INTRODUCTION…

-- When you walk through an orchard, the trees don’t struggle to make fruit. You don’t see branches straining or hear roots groaning. They simply do what they are supposed to do…bear fruit from the roots that they are connected to.

-- That’s how Paul describes the life of a believer who is connected to/abiding in Jesus and walking with the Holy Spirit. When a person is rooted in Jesus—truly walking with Him—the Spirit begins to grow fruit that looks like Jesus!

GAL 5:16-26
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

-- The FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is not a list of personality traits to try harder at. It isn’t something we manufacture; it’s what the Spirit produces when we stay connected to Jesus. It’s the evidence of divine life flowing through our own human weakness.

-- JOHN PIPER put it this way: “The fruit of the Spirit is what happens when you stop relying on yourself and start relying on the Spirit.”

-- When you see the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT in your life, it is evidence that Jesus is in us…through the Holy Spirit. This is the part of salvation called SANCTIFICATION…the process of being saved from the power of sin in our lives…this is actual spiritual growth. It is a cooperative work between God and us…God working in us and through us to free us from sin and making us more like Jesus.

-- In Paul’s description he uses the singular word “fruit”—not “fruits.” He is saying that this is one unified work of the Spirit, not nine separate virtues

-- So the next three weeks we are going to look at the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT…the evidence of Jesus living in us. Today we are going to look at the first three aspects of this fruit—love.joy.peace…

-- These three are FRUIT THAT IS ROOTED… it’s the inward character traits of JESUS which are formed in the heart of a believer. They describe the inward posture of a person who’s been changed from the inside out. Let’s start with LOVE…

1. LOVE — The Core of the Spirit’s Work…

-- Paul begins with LOVE because everything else grows out of it. If LOVE isn’t there, the rest of the fruit lose their meaning

1 COR 13:13
“13 Now these three remain: faith, hope, and LOVE ​— ​but the greatest of these is LOVE.”

ROM 5:5
“This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s LOVE has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

-- When we are talking about this LOVE, it isn’t that we are having to climb up toward God—no, it’s His LOVE that was poured down into us, and now overflows into the people around us he has called us to love. That means we don’t generate LOVE; we receive it.

-- Most of the time “LOVE” is described as an emotion…but that’s not what this love is. This is “Agapē LOVE” ... it’s an action, a decision, that is empowered by the Holy Spirit. — it is a willful choice to seek someone else's good even when it costs you. It’s the kind of LOVE that acts before it feels.

-- WAYNE GRUDEM describes this type of LOVE as “the first and most comprehensive fruit, the root from which all others grow.”

-- As I said earlier, this is SANCTIFICATION…and genuine sanctification always begins with LOVE, because LOVE reveals that God’s character is taking shape in the believer…being saved from the power of sin…becoming more like Jesus.

-- MIKE WINGER one of my favorite podcast guys, says, “LOVE is the command that fuels obedience—it’s the engine of Christian ethics.”

-- Think about Jesus the night He was betrayed and how having this type of self-less love played out. He washed Judas’s feet, knowing full well he would betray him just moments later. That’s LOVE the flesh can’t imitate. That’s not sentiment; that’s sacrifice. That’s Spirit-born LOVE. That’s LOVE that costs something.

--> LOVE looks like serving someone who can’t pay you back.
--> LOVE looks like forgiving when bitterness is easier.
--> LOVE looks like staying engaged when culture tells you to walk away.

-- That’s what the Spirit produces—a LOVE that flows vertically from God and horizontally to people. This is the great commandment in action (LOVE God. LOVE others). Here’s a truth: you’ll never LOVE people well until you understand how deeply you’ve been LOVED. The Spirit starts here—reminding you daily that you are LOVED at your worst so you are able to LOVE others at their worst.

-- When you can love like this, JEFF VANDERSTELT calls it, “The evidence that you’ve truly been LOVED first.” That’s how the Spirit transforms the heart—from recipient to reflector.

-- JOHN PIPER describes it beautifully: “LOVE is the overflow of joy in God that gladly meets the needs of others.”

-- So the question becomes: Who is the hardest person for me to LOVE right now?

-- Because that’s exactly where the Spirit is aiming to grow fruit in you. That’s the very soil where the Spirit wants to plant deeper roots. LOVE doesn’t grow best in ease—it grows best in tension. When the Spirit fills you, He gives you the supernatural capacity to LOVE the unlovely, forgive the undeserving, and serve without being seen.

2. JOY — The Gladness of Grace…

-- The second thing on Paul list is JOY. In his is letter to the church in Philippi, he writes…

PHP 4:4
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

-- This is a very popular verse, but the context here is really important. Do you realize that when Paul wrote those words about rejoicing he was in jail?

-- We get a glimpse of his JOYFUL attitude in a different painful moment in his life recorded for us in ACTS 16. We read about Paul and Silas who were arrested for casting out a demon in a slave girl who was able to predict the future. She made a lot of money for her owners and they were pretty upset that she could no longer do that without the demon. So they had Paul and Silas arrested, beaten (flogged) and then thrown in jail with their feet in shackles. You would think this would have put a damper on their attitude…but their attitude was amazing. It says in...

ACTS 16:25-26
“25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose.”

-- Paul and Silas, bruised and bleeding, still praying and singing at midnight. They weren’t pretending. They were proclaiming: God is still good even though we are in a really difficult painful situation. Paul wasn’t denying pain—he redefined it. He wasn’t glad about his situation— but he was able to have JOY because of Jesus. Remember, JOY is not always expressed as happiness. Happiness might depend on what happens; but JOY depends on who holds you. And that’s the point— JOY doesn’t come from avoiding hardship but from seeing God’s hand in it. That’s what JOY is…it is a settled confidence that God is still good even when life isn’t.

-- Listen to some of these quotes
--> DR THOMAS CONSTABLE:
"JOY is the deep satisfaction that comes from knowing we belong to God and are secure in His care.”

--> JOHN PIPER:
“JOY is the deep, durable delight in God that circumstances cannot destroy.”

--> DAVID GUZIK:
“JOY is not the absence of sorrow; it’s the presence of the Savior.”

--> MATT CHANDLER:
“True JOY endures pain because it’s anchored in promise.”

--> MIKE WINGER:
“The Spirit doesn’t remove hardship; He redeems it.”

-- JOY isn’t pretending everything’s okay—it’s trusting that even when things fall apart, God is still good.
-- JOY says, “You don’t get the last word; Jesus does.”
-- Sometimes JOY needs to be practiced.
-- You thank God before you feel thankful.
-- You rehearse His goodness until gratitude becomes stronger than grumbling.

NEH 8:10
“Do not grieve, because the JOY of the Lord is your strength.”

-- Joy is strength. It doesn’t ignore grief; it anchors you in grace.

-- So your question might be: “What has stolen my JOY?”

-- If you’ve lost strength, it might be because you’ve lost sight of JOY. The Spirit’s JOY is fuel that doesn’t run dry when moods shift or circumstances break. He restores and renews our strength by helping us fix our eyes on Jesus, not on our circumstances. If your JOY has faded, ask the Spirit to restore it. He will. That’s His specialty—reviving what’s gone cold.

3. PEACE — The Rest of Trust…

-- And the third thing Paul lists…is PEACE…The world defines PEACE as the absence of conflict, but a better definition is the presence of trust. It’s the deep calm that comes when you remember who runs the universe—and it’s not you.

-- MATT CHANDLER puts it this way…“PEACE happens when you finally believe Jesus actually runs the world.”
-- It’s knowing that even when everything shakes, God hasn’t moved.

-- Jesus made this promise…JN 14:27
“PEACE I leave with you. My PEACE I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.”

-- PEACE (eirēnē) in this passage refers to “a state of inner harmony with God that results from being justified by faith.” Because you’ve been made right with God, you can rest in His goodness even when life is chaotic.

-- JOHN PIPER calls it “the deep contentment of a soul resting in the goodness and power of God.”

-- Paul gave us some instruction regarding PEACE in his letter to the Philippians immediately following verse 4 that commanded us to ‘REJOICE’

PHP 4:6–7
“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

--That word guard is a military word, it means to stand watch. The Spirit stands watch at the door of your mind when anxiety tries to kick it in.

-- WAYNE GRUDEM points out that PEACE is “the fruit that displays our confidence in God’s providence.”

-- When you’re walking with the Spirit, anxiety loses its authority and it’s power over your mind.

-- In MK 4, Jesus is asleep in the boat with his disciples during a terribly violent storm. Waves were crashing, disciples were panicking, and Jesus is at rest. After he wakes up, he finally speaks…and He simply says, “Peace. Be still.” And creation obeys. Let’s be clear…He didn’t calm the storm because He was afraid—He calmed it because He carried PEACE within Himself.

-- And even though Jesus did calm this storm…experiencing His PEACE isn’t about everything around you being calm; it’s about the One inside you being in control.

-- The wind stops miraculously not because PEACE is an atmosphere; it’s because PEACE is a Person. And that Person lives in you.

-- PEACE doesn’t come from controlling life—it comes from surrendering it. When the Spirit fills you, the chaos outside can’t control the calm inside. Because Jesus lives in you through His Holy Spirit, that PEACE now lives in you and has the power to bring PEACE to your very soul.

THE THREEFOLD WORK OF THE SPIRIT WITHIN US…

-- These three—love, joy, peace—form the inner life of a Spirit-led believer. They are not three separate goals; they are one unified life in the Spirit. They are the heartbeat of spiritual maturity.

-- And they’re all relational:
--> LOVE anchors your identity in God’s heart rooting your life in His compassion so you can practice genuine LOVE to OTHERS
--> JOY anchors your hope in God’s promises fueling your heart with gladness so you can REJOICE no matter the circumstances
--> PEACE anchors your confidence in God’s sovereignty steadying your life with trust so you can WEATHER ANY STORM that might come your way

-- All together, these three mark a believer who isn’t ruled by moods, circumstances, or control—but by the power of the Holy Spirit.

-- JOHN PIPER sums it up perfectly: “The fruit of the Spirit is the Spirit’s work, not ours. Our role is to abide.”

-- You don’t force fruit — you stay faithful, and fruit forms. And the way you cultivate them isn’t by trying harder; it’s by staying closer.

--> ABIDE…stay connected
- JN 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” The fruit grows where the connection holds. Stay close to the Vine. Jesus.

--> ASK…daily surrender
- Each morning pray and ask: “Holy Spirit, fill me today. Produce in me what I can’t produce myself.” Stay rooted in the truth…submit to and obey Him at all costs…remember it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit…he produces it as we submit and obey him

--> ACT…fruit will follow
- LOVE: Ask the Spirit to show you one person to LOVE this week who cannot repay you. Serve them quietly. That’s how LOVE grows deep roots in your heart.
- JOY: Start every day by naming three things you’re GRATEFUL for. Gratitude is fertilizer for JOY. Choose JOY when discouragement knocks.
- PEACE: Every night, release what’s heavy to the Holy Spirit. He is our Comforter. You can’t carry tomorrow’s burdens with today’s strength. Live in PEACE when others speak panic.

CLOSING PICTURE — The Orchard of Grace

-- Back to our opening illustration of an orchard of apple trees…Picture your life as a tree who is in God’s care. He is the gardener—He prunes, waters, and watches over the seasons. Some of your branches are already carrying fruit; some are just beginning to bud, and others aren’t bearing any fruit at all. But God is faithful in all of life’s phases. He will finish what He started.
-- LOVE blooms first—it draws others close.
-- JOY colors the leaves—it catches the light.
-- PEACE strengthens the trunk—it keeps you steady through storms.

Together they are forming a life that looks more and more like Jesus and will draw others to Him. This is what the world needs to see—not a louder religion, but living visible fruit in your life. This is the evidence that Jesus is alive inside His people…

Stay rooted in Jesus, and let the Holy Spirit grow His orchard in you.

RESPOND, REFLECT & COMMUNION

I would like to give you a chance to respond to God…

-- What did God reveal about who he is to you today in our time in God’s word?
-- What did God reveal about what he has done or is doing in our time in God’s word?
-- What did you learn about who you are as we looked at these stories today?
-- What did you learn about what you are supposed to do?

—> Let's take a minute to thank Him, respond to Him, confess our sins to Him, examine our hearts before we take communion...

—> WHAT IS JESUS SAYING TO YOU TODAY?
—> WHAT IS JESUS ASKING YOU TO DO?