First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
Romans 1:8-10 ESV
Paul is writing to a Roman church he has yet to visit. He knows some of the people there, having met them in other places, and he has heard reports of what is happening there. Describing his service to God in the Gospel, he says “whom I serve with my spirit.” He’s not referring to the Holy Spirit, but to his own reborn human spirit. What’s his point? He wants them to know that his service to God is not just in his mind, it’s deeper than that. Even his physical actions are simply the outworking of something more personal and profound.
I’m reminded of 1 Corinthians 2:11a, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him?” My human spirit is that place on the inside that houses my innermost desires, that is seen only by me and God. Paul says God will testify for him that he holds service to God and his Gospel as the primary impetus of his life. Beyond that, his own heart, his innermost being, is what impels him to pray for them. It is the source of his passion to visit them. His service to God in the Gospel is his deepest desire and it is moving him toward them.
As we head to the gathering of God’s Church today, I pray that it’s more than a habit or an obligation. I pray that we receive more than mental knowledge and an emotional buzz. Let’s pray that God prune our hearts and revive our spirits to serve Him from our core, that He rekindle a desire in us to see the Gospel project completed, and that our hearts again long to find and fulfill our individual roles in that grand design. Serve Him with your spirit.
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