Fruit of the Spirit Series
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:22-24
We tend to think of the fruit of the Spirit as a list of good Christian virtues to adopt as moral Christian living instead of seeing it as our invitation to be in-dwelt by the Spirit of Christ and to be made more like him as a result. We hope to grow in our understanding of how the Spirit helps us mirror the character of God through this series. We cover each attribute in a way that helps us see that God's commands aren't about behavior modification, but that they're really an invitation to mirror the character of God by the help of the Spirit.
“We want to read [Galatians 5] as an invitation to lean into what it means to live our lives as gospel Christians. To be reminded that because of Christ’s sanctifying work on the cross, because of his resurrection, the door has been opened to us to accept a life of righteousness in Christ through faith. So, as we accept Christ’s invitation of grace by placing our faith exclusively in Christ, we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit in us that is going to bear the fruit of righteousness. The fruit of that righteousness is the fruit of the Spirit living in us.” - Amy Gannett, ep. 103
On today’s episode of the Journeywomen podcast, we’re kicking off a brand new series on the fruit of the Spirit with Amy Gannett! In this series, we hope to grow in our understanding of how the Spirit helps us mirror the character of God. Amy Gannett is a Bible teacher and writer with a passion for good theology and exegetical Bible study. She got her B.A. in Biblical Exposition and Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute and her Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She teaches a digital Bible study through her website and creates theology training tools for kids through Tiny Theologians. Amy and her husband, Austin, are currently church planters in eastern North Carolina.
On today’s episode of the Journeywomen podcast, we’re chatting with Jen Oshman about love. This conversation served as a sweet reminder that loving others is a work of the Spirit and that we need his help to do this! We pray it encourages you to look to him as you seek to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jen Oshman is a wife and mom to four daughters and has served as a missionary for almost two decades on three continents. She currently resides in Colorado, where she and her husband serve with Pioneers International, and they planted Redemption Parker, an Acts29 church, two and a half years ago. Her passion is leading women into a deeper faith and fostering a biblical worldview.
On today’s episode of the Journeywomen podcast, we’re chatting with Courtney Doctor about joy. Amidst a lot of other things, we talk about how God is both joyful and the source of our joy! This conversation is such a potent reminder to look to the Lord as the source of our joy. So you’ll know a little more about our guest, Courtney Doctor is an author, Bible teacher, frequent conference and retreat speaker, and periodic blogger. She received an MDiv from Covenant Theological Seminary and is the author of From Garden to Glory and Steadfast: A Devotional Bible Study on the Book of James (2019). She currently serves as the Coordinator of Women's Training and Content for The Gospel Coalition and as a Visiting Instructor of Communication at Covenant Theological Seminary. Courtney also has a love for education and serves on the advisory board for Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, GA.
On today’s episode of the Journeywomen podcast, we’re chatting with David Platt about peace. We talked about who supplies our peace and how we can reconcile the reality that we have peace in Christ, even when our circumstances don’t feel particularly peaceful! So you’ll know him a little better, David Platt is the author of three New York Times bestsellers, including Radical. He is lead pastor at McLean Bible Church in metro Washington, D.C., the former president of the IMB (International Mission Board), and founder of Radical Inc. (www.Radical.net), a global center for the unreached that serves churches in accomplishing the mission of Christ. Platt received his master of divinity (M.Div), master of theology (Th.M), and doctor of philosophy (Ph.D) from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Virginia with his wife and their children.
On today’s episode of the Journeywomen Podcast, we’re chatting with Colleen McFadden about patience. Colleen reminded us that patience is the fruit of the Spirit’s work in our lives, not a result of our own efforts. This entire conversation is saturated with Scripture. Colleen McFadden trains women Bible teachers with the Charles Simeon Trust, a ministry devoted to equipping the next generation of Bible expositors. She also serves as the Director of Women’s Ministry at her local church, Trinity Community Church, just outside Philadelphia. Colleen earned a BS in Business Administration from the University of Illinois and an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. She serves on the board of Matthias Media, a ministry dedicated to raising up and resourcing disciple-makers.
On today’s episode of the Journeywomen podcast, we’re chatting with Irene Sun about God’s kindness and the ultimate expression of his kindness in the way he sent his Son, Jesus, to die for us. Because of what Jesus did, the Holy Spirit resides in those who believe in him and we too can actually seek to emulate his kindness for a lost and dying world to see by the power of the Spirit that resides within us. Irene is an absolute joy and as you’ll hear, she had me laughing for a good portion of our conversation. So you’ll know her a little better, Irene Sun was born in Malaysia and is the author of the picture book God Counts: Numbers in His Word and His World. She teaches her four boys with her preacher husband in Chicago, and through TGC Women’s Training Network.
On today’s episode we’re chatting with Joni Eareckson Tada about goodness. Joni’s deep, abiding trust in Christ overflows as you’ll see in this conversation and as you can see from her decades long life of faithfulness. Joni is the Founder and CEO of Joni and Friends International Disability Center, providing outreach to thousands of families impacted by disability around the globe. A diving accident in 1967 left then 17-year-old Joni a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. She founded Joni and Friends in 1979 to provide Christ-centered ministry to special-needs families, as well as training for churches. Joni has written over 50 books and is a regular columnist in several magazines. She and her husband Ken were married in 1982 and reside in Calabasas, California.
On today’s episode we’re chatting with Glenna Marshall about faithfulness. Praise God that in spite of our faithlessness, he is faithful! And he fulfilled all of his promises to us in the person of his Son, Jesus. Glenna Marshall is married to her pastor, William, and lives in rural southeast Missouri, where she tries to keep up with her two energetic sons. She is the author of The Promise is His Presence and Everyday Faithfulness. You can connect with her at glennamarshall.com, where she writes about suffering, biblical literacy, and God's faithfulness, which is what we’re talking about today.
On today’s episode we’re chatting with Sally Clarkson about gentleness. You guys know that sitting down with a seasoned mentor is one of my simple joys and today was no different! Sally and I talked about how gentle the Lord is with us, as his children. I asked Sally to join me in this particular conversation because I feel like she really exudes gentleness. You guys are going to hear her heart to come alongside women in whatever season they’re navigating and point them to Jesus.
On today’s episode, we’re wrapping up our series on the fruit of the Spirit! We hope you’ve found yourself convicted, challenged, and encouraged all the way through! These episodes on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness have laid out how the fruit of the Spirit passage in Galatians 5 really summaries true, gospel-living. Today is no different! We’re chatting with Blair Linne on the topic of self-control, in which we find ourselves pointed back to the cross yet again.