不用灵
因此，人堕落过程中的第一步，是不用他的灵。亚当和夏娃在吃知识树的时候没有接触神，反倒注意神以外的事物，没有以祂作头。
亚当和夏娃所以失败，是因不用他们的灵。如果夏娃转向灵，可能就没有问题了。如果我们留在心思里，那就是我们自己出头，让心思单独行动。这是可怕的，也是有罪的。我们必须认清，神是与我们的灵同在，因而运用我们的灵。即使你快要发脾气了，你还需要转到灵里。你也许说，在这样的情况下要转到灵里是很难的；我却要回答说，在这样为难的时候，更需要回到我们的灵里。不要对付自己的脾气，却要把自己转向灵。要学习运用你的灵。所有的基督徒都知道该怎样祷告，求神帮助他们；但很少基督徒知道，他们有灵，他们能转向这灵。因为神与我们的灵同在，我们需要转向这灵。
你怎么知道你在运用你的灵？非常容易。无论甚么时候你作事，或接触人，却没有神的同在，就证明你没有运用灵。不管你作甚么，如果作的时候向神独立，不接触祂，就证明你不在灵里。在这样情形下，你必定要受亏损。我们必须学习在凡事上接触神。只要接触祂，我们就在我们的灵里。只要走，我就用我的脚；只要看，我就用我的眼；只要接触神，我就用我的灵，因为我的灵是接触神的器官（约四24）。如果我在看，就表示我在运用我的眼。同样，如果我在接触神，我就必定是在运用我的灵。
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The Process of Man’s First Fall (1) – John 4:24
Not Using the Spirit
The first step in the process of man’s fall was this: man did not use his spirit. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they did not contact God. Instead, they gave their attention to things outside of God and acted independently of Him as their Head.
Adam and Eve failed because they did not use their spirit. If Eve had turned to her spirit, perhaps nothing would have gone wrong. But when we remain in our mind, we are acting independently — letting our mind operate on its own. That is dangerous and even sinful. We must realize that God is with us in our spirit — so we must exercise our spirit. Even when you’re about to lose your temper, you still need to turn to your spirit. You might say it is hard to do that under such pressure, but I would reply that it is in such difficult moments that you need to return to your spirit. Don’t try to manage your temper — just turn yourself to the spirit. Learn to exercise your spirit. All Christians know how to pray and ask God for help; but very few Christians realize that they have a spirit, and that they can turn to their spirit. Because God is with us in our spirit, we must turn to that spirit.
How do you know whether you are using your spirit? It’s very simple: any time you do something or interact with people and sense that God’s presence is missing, that means you are not using your spirit. No matter what you’re doing — if you do it apart from God, without contacting Him – you are not in your spirit. In such situations, you will definitely suffer loss. We must learn to contact God in all things. As long as we contact Him, we are in our spirit. Just as walking involves my feet, and seeing involves my eyes, contacting God involves my spirit, because my spirit is the organ for contacting God (John 4:24). If I am seeing, that means I am using my eyes. Likewise, if I am contacting God, I must be exercising my spirit.