Being Full of the Spirit

By Rev. Dr. Leo Neto

General Secretary of the World Methodist Council.

To be full of the Spirit is to be welcoming, welcoming God who gives us His Spirit, His life, His breath, and above all, His love in our hearts. This is the Spirit of Jesus: the Spirit of love.

When we welcome the Spirit, we also become people who welcome others, regardless of the circumstances we face or the differences that might divide us. The Spirit opens our eyes to see the divine image in the hearts of others. Many who have welcomed the stranger, without even knowing it, have welcomed the divine presence. Scripture reminds us that by welcoming strangers, some have entertained angels without realizing it.

What is divine in us is also divine in others. Yet, our world today is often marked by rejection—rejection of the stranger, the different, the other. But if we truly welcome the Spirit of God into our hearts, if we open ourselves to God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ, we will find the power to welcome one another in love.

This is what it means to be full of the Spirit; it is the “second baptism,” a life transformed by divine love. To be filled with the Spirit is to love as Christ loves, to embrace others as Christ embraces us.

May God bless us, fill us with His Spirit, and make us a people of true welcome.