The Holy Spirit: The Fruit Of The Spirit | Galatians 5:22-26

FALL MEN'S RETREAT 👉🏼 https://beresolute.org/retreat/ Today, we are expanding on the thoughts in yesterday's devotional. We learned how to walk in the Spirit by taking deliberate daily steps, turning away from sin, submitting to the Spirit's lead, making his desires ours, and guarding against threats to slip back into sin. If you missed those steps, go back and read them. When we do this, something happens. Fruit is produced. Fruit is an outcome. Let's read a single text from yesterday's verse. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. — Galatians 5:22-26 Here are some clarifiers about this fruit. Fruit is an outcome. Just like an orange is an outcome, or produce, of an orange tree, so is the fruit of the Spirit. Spirit fruit is a production of the activity of walking, being led by, living by, and keeping in step with the Spirit. Fruit is an outcome of the Spirit. It's not your fruit. It's the Spirit's fruit that is being produced through you. You can take no credit for this. All glory goes to the Spirit, who happens to lead and produce through you. This is why Paul says in Galatians 5:26, "Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." It's tempting to think we produced the outcomes. We didn't. The Spirit did. Fruit is proof of the Spirit's passions. When others see the Spirit's fruit in you, they see evidence of the Spirit's passions and desires acting on you. But this is also evidence of the crucifixion and killing of your passions and desires. This is good because your desires and passions always compete with his.  Fruit is evidence of freedom. In another letter, Paul said, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17). In this text, Paul says the same thing a little from another direction. "Against such things, there is no law" (Galatians 5:22). This is the pleasure of a man who walks in the Spirit. He knows the love, joy, and all the pleasures of God. When we walk in the Spirit, we are evidencing over and over the liberating power of God over slavery to sin. The Spirit is a bondage breaker. He is freedom and provides freedom from everything in this world, and people can see it. Remember, as you walk in the Spirit today, any and all fruit is only an outcome. It's a visible manifestation of the Spirit and his passions acting on and in your life. You are merely a vessel through which the Spirit's passions and desires flow. So go walk it out and then speak about it so when others see it, they can find their way to the same freedom you enjoy that comes from the Spirit. ASK THIS: 1) How can you intentionally align your daily choices and actions with the Spirit's leading, allowing His fruit to manifest more vibrantly in your life? 2) Reflect on a recent situation where you saw the fruit of the Spirit at work in your interactions. How did this experience testify to the Spirit's influence and your willingness to surrender to His guidance? DO THIS: Let the outcomes be evidence of the Spirit's work in you and give him glory. PRAY THIS: Heavenly Father, grant me the strength and wisdom to walk in alignment with Your Spirit, overcoming the conflict between my fleshly desires and Your promptings. May I find liberation through Jesus and embrace the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit, as I journey in step with Your will. Amen. PLAY THIS: Where The Spirit Of The Lord Is. Check out other all Vince Miller's videos and audios for small groups at: https://beresolute.org/ Get Vince's most widely read resources The Daily Devotional at: https://beresolute.org/mdd Check out more ALL IN products like the one Vince is wearing at: https://beresolute.org/product-category/all-in-hats/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Connect with Vince socially: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/millervince INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vinceleemiller LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincemiller TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vinceleemiller