When you repent and believe in Jesus, you receive the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14).

But that doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit automatically has maximum influence in your life.

He wants to shape us and work with us to become holy as he is holy, and as this process goes on, his effect on us, and influence on us (as well as through us) will increase.

But do you need more of his influence? Or are you already at a level of his influence on your life that you should be happy with?

Here are 3 signs that the Holy Spirit wants to gain greater influence in your life. If any one of these is true for you, then there is more of the Holy Spirit that you can see in your life.

#1 If you sometimes do things you know you shouldn’t do.

The Bible says in 1 John 2:3 that “we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.” In other words, you fully know Jesus if you keep all his commands. Therefore, if you don’t keep all his commands, you still need to know Jesus deeper. We know Jesus deeper by the testimony of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26). Therefore when we are more influenced by the Holy Spirit, we will know Jesus deeper, and we will keep his commands more.

As long as we still break Jesus’ commands, there is more influence of the Holy Spirit that we need.

#2 If you sometimes don’t do things you know you should do.

Again in 1 John 2, verse 4 the Bible says “whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar…’ When Jesus says to do something, do you do it? Do you sometimes neglect to do something even though you know it would be the right thing to do? The Holy Spirit reminds us of Jesus’ teaching and applies to us his instructions (John 14:26). On top of that, as we see throughout the Bible, especially in Acts, the Holy Spirit gives specific words and instructions to believers that are more practical, prophetic, or personal. However, we are not forced to obey the commands, but can choose to ignore them. When we don’t do what the Spirit is instructing, we prove that we don’t know Jesus as deeply as we would have to know him in order to actually hear, agree with, and also do what he is suggesting.

As long as we still ignore the instructions of Jesus and his Holy Spirit, there is more influence of the Holy Spirit that we need.

#3 If you think you don’t have any issues.

In the same letter, 1 John 1:8, the Bible tells us that we can fall into the trap of thinking we don’t have any issues in our walk with the Lord: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” That means we are always wrong if we think that our actions, our desires, our motivations, our thoughts, our hearts are without sin, that is, perfect in every way and aligned with the Holy Spirit completely. There is always room for improvement, or rather room for more of the Holy Spirit. We can get into a mindset of plateau. We may feel we’ve reached a ‘good enough’ level of holiness. That we’ve eliminated most sinful actions, perhaps. But the Holy Spirit doesn’t stop there, he wants to refine our thoughts, desires, and our very substance. He wants to transform us completely, and the process will go on until eternity.

As long as we think we are doing well enough as it is, there is more influence of the Holy Spirit that we need.

In summary, we all need the ever-increasing influence of the Holy Spirit on us, and in our lives.

If a plant doesn’t grow, that’s because it is dead. We will not reach ‘perfection’ until we are in eternity, so may the influence of the Holy Spirit grow and increase in us, as we draw ever closer in our friendship with our Lord.

Amen.