Judgment and the Holy Spirit

When I posted my blogs about money (Money and the Course, Part I; Money and the Course, Part II), one of the responses that surprised me most were those that conveyed surprise that the Holy Spirit would be so involved in my life as to make financial decisions for me. What do they think is meant by turning your life over to the Holy Spirit, I wondered, if you don’t turn over everything?

The whole illusion of separation from God rests on the perception that your life is for you alone – meaning you without the God in you (the Holy Spirit) – you in ego. In order to be whole again you must correct this misperception by giving back your whole life – your whole mind – to the Holy Spirit in you. Any part you hold on to for you alone is the bit of separateness you want to keep. You cannot be wholly at peace until you wholly give up not-peace – ego-identity.

He (the teacher of God) must learn to lay all judgment aside, and ask only what he really wants in every circumstance. (M-1.4.A.7)

What do you really want but peace? All pain and unhappiness comes from denying the Truth about you: You are Part of God. The Holy Spirit in you knows the Truth about you. Only by following the Holy Spirit will you be at peace again. To judge is to evaluate – right/wrong, good/bad, valuable/valueless, useful/not useful. This refers not just to your opinions about others, but to your decisions -- “To do this is good”, “It will be useful to do this”, etc. You turn every opinion and decision over to the Holy Spirit, even the practical day-to-day decisions, even the seemingly trivial decisions, to remember that the Holy Spirit is you. This is how the Holy Spirit uses what you have made for separation – the world – to teach you that you are One with God. This is the only way to peace.

Peace and certainty are the effects of letting the Holy Spirit make all decisions for you. You are never visited by doubt or guilt or burdensome responsibility. You are never lonely, which is the result of being separate from your Self. You have a deep sense of purpose connecting to the Holy Spirit and letting It lead. You can let the Holy Spirit lead you now, any moment, by simply stepping back and acknowledging the Holy Spirit’s Presence and reminding yourself that It is here with you throughout the day. Trust this Presence and it will fill your life with peace. But hold anything back from It and you will be holding on to conflict.

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