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The Fruit of the Spirit (Intro)
Have you ever participated in a three legged race? It requires coordination. God wants us to be in sync, not only with other christians, but with the Holy Spirit. How do we do that? By asking God to help us.
Galatians 5:25, Philippians 2:15
Have you ever participated in a three legged race before? What’s the way that you win the three legged race? Isn’t it all about being in sync with your partner? If your leg goes one way and their leg goes another you’re going to fall flat on your face. It’s not going to work out. You’re not going to win.
God uses a similar illustration when it comes to our lives. He encourages us to have lives of faith in sync with the Spirit. Galatians chapter 5 verse 25 it says this:
If we live by the Spirit let us also walk in step with it.
He encourages our lives to be lives of faith to be on display for the world in sync with the Spirit. However just like the three legged race this isn’t easy to do. We have a natural way of walking and we want to fall back into that way of walking. So when we hear about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 it’s so much easier to do the exact opposite than to do what God instructs us.
When he says that the fruit of the Spirit are love. Isn’t it far easier to be filled with hate and resentment?
Says the fruit of the Spirit is joy, it’s much easier to be negative and to criticize.
He says the fruit of the Spirit is peace. It’s easier to cause fights and make war.
Says the fruit of the Spirit is patience. Far easier to be impatient isn’t it?
The fruit of the Spirit is kindness. We’d rather be mean.
The fruit of the Spirit is goodness, no we’d rather be bad. It’s easier.
The fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness. It’s far easier to break our promises.
The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness. Far easier not to care about people’s feelings.
The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. No it’s far more pleasurable and easier to sin.
Yes it is difficult to do these things. Why? Because of our old Adam, our old sinful flesh that wants us to walk a different way than the way of the Spirit. So what do we do? We honestly want to walk in sync with the Spirit and how do we do that? God reminds us also in Philippians chapter 2 verse 13.
In fact it is God who is working in you both to will and to work for the sake of his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:15)
Tells us there that God is the one that produces these good works. These fruits of faith in us. So when we want help with walking in line with Holy Spirit the place to go to God. To confess our sins our failures in doing all of these things. To receive his forgiveness and also help. There we see that God, as he promises, will help us to walk in line in sync with his Spirit.
Knowing God’s forgiveness and love for us may he ever help us to produce those fruits of faith. Amen.
