Scripture:
Galatians 5:22-25
Luke 6:43-45
Philippians 2:12-13
- We all have desires that we need to have fulfilled – security, peace, contentment, significance, connection, and wholeness. Are these desires good? If so, then why does the pursuit of these desires go so wrong so often?
- When we attempt to fulfill those desires on our own, it leads to a long list of character traits that aren’t exactly desirable – things like contempt, rage, anxiety, despair, greed, loneliness, laziness, lust, pride. How do people typically try to curtail or handle those types of traits?
- Now, contrast that with the way of Scripture. We are called to submit our desires to the Lordship of Jesus. What does that look like? In what ways have you found this to be challenging and/or rewarding?
- We are also called to keep in step with the Spirit. What does that look like? In what ways have you found freedom in a life with the Spirit?
- We are called, too, to follow the spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, giving, service, and Sabbath. What does that look like? Why does it take time to develop?
- If we put these three things together – submission to Jesus, walking with the Spirit, and adhering to the Spiritual disciplines – we see an outgrowth of the fruit of the Spirit. In what ways have seen this occur in your life? Where would you like to see God continue to work?
