In His most famous sermon (Matthew 5–7), Jesus taught us to love our enemies, give to the needy, and put God’s kingdom first in our life. As His words outlined the high expectations of those in His kingdom, it doesn’t take us long to recognize a problem—our behavior. We simply can’t perfectly meet this standard on our own. It’s not in us to naturally love those who mistreat us. We often are too selfish to be generous. And we spend a lot of time building the kingdom of our own life, rather than God’s kingdom.

So, why did Jesus command us to live a life He knew full well we can’t live on our own? The key is that Jesus never asked us to live the Christian life on our own. In fact, Jesus spent significant time teaching about His indispensable gift for living the Christian life: the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His followers it was good for them for Him to go away because the presence of the Holy Spirit would be coming into their life. God in the flesh was a wonderful gift, but God living inside us is even better. When God lives inside us, He can empower us, help us grow, and equip us in a unique way. Let’s look closer at the Holy Spirit as God.