Galatians 5:22-23

The job of the Holy Spirit is to produce the fruit of the life Jesus in us as we walk with Him in continual surrendered obedience! So we do not produce spiritual fruit from our own fleshly efforts. And the Spirit does not forcefully take over our bodies and produce spiritual fruit with no cooperation from us. Rather, we are called to bring our redeemed lives before the Lord as a Living Sacrifice (Romans 12:1), which means we are dying to our own agenda and committing to God’s kingdom agenda. Then as we go forth into the circumstances and relationships of our lives we trust that the Spirit is working in us and through us to be conduits of Christ’s love and His beautiful fruit comes from deep within us, in our new hearts, and flows out to touch and bless others. 

PASSAGE: Galatians 5:22-23A - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control."

PAUSE: The Apostle Paul revealed both the blessings and benefits of walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. Most of our anxious and negative thoughts are the consequences of walking in the flesh, not the Spirit. It is literally impossible to walk in the Spirit and to be obsessed with negative and anxious thoughts.

PRAYER: Father, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Allow me to walk in step with the Spirit, revealing to myself and to others the fruit of my thoughts.