Where to Focus

Ron Simkins – July 29, 2025 1 Comment

Pursuing happiness doesn’t make us happier. Trying not to worry rarely gives us peace. Below, Ron Simkins refocuses us on why we are praying for more of the Holy Spirit. May we increasingly desire God to breathe into us, that we may become more human, like Jesus, in God’s image. –Renée

My guess is that like most people who are relating to God you often find yourself focused on wanting to be a better person. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be more loving, more joyful, less anxious and more peaceful, a little more patient, a bit kinder, more spontaneously generous, more trusting of God and more trustworthy yourself, more responsive to God’s touch and to the needs of other humans, and/or to at times feel like life wasn’t so out of control.

Of course, I identify easily with many of these thoughts at times. But I find it fascinating that the Biblical writers challenge us to a different way of engaging these character gifts that we both want and need. They tell us not “WHERE” to focus, but “WHO” to focus on.

As a community and as individuals, we have been led to pray for “More of the Holy Spirit” in our lives. In other words, to focus on God and on asking God to fill us more fully with the Spirit of God that so fully incarnates the life of Jesus—then and now.

Galatians 5: 22-25 In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love (agape/hesed—stubborn commitment), joy, peace (shalom), patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness (trust/trustworthiness), gentleness (tameness/responsiveness), and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Jesus the Messiah have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

Although the Declaration of Independence encouraged a culture that focused on “the pursuit of happiness,” that turns out to be a very poor way to live. No one finds happiness by focusing on being happy. Happiness comes as a result of choosing and doing things that produce good feelings as a by-product. And, most of the people that I have known who focused on trying to be more peaceful by focusing on not worrying, just worried more. Turns out this is true of many of the character traits that make us more fulfilled as humans.

God’s promise is that if we keep on asking for more of God’s presence in our lives, more of the Holy Spirit filling our lives, we will find that the character traits that make us more fully human will begin to grow like fruit grows as long as it remains attached to the good vine (John 15:5).

So, as we pray for more of the Holy Spirit here is one of the things we are asking God for. We are asking God to fill us more with God’s presence which will result in more love (stubborn commitment to want and do good for others), joy, peace, patience . . . . In other words, we will become more fully human, which is more like Jesus, which is more in the image of God.

Ron Simkins