The Holy Spirit #4 - Who is the Holy Spirit? (Part 4)
Description
Russ Brasher turns to Galatians 5:22–24 to show that the fruit of the Spirit isn't nine separate goals to master but one fruit: the character of Jesus, grown in us by the Holy Spirit. For anyone worn out from trying harder to be patient, kind, or at peace, it's an invitation to stop chasing the list and start staying close to Christ.
Summary and Application
Read Paul's list in Galatians 5:22–23 slowly, and something almost always happens: you start keeping score. Love — decent. Joy — depends on the day. Patience — let's not talk about it. Russ admitted that with four kids, three bus stops, and 181 school days a year, he wakes up full of all nine qualities and is "completely depleted" before 8:30 a.m.
That instinct to measure ourselves against the list is exactly what Russ wanted to challenge. The fruit of the Spirit, he argued, isn't a to-do list for the believer. It's a portrait of Jesus, and an invitation into relationship with him.
Notice What We Actually Need
Russ acknowledged that the list lands because it names real needs: character that changes behavior, healthier relationships, calm when life feels chaotic, strength to follow through, and patience with setbacks. Love, kindness, and peace would reduce conflict at home. Faithfulness and goodness would close the gap between knowing and doing. The fruit of the Spirit, Russ said, "helps meet the needs of our daily lives, relationships and temptations." Wanting it isn't the problem. The question is why the list is here at all.
Notice the Word "Fruit" Is Singular
Paul doesn't write "the fruits of the Spirit." He writes "the fruit of the Spirit is…" (Galatians 5:22). Russ called it "a package deal." You can't grow one of the nine in isolation, just as a tide doesn't rise in one spot while falling in another. They rise or fall together.
They're one thing because they describe one Person. The fruit of the Spirit is a picture of the character of Christ, who embodied every one of these qualities perfectly and put them on display toward us. And the name matters: if the list were meant to be produced by our effort, Russ pointed out, it would be called the fruit of the follower or the fruit of the believer. It's called the fruit of the Spirit because the Holy Spirit is the one who grows it. When we begin a relationship with Jesus, the Spirit "clocks in and goes to work," doing what only he can do.
See Jesus in Every Virtue
From there, Russ walked through how Jesus embodies each quality:
Love comes first for a reason. Our relationship with God begins with his love: "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).
Joy is an active, expressive posture toward God regardless of circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18). Jesus had a joy the world couldn't take from him.
Peace is a calm, stable confidence in God (Colossians 3:15), rooted in knowing the story ends with Jesus victorious over sin and death.
Patience is how the Lord treats us (2 Peter 3:9). Jesus explained things to his fumbling disciples "over and over and over."
Kindness is God's grace in action (Ephesians 2:4–7): good things given to people who don't deserve them, so they'll know they're loved.
Goodness is God working his plan in our lives, often in ways we only notice years later (2 Thessalonians 1:11).
Faithfulness begins with God, who "is faithful" (1 Corinthians 1:9). His faithfulness makes him worthy of ours.
Gentleness is how Jesus describes his own heart: "gentle and humble" (Matthew 11:29). Russ drew on the book Gentle and Lowly to note how rare that self-description is. Jesus stopped for desperate people again and again.
Self-control is seen most clearly in Gethsemane: "Not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42). Jesus went to the cross with us on his heart.
The point wasn't to raise the bar but to raise our eyes. If you want self-control, Russ said, the answer isn't a new list of behavior modifications. It's to fall in love with the One who perfectly modeled it.
Belong to Christ and Remain in Him
So how do we have this fruit? Paul answers in verse 24: "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Belonging to Jesus means believing in him and living in relationship with him. Jesus says the same in John 15:4–5: "No branch can bear fruit by itself… apart from me you can do nothing."
Russ was careful here. No one needs a pre-existing level of fruit to begin with Jesus. Quoting Tim Keller, he noted that our welcome from the Father "rests not on our own character or actions, but Christ". All that's required is a heart that says, I need him.
You're Not Behind
For longtime followers who look at the list and feel they should be further along, Russ offered a simple word: "You're not behind. You're just simply human."
When the fruit feels thin, it may be a dashboard warning light that we've drifted from the basics of any healthy relationship. There's God speaking to us through his Word, us speaking to him in prayer, and time spent together in community. Russ compared it to a diet: pay attention, keep showing up, and don't expect overnight results.
Or think of a time-lapse. Day by day, change is nearly invisible. But over time, the people around you will notice what the Spirit has done. Put your effort into your relationship with Jesus, not into becoming the list, and the fruit will come.
For Reflection
When you read the list in Galatians 5:22–23, where do you instinctively start keeping score, and what might change if you read it first as a description of Jesus rather than a report card on yourself?
Of the basics Russ named (Scripture, prayer, and community), which one could you give fresh attention this week so that the Spirit has room to grow his fruit in you?
This post was developed with the assistance of artificial intelligence based on the sermon "Who Is the Holy Spirit? (Part 4)" by Russ Brasher (Galatians 5:22–24, September 27, 2026). While every effort has been made to faithfully represent the content and intent of the original message, readers are encouraged to engage the full sermon audio or transcript for the complete teaching.
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Tim Keller
"Our approval and welcome into relationship from the Father rests not on our own character or actions, but Christ."
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Well, good morning, folks.
Good morning. It's a big day today. Lots happening, lots going on. Most importantly, it's not raining. So today's gonna be a good day no matter what the Steelers do.
Hey, listen, I'm excited to jump into today's text, looking at Galatians 5:22 through 24 and kind of asking the question, what is the Holy Spirit? Before we do that, though, I kind of want to see where we're at and test the room a little bit. So if you're old enough and have lived through what I'm about to talk about, this would be amazing to you, especially if you love football. If you don't love football or aren't old enough, don't worry. I have a backup category that, based on the room, I'll switch to.
So, Tom Brady — don't boo. Tom Brady is a seven-time Super Bowl–winning quarterback, arguably the greatest to ever play the position. Last season he was asked to come create the perfect quarterback: if he could take the skills from different quarterbacks who have played the game and put them into one person, what would he pick and why would he pick it?
And I found his list interesting, especially because he left himself off of it. Goes to show you how QB maybe isn't that important. But here's his list. He said the best quarterback would have the agility of Steve Young, the speed of Lamar Jackson, the toughness of Brett Favre, the pocket presence of Andrew Luck, the throwing power of prime Aaron Rodgers — not today's Aaron Rodgers. I added that part. He just said Aaron Rodgers. The throwing accuracy of Drew Brees, the football IQ of Peyton Manning, the playmaking ability of Patrick Mahomes, and, if you know Tom Brady's career, the luckiness of Eli Manning.
And I found it interesting that, again, he left himself off that list, having won seven Super Bowls. But I did think to myself, man, how cool would it be to be a fan and follower of the Steelers this season if they had a quarterback like that? We would probably win a few games. But more importantly, that would just simply be amazing to watch.
Now, again, if you're not a football, you know, passion freak like I am — and, you know, some of you aren't old enough to even know who half those players on that list were — let me switch to something that I think is a little bit more universally accepted: food. Think about this for a minute.
How amazing would this be if I gave you the power to right now put an Uber Eats order out to every local restaurant and fast-food place in the greater Pittsburgh area, and immediately after the service, you will have the perfect meal, as you ordered: your favorite appetizer from one place, your favorite entrée from another, your favorite side dish from one, your favorite drink from another, and lastly, the best dessert you've ever had. And immediately, as soon as you get home from service, this meal is perfectly collected and plated, sitting, waiting for you to watch the Steelers probably lose. But it's sitting there waiting for you. How amazing would that be, to be able to collect and put all the greatest things together in one feast?
Now, I know — I understand that some of you are upset with me right now because I already got you thinking about whether the Steelers win or lose today, and how bad our quarterback may or may not be, and how hungry you probably are. I am sorry. But if you're asking the question, what does the perfect combination quarterback or fast-food meal have to do with fruits of the Spirit? I'm glad you asked. Nothing. I was just wasting time.
No, I think it does. But let's look to God's Word to maybe figure out what that looks like. Here's — again, you heard it read from Ben — let me read it again. Galatians 5:22–24 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 have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
And so what you have to start us off, in verses 22 through 23, is the fruit of the Spirit. Paul gives us a list of nine virtues — nine virtues that come together to collectively create the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance — which is another word for patience, and patience is the word I'm going to use for the rest of our time together — but patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. What a list.
Now, I know what some of you are now starting to think at this point, especially if you're married or have a special someone in your life, and you've already gotten that nudge as I read through that list and maybe heard a whisper: "You could use some of those." Or maybe you're sitting here going, "Man, Russ, if you knew what was going on in my life, I really could use some of those. In fact, I saw one or two on that list that, man, I really need in my life right now, if you knew what I was going through." Or if you're like me, and you've got four kids in school and three different bus stops every single day, Monday through Friday, you wake up every day full of all of those things. And before 8:30 a.m. even hits, you're completely depleted of all of those things on a daily basis, 181 days out of the year.
And you wouldn't be wrong in thinking that, yeah, so-and-so could definitely use more of those, or, I myself actually could use some or all of those. You wouldn't be wrong in thinking that, because the fruit of the Spirit would help actually meet a lot of our everyday natural felt needs, wants, and desires. I wrote down a couple.
The need for character that changes behavior. People often feel tired of reacting selfishly, angrily, and impulsively, and fruit like self-control and gentleness could probably help some of us in addressing that.
The need for healthier relationships. Who doesn't want that? How could the fruit of love, kindness, patience, and peace not help reduce conflict and build trust with family, friends, and loved ones?
What about the need for inner stability and calm? When life feels chaotic, fruit like peace and joy would come of great benefit and help us respond to that felt need with emotional steadiness.
Need for strength to do what's right. People may know what's right but struggle to follow through, and the fruit of faithfulness and goodness would help combat that desire, wouldn't it?
Two more. The need to be able to handle stress and delay — I think I've got all of us here. Many people feel frustrated by waiting and setbacks or slow progress. And, man, wouldn't a little bit more patience help us answer that?
And lastly, the need for moral guidance. This passage is also about living differently and the desires of the flesh. This combination of fruit would help us feel more anchored and have a clearer path if we lived it out daily.
And I could go on, and I'm sure I've started to scratch at, maybe, at least one of, if not every one of us in this room, an area where, yeah, you're right, I could use a little bit more of that in my life. A person would want the fruit of the Spirit because it satisfies a very practical need. It helps change how we live, how we love, and how we respond. The fruit of the Spirit helps meet the needs of our daily lives, relationships, and temptations. And yes, we could go on and on and on about this, but I want us to go back to the text and look at something very important, and why this list is here.
You see, Paul gives us this list in verses 22 and 23 — nine virtues that collectively come together to become the fruit of the Spirit. And I want you to notice that Paul does not use the word "fruits." This is not a plural. He uses the word "fruit," singular.
And what Paul is trying to get us to understand first is that the fruit of the Spirit are sold as a set. They are a package deal. You cannot get one of the fruits without all of the fruits. You cannot try to just get better and focus on one without all of them getting better and increasing. Think of it kind of like a body of water. A body of water — the tide — either rises together or it lowers together. They are one thing.
And the next thing we get to realize is, what is the one thing that the fruit of the Spirit talks about? Paul says the fruit of the Spirit is how we better understand the person and character of Christ. Jesus perfectly embodied the fruits of the Spirit. He perfectly embodied them and put them on display towards you and I. How amazing is that? The fruit of the Spirit is here to help us get a better picture of who Jesus is, the person of Christ, and to see how He perfectly embodied them for our good.
And so what? Hopefully now we can start to step back and look at the fruit of the Spirit and realize that they are not listed here in Galatians so that you or I can start comparing which of these virtues we're great at, we're good at, we're struggling with, or, if we're honest, left to our own, that's never gonna exist in our life. That's not why this list is here. This list is not here so that any one of us, no matter where you're at in your faith journey or maturity, would look at this list and go, "Yes, that's exactly what I need in my life. Now let me come up with an exhaustive list of behavior modifications so that I can get stronger or better, or finally have that thing that I know I need. Okay, but now I just gotta go get it. But how?" That's not why this list is here.
If that was the point, then the list — these nine virtues — would be called the fruit of the follower, or the fruit of the believer. But that's not what they're called. They're called the fruit of the Spirit.
And we know we want these things, but we realize that none of us can do anything on our own efforts to cultivate or produce them in us on our own. Instead, Paul gives us this list to help us get to know the person of Jesus — a person who perfectly embodied them, a person who desires to be in relationship with you, a person who, as we're in relationship with Jesus and we get to know Him, we see Him embody these and display these perfectly towards us.
We learn from Scripture that where the fruit of the Spirit comes is as we begin a relationship with Jesus. The Holy Spirit moves into our hearts. He clocks in, and He goes to work. He starts doing something that only He can do to help naturally, holistically, and spiritually produce these things in us, cultivate these things in us, as we follow Jesus. That's a big thing that we can't miss.
One commentator said, "To bear fruit, we all need new hearts — regenerate people." Those who have put their faith in Jesus have the power to naturally, holistically, and gradually bear fruit as they remain in relationship with Christ. There is simply no other way.
So now that we have maybe a unified felt desire for fruit, we now understand what fruit is. Fruit is a collective combination of these things found in one person, Jesus Christ. And left to our own, we can't produce these things in us. The only way possible for this is to begin and remain and be in relationship with Christ.
Let me take some time to break down how Jesus was and is the perfect embodiment of each of these fruits, put on full display towards you and me.
Let's start with love first. [1] John 4, verses 7 through 12 and 19, says this:
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. … We love because he first loved us."
And so the first one, love, I think is listed there intentionally by Paul. It's first for a reason, because our relationship with Jesus starts on the premise of love. We realize, when we look at Christ and what Jesus did for us on the cross — the way that He sacrificed Himself and traded places with us — we go, "Who would love me like that?" And the answer is, Jesus does. God does. And we respond to that love by beginning a relationship. And as we remain in relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit continues every day, moment by moment, to show you just how loved you are by God. And what starts to happen eventually, over time, through the work of the Holy Spirit, is we are then able to love others the way that we are being loved by the Father. It just begins to happen naturally. We love because He first loved us.
Second is joy. First Thessalonians 5:16–18 says, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." What you have to know about joy is, joy is actually an active expression — expressive posture — towards God despite circumstances. No matter what's going on in your life, you can have an expressive posture towards God. And where this comes from is — this is something that, as you read through the Gospels, you watch Jesus model perfectly. No matter what was going on in Jesus's life, He had a joy that this world could not take from Him, because He was in relationship with God. He knew who God was. And what the Holy Spirit begins to do, as you remain in relationship, is the Holy Spirit starts to give you a satisfying joy, the ability to have this active, expressive posture, that people look at you and go, "How can you be so joyful in the midst of…?" And you get to answer, "Jesus." But it only comes as you remain and begin relationship with Him.
The third is peace. Colossians 3:15 says, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." So if joy is more of an active, expressive posture towards God, peace comes as more of a calm, stable, and confidence in God — that no matter what's going on in your life, you can have a sense of peace. Even if you're standing in the midst of a storm, you can have a peace about you, a peace that radiates off you towards others. And when you give an answer as to how, you get to simply say, "Jesus." Jesus had perfect peace, and He offers it to each of us when we look at the cross, because no matter what, we know how the story ends: with Jesus victorious over sin and death. Nothing offers a peace in this world like that.
Patience. Second Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." As you open up the Gospels and read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus models patience like no one I've ever seen. And He modeled it even with His closest followers, the disciples, the ones who spent the most time with Jesus. No matter how long you've been following Jesus, you'll never be as close as the disciples were to Jesus, because they were physically with Him. And yet they stumbled, they fumbled, they screwed it up. They said the wrong things, they did the wrong things. They cut people's ears off. These guys were crazy, trying to figure out what it meant to follow Jesus. And Jesus was patient with them. He would sit and explain to them over and over and over. It's hard to follow Jesus, but we get to follow a man who is patient with you as we follow Him.
Kindness — this is one of my favorites. Ephesians 2:1–7 says:
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus."
Here's what I love about God's kindness. God's kindness is expressions of God's grace. And what we know biblically: grace is giving good things to people who don't deserve them, for a purpose. God's grace is giving good things to people like you and I who don't deserve them, so that we would know we are loved by God. So God continues each day, as we walk with Him, to show us His kindness, to extend grace upon grace upon grace, so that you know — that I know — that I am loved by God no matter my shortcomings, because it is not what I do, but what Christ has done for me that saved me in the first place. And the more you experience God's kindness in your walk with the Lord, the more, as you walk in life, you will start to see, through the work of the Holy Spirit, ways in which you can extend kindness towards others, for a purpose: that they too might know that they are loved by God.
Goodness. Second Thessalonians 1:11 says, "With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith." As one walks with the Lord, part of the job of the Holy Spirit is, over time, to reveal to you all the ways — not just throughout human history, but in your life specifically — ways in which God has been good to you by working His plan out to bring you into salvation, to continue to mold you and turn you into the image of His Son. And there are so many things happening that you don't see, that I don't see, that we miss. And it isn't for years, decades later, that we look back and go, "Oh my gosh, He was at work. He has been working." And the Holy Spirit's like, "Yeah, I've been telling you. I've been trying to show you that." It takes a long time for us to see it. But what's cool about it is we get to trust in God's goodness: that He is in control, that He does have a plan, that He promises one day to bring it all right again.
Faithfulness. First Corinthians 1:9 says, "God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship" — into relationship — "with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." And what you simply need to know about faithfulness is, you and I, if we follow Jesus, we are going to struggle to remain faithful. It's one of the hardest things to do about to be a follower [sic], is to remain faithful. But here's what we know from Scripture: God is faithful. Jesus is faithful. And because they are faithful, they are worthy of our faithfulness. And the Holy Spirit's job is to wake you up and put you to bed every night, reminding you that God is faithful, that Jesus is faithful. Remain faithful to them.
Gentleness. Matthew 11:28–30. These are Jesus's words. He says:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
One of my favorite passages in all of Scripture, because it's the only place that I know of — according to a book that I read called Gentle and Lowly — where Jesus' or God's heart is described as gentle and lowly, gentle and humble. And the Holy Spirit's job is to help you realize that you are in relationship with a God who is gentle and humble towards you, meaning that God has made Himself approachable. We get access to God through Jesus and what He did for us on the cross.
And Jesus modeled this — if you read the Gospels — modeled this like nobody else. How many times was Jesus on a mission? Did He have something to do? How many of us wake up every day and we've got a task, a to-do list, things that we need to get done, and then we get that phone call, or that thing comes up, or that thing happens, and we have to stop what we're doing, and we're like, "Oh, we gotta go deal with this." How many times did that happen to Jesus? And how many times did it involve a person who was desperate, broken, in need, hoping that Jesus could help? And what does Jesus do? Time and time and time again, He stops what He's doing. He addresses the person. He gets down on their level. He meets them in their brokenness. He listens to their story. He gives them healing. And He speaks into their story and says, "What you're going through is not how it has to end, because I bring good news." Nobody — nobody — was humble and gentle like Jesus. Someone described Jesus, as Ted Lasso would say: curious, not judgmental.
Lastly, self-control. Again, Jesus's words, in Luke 22:42: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." And these are Jesus's words as He prayed right before He would eventually be arrested and crucified — sacrificed, put to death — so that we could have forgiveness, atonement of our sins, and be able to be in relationship, have this access to God. And thank God, Jesus modeled perfect self-control. Because what He said in that moment, essentially, in that prayer, was, "God, what I'm about to do, what you want me to do, I do not want to do. It's the last thing I want to do. But if you need me to do it, Lord, I'll do it." And He said that prayer with you and I on His heart, because He knew what He needed to do on the cross is what was gonna give you and I relationship and life and healing.
No one modeled self-control [like Him]. He was the master of self-control. And so if you want self-control in your life, if you want the ability to start fighting back the desires that you know are wrong and you need help, the answer isn't — not — come up with a list of behavior modifications. It's fall in love in the relationship with the one who perfectly modeled self-control. And over time, the Holy Spirit is going to help you see what Jesus knew: that God's ways are always better, and He can be trusted. Why? Because God is full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control — I think I missed one, but you get the point.
You see, it's important to know what the fruit of the Spirit is. It's important to realize that each one of us has, in our heart's desire, a need for Him. But we have to understand that the fruit of the Spirit is not a "Here's what you now have to go do if you call yourself a believer." The fruit of the Spirit is: just be in relationship with Jesus and watch the Holy Spirit go to work in you.
Now, we've answered two of the big questions, and we've now got one more: How can we have it? If it sounds like something we want, and we can all say that's something that we need, how can we have it? Paul gives us our answer in verse 24.
That's [Galatians 5,] verse 24: "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Did you catch it? How do you have the fruit of the Spirit? Paul says, belong to Jesus. Belong to Christ. There is simply no other way to have it. And belonging to Jesus means believing in Jesus. Believing in Jesus means being in relationship with Jesus. And being in relationship with Jesus is the only way that you and I can have the fruit of the Spirit.
Jesus talks about this Himself in John 15, where He says this — speaking about the fruit of the Spirit, Jesus' words say: "Remain in me" — belong in me, stay in relationship with me — "remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."
Did you catch it? Remain in Jesus. Remain in relationship with Him. And eventually, inevitably, fruit of the Spirit will start to show.
Tim Keller says, "Our approval and welcome into relationship from the Father rests not on our own character or actions, but Christ." And why that's important is — please don't hear me today, if you have not yet started a relationship with the Lord, please don't hear me say that in order to begin one, you have to have some pre-existing evidence that you have some level or tier of the fruits of the Spirit in your life. That's not what's required to be in relationship with Jesus. Do you know what's required to be in relationship with Jesus? A heart that says, "Man, I need Him." And you start there, and you watch what the Holy Spirit does to your heart that said, "I need Jesus." You don't need any prerequisites to begin a relationship. That's the beauty and the freedom of the gospel. There's nothing else like it, because it's by grace that you've been saved — not by your works or my works, but by what Christ has already done for us.
Now, as we look to close, I want to encourage those who are following the Lord right now. And if you're following the Lord and you're like me, you can't help but kind of look at that list and go, "I kind of thought at this stage in my life, at this point, at this level of my relationship — I've been walking for so long — I kind of thought that I'd have it a little bit more together. I thought I'd be a little bit more stronger in some of those. In fact, I think I kind of have gone down a little bit in some of them." You can't help but think that. Can I just tell you something? You're not behind. You're just simply human.
We struggle, we leak, we don't get it right. And we can't cultivate and produce these things on our own efforts, no matter how hard we try. The only thing that I can encourage you to do, if you are a follower of Christ, is to remain following Jesus.
I'll close with an example that I hope makes sense, and I don't lose you. Remaining in Jesus — following Jesus — is kind of like dieting. And here's what I mean by that. If you decide to go on a diet, no matter where you fall or how you feel about diets, there's three things that, if you observe and give any amount of effort to, should produce fruit in a diet. Start watching what you eat, right? Start watching what you eat. Work out. And don't expect overnight results. If you can do those three things on any level, over time, you will start to see fruit from dieting. The problem is, that's really hard to stay doing. Trust me, I know.
The same goes for your relationship with the Lord. If you are in a relationship and you're feeling like, "Oh, man, I kind of feel like I'm low on those things," or, "Those used to be more existent," then that's probably just some dashboard warning lights going off that maybe your relationship with the Lord isn't as strong as it used to be, and you've moved away from observing some of the obvious things, like being in God's Word, spending time in prayer, and being in community.
Because here's what we know about any healthy relationship. Any healthy relationship has three things. [One:] them talking to you. And that's what we have in God's Word — God's Word speaking directly to our hearts. The second thing is you talking to them, right? That's what prayer is. If you have a relationship where they're not talking to you and you're not talking to them, what do you not have? A relationship. And the third thing is doing things together. People who are in good, healthy relationships enjoy being in each other's company. The same goes for your relationship with the Lord.
Observe the obvious things. Are you spending time in the Word, giving God space to talk to your heart? Are you spending time in prayer, expressing what's going on in your heart to the Lord? And are you spending time together in settings like this — in small groups, in communities where you're encouraged, where you're held accountable, where you're sharpened? Observe those things.
But hear me — hear me. Do not put all your efforts into simply just trying to become the list of fruit of the Spirit. Put all your effort, time, and energy into your relationship with Jesus. Because we know the fruit of the Spirit comes from being in relationship with Jesus and remaining in relationship with Jesus. And inevitably, over time, the fruit of the Spirit comes.
It's like a time-lapse. I don't know about you, but I turned 40 and I became addicted to time-lapses. I don't care what kind they are. I just love seeing broken old things be repaired. Maybe my body's starting to break down and I'm attracted to these things. But if you're a follower of Jesus, you are a time-lapse. And what we know about time-lapses is we see them in fast-forward, right? We miss all the little stuff. Some of these time-lapses, they're two hours condensed into 30 seconds. It's really hard to see the fruit of the Spirit when you're just looking day by day, moment by moment. You need time, and the only way you're going to see it is over time.
Don't get discouraged. Remain in Jesus. Follow Jesus. Open up the Word and get to know the person who embodied them perfectly and desires more than anything to give them to you. And if you do, it's inevitable. The fruit of the Spirit will become part of your life. And you will look back and go, "Man, I cannot believe that I now [blank] when I used to [blank]." And you're gonna go, "I don't know what happened." And everyone that's around you is gonna be like, "We do. You gave your life to Jesus, and you let the Holy Spirit do what it does."
Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for your Word. Thank you for the fruit of the Spirit. Lord, I pray that you meet each of us here in this moment, and may we lean into you and trust you and understand that if what we desire is the fruit, what we really mean is we desire you. May we give our hearts to you today. [In] your name we pray. Amen.
