We’re naturally drawn to sin, and the more we sin, the more our lives spiral out of control. But when we submit ourselves to God’s reign and rule, He grows the fruit of His Spirit in us, and it gives us the power to control the sinful tendencies of our flesh.

When we try our hardest to act godly, the work of trying will eventually wear us down — and our flesh will reveal itself in the ugliness of sin. But when we surrender ourselves to Jesus, His work in us manifests itself in the fruit of the Spirit that others notice in our lives. To allow ourselves to be controlled by the Spirit is anything but weak — it takes immense strength.

God’s patience for us is limitless: He extends undeserved, unmerited grace and love no matter how many times we mess up. We can take advantage of His kindness and mercy and continue to live in our own flesh, or we can let Him live in us and watch the fruit of His Spirit begin to grow from within.

Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. These are the fruits of the Spirit, and should be the natural byproduct of every follower of Jesus. Tasted any lately? 

Nothing in this world will fulfill us like Jesus can — but that doesn’t stop us from trying to find alternatives. Whether it’s alcohol, drugs, money, sex, food, or some other crutch, we turn to all kinds of earthly temptations in hopes that it will fill the void. The only One who can satisfy the heart is the One who made it, and the love, joy and peace He brings to us is proof to everyone around us that we have something they need.

If you died tomorrow, would you be missed? Death is inevitable for each of us until Jesus returns — and we only get one shot to live this life in a way that pleases God. When we keep in step with the Spirit, our lives will bear the fruit of the Spirit, and that fruit is what makes us the kind of people who will be missed once we’re gone.

If you think you’re not hot-headed, just try sitting in rush hour traffic on a Friday afternoon! Anger is something we all struggle with — probably more than we’d like to admit. For some of us, that anger governs everything we do, and we can spend our entire lives walking around just looking for things to get mad about. But when we allow the Holy Spirit to take over our lives, He replaces our own angry impulses with fruits like love, joy, and peace that can only come from yielding our lives to Jesus.

Did you know that our lives are always producing fruit? But the type of fruit we produce depends on how deeply rooted we are in Christ. When we’re connected to Him, we produce the good fruits like love, joy, and peace — and when others see what we have, they want the same life transformation we’ve experienced.

Hot Head: Living with the absence of patience, poise, and peace. Living with a short fuse. Living like it’s always everyone else’s fault. Living through the filter of getting even. The solution? Invite God to trim that branch, to cut it off, to graft in its place His patience, His poise, His peace, and especially His love for others.

Being connected to God’s Vine is the result of receiving His forgiveness. Bearing fruit should be the result of being connected. Is it mandatory to being saved? No. But does it activate an obedient, purpose-filled, joyful, and fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) bearing life? Absolutely.

By trimming away non fruit-bearing branches, plus trimming back the fruit-bearing ones, a vine will bear the best fruit. So, are we going to be trimmed AWAY (being separated) from the Vine, or trimmed BACK (remaining connected) to the Vine?