Cultivating Fruit of the Spirit in 2026

A new year begins with new mercies and a clean slate. Yesterday’s failures, successes, and regrets do not get to define tomorrow because resurrection life is now. The central question for the year ahead is not what will happen, but who will lead: the Holy Spirit or the flesh. Life will bring good days, hard days, and ordinary days, yet it remains “the year of the Lord” for all who choose to follow his leadership through valleys and still waters alike.

Galatians 5 offers the clearest path forward. The Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These do not appear by accident; they grow the way fruit grows—from seed that is planted, watered, and tended. God’s seed is always good and God always does his part; the variable is the soil and the stewardship. Plant the Word. Water the Word. Guard the Word. Harvest the fruit.

Paul contrasts this with “the works of the flesh,” which are evident—ranging from sexual sin and idolatry to dissensions, heresies, envy, and outbursts of wrath. The flesh’s “profession” is sin; left unsurrendered, it works overtime to produce division, deception, and death. That is why a life of faith must include disciplining the body and refusing to be governed by feelings. Feelings frequently demand immediate relief; the Spirit offers deeper peace that grows as we yield to him.

Grace is not a loophole for sin; it is the power to walk in newness of life. Salvation is by grace through faith, and those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Do not rebuild what Christ destroyed. God’s love for his people is constant—on our worst day and our best day. Holiness does not increase God’s love; it increases our usefulness and witness. When sowing and watering have been happening in secret, the Spirit’s fruit shows up under pressure—in the “love test,” in moments when the flesh is itching to take over.

The call for 2026 is simple and strong: deny the flesh its daily shift and say yes to the Spirit. Expect real fruit to grow because God’s incorruptible seed is in you. Fix your eyes on the faithful One, not on politics, possessions, or feelings. Choose a Spirit-led life that bears visible, lasting fruit in homes, churches, and communities.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Choose Spirit-led faithfulness in 2026 Faith does not promise trouble-free days; it promises a trustworthy Shepherd who leads through them. The defining issue is not the size of the shadow but the choice to keep following. Make the daily decision to be led, not stalled, in the valley. That decision determines whether you live under blessing or under the world’s pressure. [33:38]
• 2. Plant and water God’s Word God’s seed is always good, and God always gives the increase; the variable is our stewardship. Fruit comes from prior cultivation, not panic in the crisis. Keep sowing Scripture into your heart and watering it with obedience so the Spirit’s harvest is ready when tested. Consistency today becomes peace tomorrow. [44:11]
• 3. Name the flesh: its job is sin The flesh “goes to work” daily, and its occupation is the production of sinful outcomes. Unchecked, it manufactures dissension, self-justifying doctrines, and retaliatory scripts that feel right but destroy peace. Refuse its employment offer by yielding your members to righteousness and starving its incentives. What you practice is what you become. [55:00]
• 4. Practice love before the test Under pressure, you will default to whatever you have been practicing. When love has been sown, love can sit down, listen, and respond with peace instead of retaliation. Prior cultivation turns confrontation into formation and guards the witness of Christ. Prepare in secret for the moment that will expose your roots. [65:47]
• 5. Grace saves; grace empowers holiness Grace is not permission to drift but power to walk in newness of life. Those united with Christ have died to sin and are no longer its slaves; do not rebuild what the cross dismantled. Present your body as an instrument of righteousness, not to earn love, but because you are already loved and now truly free. [83:22]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [33:38] - Word for 2026: You Decide
• [36:59] - Offering Prayer and Gratitude
• [42:22] - Fruit of the Spirit Introduced
• [44:11] - Planting, Watering, and Increase
• [47:09] - Works of the Flesh Are Evident
• [50:02] - Wrong Inclinations and Evil Results
• [52:12] - Using Scripture to Justify Flesh
• [55:00] - Ergos and Sarx: Flesh at Work
• [57:48] - Disciplining the Body, Not Feelings
• [65:47] - The “Love Test” in Real Time
• [70:28] - Grace Through Faith, Not Law
• [83:22] - Dead to Sin, Alive to God
• [86:17] - Seed to Fruit: Cultivating Karpos
• [89:19] - Recommitment for the New Year

Bible reading

- Galatians 5:19–26

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Observation questions

1. In Galatians 5:19–21, Paul says “the works of the flesh are evident.” Which two or three from his list do you see most often in everyday life, and why might he call them “evident” rather than hidden?
2. In Galatians 5:22–23, which fruit of the Spirit do you think grow together, and what do you think “against such there is no law” means in real life?
3. According to Galatians 5:24–25, what have those who belong to Christ done to the flesh, and what does that mean for how we “walk” now?
4. The new year was framed as a choice: “you get to decide” whether to live in God’s blessing or live under the pressure of the world ([33:38]). What two paths are set in front of us, and what makes them different?

Interpretation questions

1. Scripture calls them “works of the flesh” but “fruit of the Spirit.” What does that wording teach about source, effort, and outcome? How does the idea that the flesh has a “profession” and “goes to work” every day shape this (the flesh’s “occupation is sin,” [55:00])?
2. What does it mean that those who belong to Christ “have crucified the flesh” (Galatians 5:24)? How does that connect to “if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor” ([01:12:41])?
3. What does “walking by the Spirit” look like when feelings are loud and urgent? How does “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection” speak into that tension ([57:48])?
4. Why are dissensions and heresies mentioned alongside the more obvious sins (Galatians 5:19–21)? What does that warn about using “doctrine” to justify fleshly responses ([52:12])?

Application questions

1. “You get to decide” in 2026 whether to be led through shadows or get stuck in them ([33:38]). Where are you facing a shadow, pressure, or valley right now, and what one daily choice would signal, “I’m being led, not stalled,” this week?
2. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” was used as a pattern for growth ([44:11]). What is one simple way you will plant the Word (read, memorize, listen) and one way you will water it (obey, journal, share, pray it) each day this week?
3. The flesh has a “job,” and it shows up for its shift unless it’s denied ([55:00]). In what area does your flesh most often “go to work” (anger, envy, self-justifying scripts, secret indulgence)? What “incentives” can you cut off this week (time, triggers, access, storyline)?
4. “Love test” moments reveal what we’ve been practicing in secret ([01:05:47]). What situation this month could test your love, patience, or gentleness? What pre-decisions will you make now (how you’ll sit, listen, speak, or pause) so love shows up under pressure?
5. “Do not rebuild what was destroyed” warns against resurrecting old patterns ([01:12:41]). What old habit or storyline are you tempted to rebuild? What is one very practical swap you’ll make to present your “members” to righteousness instead this week ([01:23:22])?
6. “I discipline my body” means feelings don’t get to be the boss ([57:48]). Name one recurring feeling that often drives your reactions. What new response will you practice for the next 7 days (a breath prayer, a 10-minute delay, a verse you’ll speak, a call to a trusted friend)?
7. Fix your eyes on the Faithful One—not politics, possessions, or feelings ([01:29:19]). What one distracting focus will you fast from for 14–21 days (news scroll, a purchase cycle, an app)? What will you replace it with so peace and joy get watered daily?