By Adedoja Adewale


One afternoon, as I was about to engage in a spiritual activity, I lay my head on my table and prayed because you cannot do spiritual things in the flesh. Then I began to speak in tongues, not too long after, I asked myself "but why are you speaking in tongues? You are only edifying yourself. Do something that will benefit everyone involved in this" and God asked me “but how do you edify if you are not edified?" This got me thinking to the point that I just thought that I should share it with you.

To edify means to build up or to improve. Moreover, the bible in fact has a definition for the word.

 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 1:20-21

You can see that being edified has to do with praying, loving, seeking God and running the race that is set before us. Imagine someone that has not had any food to eat for the past three days running a marathon. That person is definitely going to appear foolish to everyone and she will most likely lose in the competition eventually. And the reason is simple- She has not eaten, not that she doesn't know how to run a marathon.


Everything that you do, and not just evangelism, should depend on the Holy Spirit. When you understand this, everything is easier for you. If there is any activity that is going to be sponsored by your flesh, or has the tendency to be sponsored by your flesh, you should not even get into it. This answers the question that a lot of people ask about whether to participate in some events like gyration that takes places in halls of residences or whether to kiss when you are in a relationship. I tell you, you don't even want to try to do what God isn't involved in. The implication of this is that, you are a Spiritual being. And consequently, everything you do is spiritual. So don't get confused.

That's why when you see some Apostles, you think their life is boring because they almost don't do anything you consider as fun. However, in truth, those things they do are actually fun to them. They have gotten to the stage when they don't need to spend time watching American movies to get excited. Merely sitting and meditating on God's word gives them so much joy. I think we should all strive to get to that stage too.

Now, about getting yourself edified and then edifying others; Life is too short, too short to engage in any fruitless labour. And that is just how whatever you want to do will be if you aren't edified first. You can't give what you don't have. Get fed before you feed.

Lastly, how do you edify yourself? We already talked about this at the beginning. But also, attend Christian gatherings with desire within you, read Christian books, ask questions from the Holy Spirit, He is your great teacher. Yet, you can learn from the brethren. So ask questions from people that are in the faith and learn how God dealt with them for free.

I hope you learnt. Tell us if you did in the comment section.