Daily Devotional

-March 19, 2021-

Good morning, happy Friday,

-The Fruit Of The Spirit-

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Against such there is no law.”

(Galatians 5:22-23).

The key to victory in the Christian life is to walk in the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16-17, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to on another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”

We as believers in Christ have two natures: the old nature we are born with physically from Adam, and the new nature we are born again with spiritually from Christ. As we obey the Lord, surrender to His will, read the Word, and pray, we allow the Holy Spirit to manifest His power in our lives over our sinful nature. We are sinners saved by grace. The old nature pulls us toward sin and the world, the new nature pushes us toward Christ in order to please Him.

In Galatians 6:19, the Apostle Paul lists the works or sins of the flesh: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like…” It is very ugly. These sins defile, defame, and destroy.

Our verse begins with the word “but,” which contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. First, let us distinguish the term, it is the fruit not fruits of the Spirit. The Spirit produces all nine of these fruit as one not as separate from one another. They all grow together, as it were from the same tree.

The Apostle Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.” Man cannot produce these fruit, they come from the Holy Spirit. Each of these traits help us to please the Lord and be victorious over the flesh. Paul wrote in Galatians 5:24, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” We must crucify the flesh daily and walk in the Spirit. Those who are unsaved cannot overcome the works of the flesh and those who are saved cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit on their own either. The root determines the fruit! We must be rooted in Christ.

When we fall and sin against he Lord we must confess it to the Lord, repent, and forsake it. This restores our fellowship with the Lord so we can walk in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts us when do wrong and produces the life of Christ in us.

May the Lord produce the fruit of the Spirit in us daily so that others will see Jesus in us. Let us do those things that give the Spirit control not the flesh. The Lord wants us to be fruitful in abundance.

Have a blessed day and weekend walking in the Spirit, yielding to Christ and being victorious. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean