July 13, 2013 Fruits of the Spirit

Read Galatians 5 Fruits of the Spirit Gal 5:19-24 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. GALATIANS 5:22-23 are popular verses, aren’t they? If you’re as I am, you are sometimes challenged by which fruit “comes next” in this remarkable list of how the Spirit of God empowers you to be more and more as Jesus. But the sin of our lives can keep us from living in Jesus’ salvation can’t it? That’s why I’m glad Paul lists the sins of the flesh before he lists the fruits of the Spirit. Flesh must give way to Spirit, and you need to clearly know what is flesh and what is Spirit. Yes, it’s true, isn’t it, that you are too often confused by the world, by our culture and certainly by Satan of what sin looks like. Sexual immorality, for example, is nonexistent in the world’s view. Fits of anger are termed, “blowing off steam” as if it is a healing thing instead of a cursing thing. Envy is used as a gimmick to cause people buy more than they can afford. Drunkenness is a “few too many”. We use such nice, easy terms to identify death, don’t we? Let’s pray: “Thank you, Holy Spirit, for showing me sin. Empower me to replace my flesh with your Spirit. Guide me to purposefully live to bear life-giving fruit. Amen.” It’s True! The Spirit replaces the flesh.