Galatians 5:22–23 says:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…”
Life hacks have been popularized through the internet and social media. They provide great instructions, shortcuts, and or better ways of doing things. The Bible is filled with lifehacks for how we can be transformed by God's power and become the people God created and called us to be.
When a person accepts Jesus as their Savior their transformation is not a completed process; their new life is just beginning. Jesus calls us to strive to follow Him, to become more like him in our thoughts, words, and deeds. He promised us that He would not leave us orphaned but would send us His power to help us live out the Christian life. Paul expands upon Jesus' promise by teaching that we are called to live our lives according to His spirit and to let His spirit continue to transform us.
But what does that look like? How are we able to accomplish this. It looks exactly like Galatians 5:22–23. Love… joy… peace… all the attributes that make up the fruit of the Spirit - 9 life hacks for our walk with Jesus. Nine words, but Paul didn’t write “fruits” of the Spirit. It’s singular. Which means if we’re walking in the Spirit, we’re going to be living out each and every one of these. A believer who is walking in the Spirit can’t excel in love but lack in patience… or major on kindness and let the self-control slip.
We can’t pick and choose from these fruit. We need all of these life hacks to help us live as Jesus' disciples. And these fruit don’t go in and out of season… they’re meant to be lived out ALL day, EVERY day. If we know Jesus, they’re a MUST.
This summer at Asbury, we’re going to go through each of these nine practices - "life hacks" - that make up the fruit of the Spirit. So come each Sunday ready to hear what God has to say about these characteristics that He intended to be lived out in our day to day lives. Because these topics are so close to our daily lives, we will be having weekly questions for you to consider whether it's alone in your prayer journaling or in discussion with your LifeGroup.
Don’t be afraid to add to this list, skip questions that don’t work for you or your group or branch off with additional questions as the discussion unfolds. Conversation and reflection is key! This is the time to work through the application of scripture in your journal or with others.
