THE QUINTESSENTIAL GENTLEMAN 

The Holy Spirit is always willing and able to fill us, help us, and empower us, but as we mentioned previously, he is also the quintessential gentleman. In order to receive all the goodness he has for us, we must first yield to him. Everything we have said about the Holy Spirit begins with first yielding to him. Now, we don’t have to have a Damascus Road experience like the Apostle Paul did, but hopefully we also aren’t persecuting and murdering Christians in our spare time either! The story of Paul in Acts 9 is a prime example of how the Holy Spirit transformed a proud religious man into a powerful evangelist practically overnight, who eventually wrote more words in the New Testament than anyone, save Luke. 

In Paul’s encounter with God—which is similar to that of the patriarch Jacob in Genesis 32—God changed his name and God changed his character. But because the Holy Spirit had been sent after Jesus’s ascension to heaven, Paul had an added bonus that was not readily available to Jacob—the power of the Holy Spirit. This change would not have happened had Paul not yielded to the Holy Spirit. If you think
 about it, Paul could have decided to walk away, with the potential consequence of remaining blind the rest of his life. Aren’t we all glad he didn’t do that? 

YIELDING TO GOD 

So what does It mean to yield to God? To yield to God, to yield control to him, is quite similar to following the direction of a roadway yield sign. Assume that you are going in a certain direction, and you reach a place in the road where it would be beneficial to slow down and let the semi-truck pass you, rather than smashing into the side of the truck! You move aside and let the truck continue first, avoiding a most certain disaster. 

Only remember, the Holy Spirit is not like the semi-truck but is the quintessential gentleman who also yields to your decision. If you choose to yield to him, he will kindly take control and lead you well. If you do not yield to him, he will choose
 to yield right-of-way to you, allowing you the opportunity to retain control and continue driving in whatever direction you have chosen to take. 

Of course, there is a downside to maintaining control and not yielding to his lead. You can choose your way for God for you, or you can yield to God’s way for you. Generally, choosing your own way for God for you tends to be a waste of time. 

In Romans 6:13, the NIV translators used the word “offer” to help us understand the action the Lord desires that we take in reference to him: 

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.—Romans 6:13 

Other translations have used the word “present” or “yield.” The Greek word behind all of this is the verb paristemi, which literally means to “stand by.” In context, the action we are taking in reference to God is to stand by—or move aside—and allow the presence of God to be in control of our lives, our situation. It’s kind of like the song, “Jesus, take the wheel,” from a few years back. Not to be cliché, of course, but it does demonstrate the truth in this verse. 

Generally speaking, do you tend to yield control to the Holy Spirit on the daily? 

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you if there is an area of your life where you may have resisted releasing control to him.