Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: Gal.5: 19-25   March 23, 2025

Message: “The Fruits of the Holy Spirit”

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro:

1. Today we are studying another well-known passage of Scripture. In the earlier part of Galatians 5,  Paul encouraged us to enjoy our freedom in Christ (Vs.1). a. He also warned us of the internal conflict that every Christian must deal with; it is the battle between the Holy Spirit and our fleshly desires. 

b. As a result, we will all make mistakes, sometimes doing things that we know we shouldn’t do.

2. But our freedom in Christ does not include the freedom to indulge in sinful behavior (Gal. 5:13). It simply explains why we struggle to live the Christian life. But our fleshly desires have been crucified with Christ on the cross. 

a. If we truly believe that, then Jesus asks us to ask the Holy Spirit to help us put these sinful behaviors to death.

b. That obviously is the opposite of indulging in them. When we do our best to discourage them and put them to death, it means our goal is to break these habits.

A. The secret to breaking these habits is to replace them with godly behavior called “the fruits of the Holy Spirit.”

1. The Holy Spirit inside of us is encouraging us to trust in Jesus and follow Jesus. When Jesus called the twelve disciples, He called them to follow Him. And He explained that He would teach them how to live a totally different way of life. 

2. If we will listen to the Holy Spirit inside of us, He will teach us how to live a new life too.  Paul called this “keeping in step with the Holy Spirit” (Gal. 5:25).

a. Many people like the song: “One day at a time, dear Jesus, that is all I am asking of you.” Better yet, the Holy Spirit encourages us to take one step at a time. 

b. You might even call them baby steps. When you first accept Christ, every step you take following Jesus is like a baby step. 

3. Just as a baby falls a lot in the beginning, so a new Christian may fall a lot too. But a healthy baby is determined to get up and walk. He will not quit till he succeeds. That is exactly the attitude Jesus wants us to develop through the help of the Holy Spirit.

a. Just as a child keeps learning by copying what he sees, so we are to copy Jesus and learn more and more from Jesus. 

b. And a true Christian will keep trying, and a true Christian will succeed because the Holy Spirit will not let us fail (Jude, vs. 24).

4. If you have no interest in pleasing Jesus, if you don’t appreciate how He died to save you from your sins, if nobody is going to tell you what to do, not even the Holy Spirit in your heart, then maybe He is not in your heart! a. Paul felt that way about some of the Galatians. Paul would say “Christ has not yet been formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). You have not really made up your mind. He is knocking but you have not really let Him in (Rev. 3:20). 

b. A true Christian is not perfect. We all have a lot to learn. But a true Christian truly wants to please the Lord. 

5. Many a person has told me that he accepted Christ at one time in his life, but never followed through. Then later on, he or she came to understand the things of the Lord better and made a deeper commitment. Now they are truly living for the Lord. Now they know they love the Lord.

a. Earlier God began to work in his/her life. That is true. But now they understand what they are doing; now they know Lord, and they know He is at work in their hearts. 

b. A person’s relationship to Christ is between each individual and the Lord. God alone is the judge. As a pastor, I am thankful Jesus is the judge and not me. 

B. Assuming you love the Lord and have the Holy Spirit in your heart, the fruits of the Holy Spirit will become part of your life.

1. In Ps. 1, it describes the person who does not want to follow the world but truly wants to follow the Lord “as a tree planted by rivers of water that brings forth fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither and whatsoever he does will prosper.” 

a. That is the effect God’s Word and the Holy Spirit have upon a Christian’s life. The Spirit is like a spring of water and the Bible is like food for the soul, and in “season” a true Christian will bring forth fruit.

b. These are the kinds of fruit we could expect to see in this person’s like. 

2. In Gal,. 5: 22, it says: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentle-ness, and self-control.”

a. Remember, we are not like this ordinarily. Only the Lord can help us become more and more like this. I per-sonally pray for grace to be this way, especially when things unexpected happen. It is like a silent call for help.

b. “Love, joy, and peace” describe how the Lord should affect me inside. But they also should describe how the Holy Spirit uses me to affect others. Believe me, I know when I should have done better! But I pray people can tell that I have the Lord inside of me.

3. The next group includes “patience, kindness, and goodness.”

a. Who doesn’t need patience? But when I pray for patience, it amazes me how often the Lord comes through for me. 

b. Acts of kindness are often unplanned. You simply see a situation developing and respond accordingly. Inside of us, the Holy Spirit leads us. 

c. Goodness is more like your character. As Jesus taught us, “they will know you are a Christian by your love.” In contrast, haven’t you ever met someone who radiates evil? You can’t help but want to get away from him. Goodness attracts; evil repulses. People know the difference. When the fruits of the Spirit are evident, people will be open to learn more.

4. The last three mentioned in Gal. 5:23 are “faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

a. Faithfulness should not depend on how someone treats you, although that helps. It should depend on the Holy Spirit helping you to be faithful regardless of how you are being treated. 

b. Job remained faithful to the Lord even when things were tough. Only the Holy Spirit can help us to do that.

5. Gentleness is not weakness. It is more like meekness. Jesus said: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5: 5). Jesus also said: “Come unto me all who are weary and burdened… for I am meek and lowly of heart and you will find rest for your soul” (Matt. 11:28-30).

6. The last fruit of the Spirit mentioned in this verse is self-control. What a miracle when Jesus helps you control your temper or helps you control your drinking or helps you stop using Jesus’ name in vain. 

a. Put whatever wrong behavior you are struggling with in this place, then ask Jesus for help, and praise Him as He enables you to find the victory. 

b. Remember what we said earlier, the freedom Christ gives us is not to indulge in the desires of the flesh, but to find the grace to put that behavior to death. May God help and bless us as we prayerfully keep in step with the Spirit.

Amen!