Dig In: A Deep Dive into the Fruit of the Spirit
For prayer & consideration
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
As I dove into this study, I simply wanted a deeper understanding of the fruit of the spirit. This fruit is a lifelong process of cultivation by and with God through our faith in Christ - we grow in Christ, in our walk with him, and as we do so these fruits will become more and more evident.
It isn't a race or a competition, but as believers and Christ followers it should be a priority to know God through His word, through prayer and meditation - listening - to Him.
If He is to cultivate the fruit in me as I cleave unto Him on this journey, I'd better come to understand them as best as I can in my mental and spiritual capacity.
I fully enjoy active and engaging Bible study; for me, simply reading doesn't satisfy my insatiable spirit. As I read, I love to dig into the original text and study cross references through the Old and New testaments. It isn't that I'm seeking worldly knowledge and understanding of the Word of God, necessarily; it is more that in these studies I seek to know the Lord better, and prayerfully hear what He has to say to me so that I may obey and praise Him better, as well as serve others in Him.
Our Lord is always speaking and He didn't fail to speak through the many scriptures and commentary He provided. In that His spirit never failed to nudge and convict me. While I am sharing here the notes from my time with God in a mighty harvest of deeper understanding, I urge you to not take my word for it. While in these notes I am sharing from the Holy Bible and commentaries of Godly men, I urge you to prayerfully consider what is shared and dig in on your own. I plead that you would soak in what our Lord has shared slowly, prayerfully and obediently as pieces strike you because He is speaking not just to me in these words, but to all.
And as He has created us all individually, while what He says stands firm for all, He has gifted us accordingly so that we may serve in our various parts of His Kingdom on earth - He is speaking to you, too.
I am not a theologian, nor am I an expert and I claim no holiness above any other. This study (and all studies I engage in!) is only to show me more of Him so I can grow - never shamefully, never in condemnation - but in all grace and love.
One key component I learned quickly from the start and throughout - one cannot examine the fruit without fully acknowledging the flesh. We can't look at growth without examining what is spiritually stunting it, what is coming between us and God.
It isn't pleasurable to look at our flesh or to speak of sin, but it is crucial in our walk with Christ to have a fully penitent heart. He died on the cross to save us from our sins and this world and our flesh keeps us hanging onto sin as long as we breathe. While we are saved and healed, we must continuously examine ourselves as we are in this world and repent and grow, rinse and repeat.
So as you read through this study, I encourage you to take note of what speaks to you. I encourage you to dig deeper. I encourage you to jot down every thought that jumps out as it's important. While I've included the notes from commentators, I did not include my own; trust that I had plenty! However, it is unnecessary to add here for you as God has His own message for you in this; I don't want to confuse that with all that I was shown.
So my prayer for you as you go through is that God would speak and make His presence unmistakable to you; that you would feel every nudge of the Holy Spirit in your reading and study and prayerfully consider both what excites you and convicts you. I pray that you would accept His love, grace and mercy and consider each point in the relationships you have - with our Lord, with others and with the world around you. I pray that you would take what He gives and apply it in your life and in those relationships. And in doing all of this I pray that when you feel the nudges of conviction that very well may come up, that you would embrace His grace and know that none of us are deserving of it - the process of cultivating this fruit in our communion with Christ is a long process - there is no shame or condemnation here.
Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
For prayer & consideration
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
As I dove into this study, I simply wanted a deeper understanding of the fruit of the spirit. This fruit is a lifelong process of cultivation by and with God through our faith in Christ - we grow in Christ, in our walk with him, and as we do so these fruits will become more and more evident.
It isn't a race or a competition, but as believers and Christ followers it should be a priority to know God through His word, through prayer and meditation - listening - to Him.
If He is to cultivate the fruit in me as I cleave unto Him on this journey, I'd better come to understand them as best as I can in my mental and spiritual capacity.
I fully enjoy active and engaging Bible study; for me, simply reading doesn't satisfy my insatiable spirit. As I read, I love to dig into the original text and study cross references through the Old and New testaments. It isn't that I'm seeking worldly knowledge and understanding of the Word of God, necessarily; it is more that in these studies I seek to know the Lord better, and prayerfully hear what He has to say to me so that I may obey and praise Him better, as well as serve others in Him.
Our Lord is always speaking and He didn't fail to speak through the many scriptures and commentary He provided. In that His spirit never failed to nudge and convict me.
While I am sharing here the notes from my time with God in a mighty harvest of deeper understanding, I urge you to not take my word for it. While in these notes I am sharing from the Holy Bible and commentaries of Godly men, I urge you to prayerfully consider what is shared and dig in on your own. I plead that you would soak in what our Lord has shared slowly, prayerfully and obediently as pieces strike you because He is speaking not just to me in these words, but to all.
And as He has created us all individually, while what He says stands firm for all, He has gifted us accordingly so that we may serve in our various parts of His Kingdom on earth - He is speaking to you, too.
I am not a theologian, nor am I an expert and I claim no holiness above any other. This study (and all studies I engage in!) is only to show me more of Him so I can grow - never shamefully, never in condemnation - but in all grace and love.
One key component I learned quickly from the start and throughout - one cannot examine the fruit without fully acknowledging the flesh. We can't look at growth without examining what is spiritually stunting it, what is coming between us and God.
It isn't pleasurable to look at our flesh or to speak of sin, but it is crucial in our walk with Christ to have a fully penitent heart. He died on the cross to save us from our sins and this world and our flesh keeps us hanging onto sin as long as we breathe. While we are saved and healed, we must continuously examine ourselves as we are in this world and repent and grow, rinse and repeat.
So as you read through this study, I encourage you to take note of what speaks to you. I encourage you to dig deeper. I encourage you to jot down every thought that jumps out as it's important. While I've included the notes from commentators, I did not include my own; trust that I had plenty! However, it is unnecessary to add here for you as God has His own message for you in this; I don't want to confuse that with all that I was shown.
So my prayer for you as you go through is that God would speak and make His presence unmistakable to you; that you would feel every nudge of the Holy Spirit in your reading and study and prayerfully consider both what excites you and convicts you. I pray that you would accept His love, grace and mercy and consider each point in the relationships you have - with our Lord, with others and with the world around you. I pray that you would take what He gives and apply it in your life and in those relationships. And in doing all of this I pray that when you feel the nudges of conviction that very well may come up, that you would embrace His grace and know that none of us are deserving of it - the process of cultivating this fruit in our communion with Christ is a long process - there is no shame or condemnation here.
Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Enjoy the full compiled Bible study
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