"But the Comforter...will...remind you of all the things which I have said to you" (John 14:26). The believer does not realize that the meaning of this word is that the Holy Spirit will enlighten his mind to cause him to remember the Lord's words. He assumes it means that he does not need to use his memory anymore and that God will make him remember everything. As a result of this, the believer allows his memory to lapse into passivity. He no longer exercises his will to use his memory. The consequences are: (1) the believer does not exercise his will to use his memory; (2) God does not use it either, because there is no one to cooperate with Him; and (3) evil spirits come in and display everything that is expedient for themselves in front of him, so that he cannot refuse them. His will becomes passive so that he has no way to control his memory anymore.
"The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 5:5). Believers misunderstand this verse to mean that they do not have to love and that the Holy Spirit will give them God's love. They ask God to love through them and supply them fully with His love so that they can be full of God's love. They no longer love; rather, they want God to make them love. They no longer use their loving ability, and they allow their loving function to fall into a cold numbness. The results are: (1) the believers themselves do not love; (2) God will not negate man or the natural function of his love; He will not give man a supernatural love; and (3) evil spirits will live on behalf of man and express their love and hatred according to their will. Evil spirits are allowed to give him a substitute for love because he is so passive and does not use his will to control his loving function. Eventually, the believer will become like a piece of wood and stone. He will feel cold toward everything and will not know what love is. This is the reason so many believers are hard and unapproachable even though they may be holy.
The Lord Jesus says, "You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength" (Mark 12:30). Whose love is this? Whose heart, whose soul, whose mind, and whose strength are these? Of course, they are ours. Our natural life should die, but all these functions of ours should remain.
"For we do not dare to class or compare ourselves with any of those who commend themselves" (2 Cor. 10:12). Because a believer misunderstands the meaning of humility, he thinks that he should hide himself in everything. As a result, the proper self-esteem that God allows is not there anymore. Much of self-abasement is just another form of passivity and possession. The results are: (1) the believer denies himself; (2) God does not fill him; and (3) evil spirits take advantage of his passivity to keep him further in this state of "humility."
When a believer is very possessed and self-abased, his surroundings seem to become all darkness, despair, and weakness. Those who are in contact with him sense a kind of coldness, depression, and sorrow. At crucial moments, he will retreat and cause embarrassment to others. God's work bears no importance to him. Both in words and deeds, he pays particular attention to hide the "I." But while he acts this way, his "I," to the contrary, is all the more exposed. Furthermore, it becomes a real frustration to those who are truly spiritual. When great needs arise in God's kingdom, his extreme self-abasement will not allow him to lift so much as a finger. A sense of prolonged inability, hopelessness, impossibility, and sensitivity is manifested in him. The believer thinks that this is true humility, in which one does not consider himself. Little does he realize that this is the result of evil spirits' work of overt introspection. True humility looks to God and progresses forward.