FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

INTRO

HOOK

A few summers ago I decided I was finally going to have a real garden. So I got out there and I pulled every weed I could find. Cleared the whole bed. Made it look immaculate — dark soil, straight lines, not a single weed in sight. I was proud of that garden bed.

It never grew a single tomato.

Turns out pulling weeds and growing tomatoes are two completely different activities. One is about removing what's bad. The other is about something being alive enough to produce what's good. You can have the cleanest, weed-free plot on the block and still have nothing to show for it at harvest, because a clean bed isn't the same thing as a growing plant.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'VE KILLED THE WEEDS BUT NOTHING'S GROWING?

You quit the habit. You stopped the yelling, cut off the show, walked away from the relationship you knew was compromising you. And still — something feels unfinished. Empty, even. Like you did the hard part and there's nothing to show for it.

THE TENSION

So we go back to weeding. Try harder to not do the bad thing. White-knuckle the temptation. Set another rule, break it by Thursday, feel worse than before, set a stricter rule.

Some of us just keep re-clearing the same bed, wondering why nothing ever grows there. Some of us give up on the garden altogether and let the weeds take it back over. Some of us decide the problem is the soil — that we're just not the kind of person good things grow in.

IS YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE A WEED-FREE BED, OR IS IT ACTUALLY GROWING SOMETHING?

MAIN IDEA

DESPITE THE TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS THAT WE FACE, THE SPIRIT EMPOWERS US TO SAY NO TO THE FLESH SO WE CAN SAY YES TO GOD’S WILL.

1. THE WAR BETWEEN FLESH AND SPIRIT.

Galatians 5:16–18 ESV

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

IF THE HOLY SPIRIT CONTROLS THE BODY, THEN WE WALK IN THE SPIRIT; BUT IF THE FLESH CONTROLS THE BODY, THEN WE WALK IN THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH.

A. THE WAR IS REAL.

OUR OLD NATURE AND NEW NATURE ARE AT WAR WITH ONE ANOTHER.

B. WE CANNOT WIN THIS WAR IN OUR OWN STRENGTH.

Romans 7:15 ESV

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Romans 7:19 ESV

For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

WE CANNOT SIMPLY WILL OURSELVES TO OVERCOME THE FLESH.

PAUL IS POINTING OUT THAT WE CANNOT WIN THIS VICTORY IN OUR OWN STRENGTH AND BY OUR OWN WILL.

C. THE SOLUTION IS SURRENDER, NOT STRUGGLE.

Romans 12:1 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

THE SOLUTION IS NOT TO PIT OUR WILL AGAINST THE FLESH, BUT TO SURRENDER OUR WILL TO THE HOLY SPIRIT.

2. THE OLD IS GONE.

Galatians 5:19–21 NLT

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

A. THE WORK OF THE FLESH ORIGINATES FROM MISPLACED WORSHIP.

Matthew 6:24 ESV

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

WE SHOULD WORSHIP GOD, LOVE PEOPLE, AND USE THINGS, BUT TOO OFTEN WE USE PEOPLE, LOVE SELF, AND WORSHIP THINGS, LEAVING GOD OUT OF THE PICTURE.

JESUS TELLS US THAT WHATEVER WE WORSHIP, WE SERVE.

B. WE DIDN’T JUST GET FORGIVEN; WE DIED WITH CHRIST.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

CHRIST NOT ONLY DIED FOR ME, BUT I DIED WITH CHRIST.

CHRIST DIED FOR ME TO REMOVE THE PENALTY OF MY SIN, BUT I DIED WITH CHRIST TO BREAK SIN'S POWER.

C. THE SPIRIT OF LIFE HAS SET US FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH.

Romans 8:2 ESV

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:12–14 ESV

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

THE SPIRIT OF LIFE HAS SET YOU FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH.

3. PRODUCING FRUIT.

Galatians 5:22–25 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

A. FRUIT IS NOT THE SAME THING AS WORKS.

John 15:4–5 ESV

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

IT IS ONE THING TO OVERCOME THE FLESH AND NOT DO EVIL THINGS, BUT SOMETHING ELSE TO DO GOOD THINGS.

THERE IS A CONTRAST BETWEEN WORKS AND FRUIT: WORKS = EFFORT, LABOR, STRAIN. FRUIT = NOURISHMENT, BEAUTY.

B. FRUIT GROWS OUT OF LIFE IN THE SPIRIT.

Matthew 7:16–18 ESV

You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

FRUIT GROWS OUT OF LIFE IN THE SPIRIT. FRUIT PRODUCES MORE FRUIT. THE OLD NATURE CANNOT PRODUCE FRUIT; ONLY THE NEW NATURE CAN DO THAT.

IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THE OLD NATURE TO COUNTERFEIT SOME OF THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, BUT THE FLESH CAN NEVER PRODUCE THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.

C. THE FIRST FRUITS; LOVE, JOY AND PEACE GROW TOGETHER.

Romans 15:13 ESV

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

JOY IS INWARD PEACE AND SUFFICIENCY THAT IS NOT AFFECTED BY OUTWARD CIRCUMSTANCES.

LOVE AND JOY TOGETHER PRODUCE PEACE.

CLOSE

Remember that garden bed — perfectly weeded, completely empty. That's what a life looks like when all you're doing is fighting the flesh: clean, disciplined, exhausting, and still not growing anything. The weeding wasn't wrong. It just was never going to be enough on its own.

A garden doesn't produce fruit because the weeds are gone. It produces fruit because something is alive in the soil, connected to a root system, drawing up everything it needs to grow. That's what the Spirit is doing in you — not just clearing out the old, but growing something new that you could never have willed into existence yourself.

So don't leave here tonight just recommitted to pulling more weeds. Weeding isn't nothing, but it was never the goal. The goal was always fruit — love, joy, peace, and the rest — growing out of a life connected to Him.

So the question isn't just "have I stopped doing the bad things." The question is: is anything actually growing?

And that leads to the real, practical question for this week: what spiritual disciplines can you practice to help you grow in awareness of God's Spirit? Prayer, Scripture, worship, silence, confession — pick one and stay close to the Vine long enough to find out what He grows.