Galatians 5:16-26
Evidence of the Walk

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.

New Revised Standard Version

It is good to study the first part of this passage, just as it is a good thing to study the Ten Commandments. These are warnings that God has given us in how not to live. However, it is not enough to live by the "don't"s, any more than it was enough for the Pharisees to live by the Law.

The second part of this passage gives us the contrast. When we are walking in God's Way, this is how life will be. We will see the evidence, the fruit, in these ways in our life.

Notice how carefully Paul constructed these two lists. We can be led by the "flesh" or the "Spirit". We can follow what we choose to do, or we can follow God's choices and guidance.

We all want happiness. If we try to get happiness our way, we want to do what is fun, and over time, we cross the line into immorality and excess. If we follow God and let God supply our happiness, God gives us peace and joy, even in the most difficult and unexpected experiences.

We want answers to life. If we try to find those answers our way, it leads to all sorts of false practices, because the nature of the world isn't ours to discover and control. If we follow God, God will tell us what we need to strengthen our faith, and will give us the peace, patience, and confident assurance that we thought we would get from the answers we sought.

We want others to love us. If we try to get others to love us our way, we will fail. In our imperfections, we will always hurt others, and those that believed in us will turn away from us. If we focus on loving God and loving others, God will bless us with sincere kindness, generosity, and gentleness that has its roots in God's love. Others will love us and love God in us.

But friends, there's a warning in the second part of this passage as well. Are we living our lives blessed by peace and patience? Is the joy, kindness, and gentleness obvious in our lives? Are we a model of generosity and self-control? If not, then we're preventing the Spirit from growing these fruits in our lives; we're pulling away from God's Way in some parts of our lives. Paul cautioned the Galatian Christians not to compete with each other in "goodness" -- is envy of others getting in your way? Jesus criticized the Pharisees for manufacturing "goodness" by laws and failing to love God -- are you too focused on acting the role of a Christian to let God lead? Even after the resurrection, the disciples, confused, still pressed Jesus to learn when his kingdom would be established -- are you looking at the future with impatience and robbing yourself of the day that God has made for you? God knows those things in our lives that keep us from more blessings, and God will help us find the Way.