“Jan 23, 2024 - The Spirit and His Fruit”

Monday, January 22, 2024

The Spirit and His Fruit

Reading:  Galatians 5:22-26
    
    Believers in Jesus do not live by the “works of the flesh,” but this is not because they are under the Law (Gal 5:18).  They are instead walking by the Spirit.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law”(Gal 5:22-23).  God’s Holy Spirit works inner transformation and character development.  He teaches us a different lifestyle in which we pursue love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness with our fellowman—not because other approaches are forbidden, but because this is what God has done for us.  We are good, faithful, and gentle as he has been to us.  We are also self-controlled because we have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”(Gal 5:24).   No one would ever think to outlaw such universally praised traits; why would we need to?

    Paul exhorts the Galatians to live up to the Spirit-guided lifestyle they have chosen.  “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit”(Gal 5:25).  The Spirit has empowered us to make life-changes that the Law could not, yet we must also actually follow him!  The teachings the Spirit gives about Jesus and the way he communicates God’s love (Rom 5:5) and acceptance (Gal 4:6) demand a response from us.  “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another”(Gal 5:26).  Bear the Spirit’s fruit and these problems resolve themselves.

    It may seem counterintuitive that we can resolve moral failures by learning love, joy, and peace.  Yet Paul insists that this is God’s plan to change his people from the inside out.  While we have died to our old impulses, our lives in the Spirit are not about the things we don’t do; instead, we show kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness.  Over time, we find that we have an entirely new set of priorities, thoughts, and desires.  The Spirit bears his fruit in us.

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One Thing to Think About:  Are the fruits of the Spirit growing in my life?

One Thing to Pray For:   A kind, loving, gentle approach toward others
 

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