Rotten Spiritual Fruit

In our youth group, Kevin has been emphasizing the importance of sowing and reaping. That is, if we practice (sow) laziness in our lives, we get the result (reaping) of failure or disappointment. For example, if we are lazy and don’t study for a test, we don’t pass. If we stop trying in school and keep failing tests, we don’t get to graduate to the next grade.

When I am diligent and care for my plants, they sprout flowers and vegetables. But when I go a weekend without watering them, they wilt and die.

In our walk with God, reaping spiritual fruit is not a magical event. They don’t just appear one day. They are a result of time spent in the Word, praying, and practicing what we believe.

But if we’re not diligent, if we decide to give in and live for the glory of ourselves, we reap bad fruit.

Galatians chapter 5 kicks off the discussion of spiritual fruit. Before we can look at the good fruit, we first take a look at the bad fruit.

16 I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity,promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Verse 16 tells us that if we want to conquer the flesh, we must continually yield to the Holy Spirit. Freedom from the flesh is not attainable by our own human strength. It is a result of constant obedience and dependence on the Holy Spirit. We’re told to “walk.” This means it’s a day-to-day activity. We are daily in a battle and we are not immune to the desires of the flesh.

Verse 19 starts a long list of “do not”s.

1.   Sexual immorality/moral impurity/promiscuity – There is not a sharp distinction between any of these terms. They all involve a lack of restraint. Some examples are pornography, sex before marriage, sex outside of marriage, and lust.

2.   Idolatry/sorcery – This focuses on refusing to worship the one true God. It’s a failure to praise God and thank Him for His goodness. It doesn’t mean you have a wooden statue you bow down to. Instead, you turn your trust away from God and to another source. There are several examples that are dangerous entry grounds in this category such as believing horoscopes, magic, an ouji boards.

3.   Hatreds/strife/jealousy/outbursts of anger/selfish ambitions/dissentions/factions/envy/ drunkenness/carousing/anything similar – These are all social sins that disrupt community life. They have the ability to divide people when instead we are to unite people with the Gospel. A couple of the main points in this category are outbursts of anger that leave people shaking in its path. Jealousy is  big one. It happens when you are not satisfied with the gifts that God has given you. You actually desire to have a gift that God has given someone else and you begin to hate what you can do. This list is not exclusive. It includes anything like wild parties.

This is a sobering list. Why does Paul mention these sins? Verse 21 tells us that “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Take some time this weekend to seriously consider what aspects of your life you need to wage war against the flesh in. And join the blog next week as we rejoice over the Fruit of the Spirit that we can also reap.

Read the next post in this series:http://wp.me/p2xHae-9F