25 Signs that the Holy Spirit Is Dwelling In Your Heart and Soul

"God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). On the day of Pentecost...Christ's Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit" (CCC). 

"The Holy Spirit "breathes" in the heart of believers as the Spirit of the Son" (Pope Saint John Paul II) and that Spirit is a Spirit of Love for God and for everyone else for God’s sake.

"This presence of the Holy Spirit, his indwelling in human hearts...has a condition: that of love"(Pope Saint John Paul II).

So how can we know that the Holy Spirit is operating in our lives? There are so many signs of this in our lives. 

Here are 25 Signs that the Holy Spirit is Living in Your Heart and Dwelling in Your Soul (we should be striving for these):

1. "The first sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit is a powerful and loving fear which fills the soul with deep reverence for the Majesty of God, Whose presence it beholds everywhere. For the gift of fear is the forerunner of the Holy Ghost, Who never enters the heart without making it tremble (Father Jacques Nouet). The soul trembles because it dreads doing anything that would displease God. By means of this fear the Holy Spirit convicts the soul of sin and gives it a salutary repentance.  

2. The second sign is spiritual joy which the gift of piety causes the true children of God to feel in all acts of devotion done for the honor and service of their heavenly Father (Father Jacques Nouet). 

3. The third sign is a lofty courage preceeding from the gift of strength. This is made manifest in courage to stand up against evil in our own actions and to confront it in others. It is also manifested in suffering and adversity. "Let all kinds of adverse fortune try his patience, all slanderous tongues attack him, all sorrows surround him, he remains firm, and loses nothing of his tranquility. For what can a soul fear who beareth God in his heart? (Father Jacques Nouet)

4. The fourth sign is an abundance of light, which the Holy Spirit pours into our understanding, to make it capable of everlasting Truth (Father Jacques Nouet). 

5. The fifth sign is that you know that the Eucharist is an ardent furnace of charity which you sorely lack, especially in difficult relationships, so you go to Jesus in the Eucharist often to inflame your heart with His love.

6. The sixth sign is that the fruit of the Spirit is present in your life - in your words and actions - for everyone - "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity..." (Galatians 5:22).

7. The seventh sign is that you feel an inner demand from the Holy Spirit to live in love - to forgive, to serve, to refrain from gossip, to repent when you fall into sin, etc. "The Holy Spirit 'dwelling in the human being creates in the soul an inner demand to live in love" (Pope Saint John Paul II). For example: You know you need to be kind toward those who have offended you and to speak in friendly tones to those toward whom you are least inclined. 

8. The eighth sign is that you struggle to "bear with patience the bad temper of others, their slights and any rudeness they show you” (Saint John Bosco). When you fail in this you repent and try to make amends. 

9 The ninth sign is that you know that “there will always be misunderstandings but that if we put a little bit of the love of God in the middle of these disagreements, the offense is softened and no longer felt” (Venerable Thecla Merlo). 

10. The tenth sign is that you strive to love in every situation so that others will find it easier to love because you know that “by practicing mutual charity you are preparing yourselves to receive all the grace that Jesus wants to give you” (Venerable Thecla Merlo).

11. The eleventh sign is that you strive to live the following: “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13) and "do not repay evil for evil but always seek to do good to one another and to all (1 Thes. 5:15). 

12. The Twelfth sign is that you do favors for those who have denied you favors because you know that if you sow goodness, you will reap goodness and that all of us have some defects so you should bear those of others in hope that the others will bear ours. 

13. Another sign is that you struggle with all your heart to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). 

14. And to “bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them” (Romans 12:14).

15. You are “kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). 

16. You know how wonderful it would be to be able to say to Christ at the judgment, “Treat me as I have treated others.”

17. You strive to be like the saints who had no bitterness or hatred, but forgave all offenses (Saint John Vianney). 

18. You strive to forgive in all circumstances because Jesus said “If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14) and “If the same person sins against you seven times a day…you must forgive” (Luke 17:4). 

19. You desire to be close to Jesus, Mary and the saints through prayer and study of the Catholic Faith. You recognise God speaking to you through meditation on Scripture and the teachings of the Church. 

20. You are merciful to others because you know that “if you are unable to conform your own life to the standards you desire, what right have you to expect others to be the way you want?” (Imitation of Christ).

21. You pray with words like this: “Lord, help me to sincerely forgive anyone who has offended me.”

22. You desire to learn as much as you can about the Catholc Faith and Sacred Scripture because you know that you are attending the school of the Holy Spirit by meditating on these Truths. "Through the Holy Spirit, the Christ known in the pages of the Gospel becomes the life of the soul" (Pope Saint John Paul II). 

23. You desire to do God's will in every aspect of your life. 

24. You feel that you fall short of the holiness you are called to but you keep on trying to grow in holiness. You feel drawn to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist  You find peace in offering up your daily difficulties and suffering for the salvation of souls. 

25. You desire to praise and thank God daily.