Holy Spirit - Breath of Godنموونە

FORMATION

“Although God will grant Christlikeness to us when Jesus returns, until then he intends for us to grow toward it. We aren’t merely to wait for holiness; we’re to pursue it.”— DONALD S. WHITNEY

If we’re not being intentionally formed by Jesus, then we’re unintentionally being formed by someone or something else. In Galatians 5, the apostle Paul calls us to walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh, saying, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit.”

Your flesh is a flawed god compared to Jesus, and a horrible counsellor compared to the Holy Spirit. Your flesh drives you towards self-love, quick dopamine kicks, anxiety, impatience, snappiness, evil thoughts, fickle infidelity, violence, laziness, and impulsiveness.

But in Galatians 5:22–23, the apostle Paul says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Like physical fruit, spiritual fruit can take time to grow, mature and multiply. Just like a gardener who works hard to take care of a fruit tree, so we need to be wise and reflective on the fruit we’re producing in our lives.

FOCUS EXERCISE

• STEP 1: Reflect on your character. In prayer, ask Jesus what aspect of your character he wants to transform this month. Is it impatience, lack of self-control, anxiety, anger, laziness, or addictions?
• STEP 2: Focus on one spiritual fruit. Read Galatians 5:22–23 and choose one fruit of the Holy Spirit to cultivate in your life for the upcoming month.
• STEP 3: Brainstorm ideas to nurture this fruit. Alongside prayer (which we’ll explore in the next exercise), consider spiritual disciplines that could aid in focusing on this fruit. For instance, if you’re working on patience or overcoming anger, you might memorise Scripture or have a quote ready to recite to yourself when you feel angry. Or, to work on self-control, you may fast once a week.