stop and think twice before doing some of the things they do:

• Listening to people who use God's name in vain, whether it be in movies, in TV shows, or at school or work.  If we knew how much the Holy Spirit grieves every time someone misuses God's name, we would leave the movie theatre, throw away the TV, or just walk quietly away. Why offend God in this way?
• Having sex outside of marriage, which defiles the body, the home of the Holy Spirit. When we sin against God and His Word, we quench the Holy Spirit.
• Watching pornography, sexually explicit images, or moves and TV shows with sex and seductively dressed actors and actresses. The Holy Spirit is forced to close His eyes in deep sorrow at this desecration of the sacredness and sanctity of the marriage bed.
• Speaking ill of a person behind their back, or spreading gossip and rumours. Doing such things hurts the Spirit of God, who is the Father of all.
• Speaking cruel and demeaning words to a person, spewing out venom that inflicts pain and wounds deeply. Doing so grieves the Holy Spirit because, when someone hurts, He feels their pain.

As Christians, our bodies do not belong to us. They belong to God because our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Let us not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by our actions or by the words we say. Let us treasure what we have inside us and respect the Holy Spirit and all that He represents.