How God Works Through You | 02.02.25 | Made For More pt.1
We’ve just finished our winter season of 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, and those of you who were able to participate have learned a lot, I’m sure!
Over the last three weeks, we’ve been practicing saying NO to some things that are a burden or a distraction that pull us away from God, so that we can make space to connect with God daily.
Some of you have told me that you’re grateful that the daily messages came early in the morning, since that was a helpful way to kickstart the day before the go go go stress of your day showed up.
Some of you are glad that you fasted from something that was adding stress or anxiety to your life.
Some of you wrestled with the fact that the thing you fasted from was harder to say NO to than you had realized.
I personally chose to fast from social media, which meant I just didn’t get on facebook for the last three weeks. But then I decided to also add youtube, since I realized youtube videos accounted for a lot of just turtling my head down and scrolling every day.
Well, that was a hard one to stay away from. I even added a blocker on my phone. But then I disabled it. Then I reenabled it. Then I disabled it.
But the truth of the matter is that the last three weeks weren’t about being perfect in some goal or task. Just being transparent, I even skipped the morning devotion a couple mornings over the last three weeks because I chose to sleep in a little longer. Because when you have a teething baby, you’re extra tired some mornings!
Participating in the 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting wasn’t about perfection, it was about making space for God to work in us to continue to help us grow and learn. And as I look back over the last three weeks, I learned some things.
I learned that youtube is my favorite form of entertainment and distraction when I want to just zone out. I learned that 5am feels a lot earlier now that I have kids than when I was in my twenties and waking up for my construction job.
I also learned that protecting that morning time completely changes my day.
I wonder what you learned? I wonder how you’ve grown?
Maybe you’ve found yourself with more resolve? Or maybe you’ve grown to be more patient, or more joyful in the last three weeks.
Maybe you fell off the wagon and are feeling down about it, but I’m here to remind you that God’s grace doesn’t expect you to EARN his love! He invites you to keep drawing close to him, because being confronted with our weakness and our bad habits is all a part of the process God is bringing us through as he helps us mature and grow and transform as apprentices of Jesus.
Because God WANTS to work in your life to help you grow. He wants to help you overcome the things that hold you back from the life he offers, and he wants to help each and every one of us to get more and more of the types of things that we see in the life of Jesus.
In fact, that’s why we’re starting a new series today that is about the fruit of the Spirit, the types of things that are produced by a life that is centered on God. We heard the passage earlier naming the things that are the result of God working in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
And I’m wondering if any of those were things that you grew in during the last few weeks? Even if you weren’t joining in our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, what has God been growing in you so far this year?
Have you experienced a little more joy? Have you grown in patience and generosity? Are you feeling the strain on your self-control?
What about over the last year? Do you feel like you are more loving now that you were a year ago? What about 5 years ago?
Do you feel like you have more peace in your life now than 5 years ago? Or have things changed that have diminished your peace?
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be looking at each of these attributes that God wants to grow in us, because you were made for more. God created you to experience more love, more joy, more peace as you continue to follow him.
He wants to increase your capacity for patience, more kindness, more generosity, as you grow as an apprentice of Jesus.
Because becoming saved by Jesus isn’t just about a prayer we pray. It isn’t just about some experience of heaven “later on.”
Our new life that we experience when we’re saved by Jesus involves how we live NOW, too. It involves us becoming more and more like Jesus NOW, so that the other people around us can experience more of Jesus in their lives because of us.
[2 Scripture Ref]
And our Scripture today is an explanation about the fact that when we live with the Spirit of God at work in us, our lives just naturally demonstrate more and more of the attributes of Jesus.
When we live according to the way of Jesus, he works in us to help us become more and more like him. Because we were made for more of his life in our lives.
So open your Bibles with me to Galatians 5. I’m going to be reading it from the New Living Translation, which is different from the black, seat-back Bibles. But I still encourage you to read along with me!
As you’re finding it, this is the passage that was read earlier, but we’re going to keep reading to see how the Apostle Paul wants us to live these out in a way that blesses those around us.
What we’re about to read is the end of a letter that Paul is writing to a group of Jesus followers. They live in modern day Turkey, and Paul was the one who had first told them about Jesus and helped start their church gatherings.
Now, they have gotten some questions and Paul is writing to them to encourage them in their faith as well as to help them understand that God is at work in their life now.
[Galatians 5:22-6:10 NLT]
[3 Gal 5:22]
Right before this, he had just finished declaring that following Jesus isn’t about following rules IN ORDER TO EARN your place with God.
No, God has already adopted us, he’s already claimed us as his own because of Jesus.
But…the things we do…the habits we have DO affect our life. And when we live according to our passions and our desires…when we let our sinful nature call the shots, we MISS the kingdom of God.
[4 Gal 5:22-23]
“But the Holy Spirit produces THIS kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Now, notice that it DOESN’T say the “fruits” of the Spirit. It’s not plural, it’s singular. These aren’t separate things, where some people get patience and some people get joy. The word that we translate as “fruit” can also mean “product” or “outcome” or “result.”
When the Holy Spirit is calling the shots in our life, when we’re partnering with God and allowing him to work in us, the outcome is that we grow in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The RESULT of Jesus working in us to help us become more like him, is that we get more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Because we were made for more love. We were made for more joy.
The way of the world has tried to tell us that the ultimate goal of life is to GET as much as we can out of life. How much can I GET? How much can I TAKE? How much can I collect?
And if I’m trying to GET, and you’re trying to GET, then you’re an obstacle to me. You’re an opponent to me. Because if you GET something, I might not be able to get it!
But in God’s kingdom, there’s always more of the things that actually matter. And we were made for more patience, and gentleness, and self-control.
In God’s kingdom, when we live according to the way of Jesus… we realize that the ultimate goal isn’t to GET…anything.
The ultimate goal of life is to BECOME. To become like Jesus himself. To become more and more like the one who demonstrated true love, experienced true joy in obeying the Father, who brought peace with him even into the chaos of whatever situation he encountered.
And if you’re like me, you know you’ve got a way to go in becoming more like Jesus. If you’re honest, you could use a little more love in your life. You could grow in your patience a little bit. Your family would definitely appreciate it if you had more kindness.
[5 Gal 5:24-25]
And Paul continues by saying that when we were adopted by Jesus by saying yes to his offer of new life, we actually nailed our old way of life to the cross. And now, “since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”
Anyone who has ever been in recovery knows what this is talking about. Back in your old way of life, you used to be a slave to your addiction. The addiction had gotten so powerful, it was as if it wasn’t even you any more.
And then you got clean. Then you got sober. Then you got right with God and right with your wife.
And you know that rehab saved your life. You know that the 12 steps has given you a new lease on life.
You know that every single day you have a choice to keep living your NEW way of life. Because going back to your old way of life? Going back to your old spots you used to drink too much? Going back to your old relationships that pulled you into that darkness?
Going back would be choosing death.
The same thing is for all of us. Once you’ve begun your life of walking with Jesus, we have a daily choice to KEEP walking with Jesus and letting HIM lead, or…we can choose to let our sinful nature lead us right into a life that feels more like death. With more stress, more anger, more jealousy, more fighting, selfish ambition.
But Jesus claimed you. He died to save you. He invited you through the waters of baptism to be adopted as his own so that he can give you more love, and more joy, and more peace.
[6 Gal 5:26]
And this personal transformation isn’t just for us! This personal journey of being led by God turns us towards communal living. Not competing with others, but caring for them. Being transformed by Jesus, together, turns our lives to be focused on helping others.
[7 Gal 6:1]
And when someone else near you is falling back in sin… WHEN someone near you is overcome and beat down by envy, by the porn addiction, by the pursuit of something other than Jesus as their savior… the rest of us are called to RESTORE them gently.
Because we’re better than them? Heck no! Because we know what that type of LESS-THAN life is like, and we know Jesus wants better for them! We know they were made for more!
And we don’t come alongside them as if we’re better, but we do it in gentleness. I love this definition of Gentleness: Gentleness is defined as the quality of not being overly impressed by a sense of one’s self-importance.
It’s the opposite of harsh correction. It’s gentleness, humility, meekness.
[8 Gal 6:2-3]
Because when we share each other’s burdens, when we bear each other’s burdens, we follow the law of Christ. And Paul defined what he means by the “law of Christ” earlier in the letter:
[9 Gal 5:14]
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s the highest law: love!
And when we help carry each other through tough times, because Jesus is working in us so that he can spread his love THROUGH us, when we help each other experience healing and restoration, we’re fulfilling the greatest command Jesus gave: to love.
[10 Gal 6:2-3]
And this is for everyone, because none of us are too important to help someone else. And I just want to pause and add in my own note about this, because Paul is obviously writing to a certain context, where he thinks there are people listening who need to be reminded that they are not ABOVE helping others.
And that’s an important thing to be reminded of. None of us are too important, or too busy, or in too much of a hurry to opt out of when God gives us an opportunity to help someone else by bearing their burden so they can experience healing in God’s presence.
But, I’ve got to add this, none of us are too inexperienced, either. There is a definite sentiment among the family of God that I’ve experienced that when we hear about someone’s hurt they are going through, we expect the pastor to be the one to take care of that.
Or we expect someone on the prayer team to be able to pray better than us.
Or we expect the person LEADING the Bible study to be the better choice to connect with that person and bear their burden.
But if God is putting the opportunity in front of YOU, that probably means that YOU’RE supposed to be involved in some way.
Sorry, I just had to mention that. Let’s get back to the passage:
[11 Gal 6:7-8]
Then Paul returns to the idea that when we live according to our sinful nature, it produces the type of fruit we don’t want in our life. But when we invest in a Spirit-led life, it produces the fruit of everlasting life.
[12 Gal 6:9-10]
So…let’s not get tired of doing what is good. Keep going! Because when you plant, the harvest WILL come. And if we’re planting the right type of things, if we’re letting the Spirit lead us…the harvest will be the type of incredible aspects of life we truly need and crave.
Because we were made for more love, more joy, more peace. God made you for more patience, more kindness, more generosity. Jesus wants to bring a harvest of more faithfulness, more gentleness, more self-control in your life.
And it’s not just for YOU. When we let the Spirit lead us, it allows us to be a part of other people’s journeys as well. And in turn, other people are going to be a part of our journey, they are going to help us bear our burdens as well.
Last week, I told you how I have been feeling the weight of a lot of expectation and stress that I put on myself. And there have been multiple people who were very helpful to me in bearing a little of my burden, and who helped point me back to the grace and love of Jesus.
And so I just want to encourage you that God wants to work through YOU to do the same thing. Because as the Spirit transforms us, we reflect God’s love by showing kindness, patience, and generosity to others.
[Who can you bless?]
So who can you bless this week? Who can you bless with a small act of love or encouragement?
Who is God telling you to reach out to because you know they are carrying a burden, and maybe you can help with a small word or act of love?
Maybe you’re not sure of a WHO yet, so perhaps God is just inviting you to keep your eyes open. Maybe you need to write down a reminder and stick it somewhere you will see it every day so that you look around for opportunities to bless someone else.
And as we do this, as we take next steps in obedience to God, he continues to work in us to transform us. He continues to grow the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and in our character.
[What does the Spirit…]
Maybe God is actually trying to intentionally grow a certain thing in your life this week. What fruit of the Spirit is something that God has been working in your life recently? Where do you feel his tender love inviting you to follow him?
Maybe you have been experiencing a stretching of your love for others.
Maybe you have been in need of patience. Maybe you have experienced some Joy and just need to look for opportunities to share that joy with others!
How has God been working in you recently? And how can you take a next step of obedience this week?
Because when we follow his leading, he continues to work in our lives so that we can grow and transform to become more and more like Jesus in our daily lives.
Jesus can transform your life, if you let him. If you partner with him and give him your yes. Because, as he is working in us to transform us, he’s also working through us to help others, so that they can feel the presence of his love in their lives.
And together, we get to grow and learn and make an impact on our whole community. Because you were made for more. And Jesus is able to accomplish even more through your life than we could ever imagine, thanks to his sacrifice and resurrection power at work in us and through us. Isn’t that good news?