The Fruit

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1518. Today's Devo is called the Fruit. Hey there. We're the Alessi's, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Well, happy Wednesday, everybody. I hope you have been enjoying all of the Devos so far for this week as we're talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit and the gifts that he brings to us. And today we want to talk about the fruit. The fruit of the spirit. I was raised on God Rocks. Any God Rocks fans that are listening, God Rocks. If you guys are still alive and you know about our podcast or have heard of us, just know I was a huge fan and I love you guys. But God Rocks had a song about the fruit of the spirit, and it was love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Against such things, there is no law but the fruit. And then they like did this whole duet. So I just did that because I think if you're listening to this in the morning, maybe you needed some joy, maybe you needed to hear that little jingle and maybe it helps you remember. But let's read Galatians 5. I basically just sang it for you. 5:22 says this, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things, there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus has crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, we let us keep in step with the Spirit. So all of these different fruits of the Spirit, all of these different qualities, really what they are, they're characteristics of the Spirit that develop our character and develop our integrity. They help develop you and I. It's almost like a cheat sheet for this is what your life should look like if the Spirit is in you and I. I so love that the Bible gives us this and the Lord gives us this through his word because it's almost like a way to quiz yourself. And if you go to this verse, I'm gonna pull it up here. This is in real time. If you go to galatians, we're on 5. So if you're listening and you have your Bible open, if you're driving, I'm gonna read it to you, the verse talks about the fruit of the spirit, but a little bit up, it actually talks about the acts of the flesh. And so as a believer, I think it's good for us if we're in a season or you're having a moment that you're questioning, you know, am I living a spirit filled life? Is the spirit in me and developing my character? Well, we have to examine the fruit of our lives. We have to look ourselves in the mirror. We have to look at the fruit, we have to look at our lives and be very honest with ourselves and saying, is this more in alignment with the fruit of the spirit or is in alignment with the acts of the the flesh? If we can't do that, then we'll never know the reality of the inner workings of our life. We'll never know if the, the Spirit is actually on the inside of us, dwelling and inhabiting our lives. So let's quiz ourselves right now. Let's take this morning to, to do some inspection on the inside of us. What is the fruit of our life? Is it the fruit of the spirit? Is it love? Is it joy? Are we experiencing joy in the mornings? Is it peace? Do we find ourselves being peace filled in the midst of chaos? There's peace. Forbearance. Are you, Are you seeing that? There's kindness? Which I think forbearance is patience. That's this translation's version of patience. Are you living a life that is. Hey, God, whenever you, whenever you decide to bring it, God, I'm, I'm satisfied. Kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness. Oh my gosh, all the girls in Miami need this one, including me. Gentleness, where we were respond in a gentle way and self control. If that's you, hey, keep up a good work. You are filled with the spirit. The spirit is developing you and is is bringing out the best version of you. Which really we don't have a best version of ourselves. We just have the spirit version of ourselves. Or let's ask ourselves this question. Is there any immorality in me? Is there any impurity? Is there idolatry? Or maybe strife and jealousy, fits of anger, anger. Is there any envy, things like this, dissensions, division? Is there anything like that in my heart? You see, these are questions that only we can answer on our own. And it's not bad. I want us as believers, we have to realize that we are not going to just pray the prayer of salvation, be filled with the Spirit, and then live every day displaying the fruits of the Spirit. It's not going to Happen that way because we are a flesh and we live in a very sinful world and we spend more time out in the world than we do in church around people. Even in the church you're going to have people that are full of sin because we're just people. You constantly have to do a heart check. You constantly have to do a fruit check. Hey, look at the fruit. How am I doing? It's okay. If you are noticing, man, I have more boxes or more checks for the boxes of acts of the flesh than I do fruits of the spirit. Because once we realize that, then we go, okay, Holy Spirit, I need your help and I need your spirit to help develop these things in me. That's why we've been given this gift of the Holy Spirit. Because the Spirit removes or helps you remove the acts of the flesh and now you're set apart. The Bible says you have to keep in step with the Spirit. What does that mean? It is ongoing. It is not a one time decision. It is ongoing. I love this. I, I, I read this earlier. It says it is not enough to claim to have a new life in Christ by the power of the Spirit. Believers must continually follow after the Spirit in a way that they live, while also resisting the flesh. So let's say today your quiz came up 100 on acts of the flesh. Starting today, you got to resist it. If you find yourself getting jealous, resist that. If you find yourself getting angry, resist it. And the more you resist, the more that you are welcoming and feeding the spirit that's on the inside of you. And in a couple of weeks you'll start to notice that there's patience. All of a sudden there's peace. Why? Because you've resisted the flesh and you've welcomed the spirit of God to dwell on the inside of you and develop everything that's on your heart. I hope this blessed you. I hope it challenged you. That's what the word of God is supposed to do. Let's take this to prayer. Father, we just thank you for today. I thank you for the listeners. I thank you for everybody that quizzed themselves today that actually took the time to examine themselves and test themselves and search their heart like your word says to do. And Father, wherever we fall on this scale, if we find ourselves maybe more in our acts of the flesh or maybe we are doing good and we're keeping in step with your spirit, then Lord, I just pray that you continue to enable us and empower us. Help us, God, as we walk out this good fight of faith and we follow after you. Because Lord, our desire is this. We want to live a life that pleases you. So bless us today and help us resist the devil, knowing he will flee in Jesus name. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.