Devotional
Fruit: Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control . . .”
This devo is not a study of the Holy Spirit, but rather a challenge to look at what we’re producing as children of God. No matter your views of the Holy Spirit, we can all agree (as God’s holy scripture tells us) that, as believers in Christ, God has sent us the Holy Spirit and He dwells in us. (John 14:15-26; Acts 2:38) We often think of our bodies as the epicenter of sin. However, we need to understand that we are also the holy dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Our bodies are God the Spirit’s holy sanctuary. Wow!
In the Bible, God tells us exactly what the Holy Spirit does for us. He intercedes to God the Father on our behalf and prays for us (Romans 8:26-27), He is our wise counselor while Jesus is in heaven (John 14:16-17), He teaches us and reminds us of everything that Jesus spoke to us during His ministry on the earth (John 14:26; Psalm 143:10), He guides us to live our lives in His truth, He is our encourager, and He convicts all of us of our sins (John 14-16; Acts 9:31).
So we know that, as Christians, God lives in us and we know how He promises to help us. My question to you is, are you living a life that is evident of the presence of God? Is the fruit of the Spirit evident in your life? Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Holy Spirit, that is, it lists the qualities that should be evident in our lives as followers of Jesus. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control should all be part of our lives as Christ followers.
Galatians 5:17 says, “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.” There is a battle withing us between our sinful nature and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is directing us in God’s will, but the sinful side of us wants to go against God. But Galatians 5:16 assures us, “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” My encouragement to you is to live your life for God. John 15:8 – “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
** I encourage you to use these passages from God’s Word as a resource in your daily life. Don’t let this truth just rest on this tag or on this shirt. Use it! Let it become a part of you, let the scripture be written on your heart and move you to live your life in obedience to God out of love. Dive into God’s Word, spend time with Him in prayer, connect with other believers, live for Jesus who died for your sins and rose again! **
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