5.31.26 | 11am | Why Am I Still Struggling | Pastor Michael De Haan

Devotional

Day 1: When Shoulder Angels Wrestle in Your Soul

The Christian life often feels like a tug-of-war between two opposing forces. Paul describes this tension in Galatians 5: the Spirit’s pull toward Christlikeness and the flesh’s gravitational drag toward self-centeredness. This internal conflict isn’t failure—it’s evidence the Spirit is actively working. Like a parent letting a child struggle to build muscle, God allows this tension to strengthen dependence on Him. The struggle means you’re alive in Christ, not complacent in sin. Victory comes not by eliminating the battle but by choosing which force to feed. [10:07]

“The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” (Galatians 5:17, NLT)

Reflection: Where have you felt this spiritual tug-of-war most acutely this week? What practical choice can you make today to lean into the Spirit’s pull rather than your natural instincts?

Day 2: Tomatoes Grow When You Weed and Water

Spiritual growth operates like a garden—slow, organic, and requiring intentional cultivation. Just as tomatoes won’t thrive without pulling weeds and consistent watering, the Spirit’s fruit develops through daily cooperation with God. Neglect breeds thorns; attentiveness yields harvest. This isn’t about earning favor but creating space for the Spirit’s transformative work. Every prayer, scripture meditation, and act of obedience waters the soil of your soul. [23:10]

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” (Galatians 5:24-25, NLT)

Reflection: What spiritual “weeds” have you unconsciously been watering? What one intentional act of cultivation (prayer, scripture, confession) can you practice today to nurture the Spirit’s work?

Day 3: The Fruit You Can’t Fake on Social Media

The Spirit’s fruit—love, joy, peace, patience—can’t be manufactured through willpower or filtered like a Instagram post. These qualities emerge organically when Christ’s life flows through surrendered believers. Like citrus trees requiring specific conditions to bear fruit, our souls must abide in the Spirit’s climate. The world notices when our kindness isn’t performative and our peace defies circumstances. Authentic fruit always points to the Gardener. [18:24]

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT)

Reflection: Which fruit from Galatians 5:22-23 feels most out of season in your life? What specific situation today needs an infusion of this Spirit-grown quality?

Day 4: Your Phone History Shows What You’re Fertilizing

We sabotage spiritual growth by feeding the wrong roots—scrolling through bitterness, entertaining compromise, or rehearsing grievances. Like checking screen time reports, examining our mental diets reveals what we’re truly cultivating. Every click, conversation, and thought feeds either flesh or Spirit. Radical honesty about our “fertilizers” allows God to uproot hidden thorns choking His work. [31:59]

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” (Psalm 139:23-24, NLT)

Reflection: What hidden “fertilizer” (habit, media choice, or thought pattern) might be feeding weeds in your soul? How can you practically limit this influence today?

Day 5: Nail Your “I’ve Always Been This Way” to the Cross

The gospel declares our old self died with Christ—including the right to claim “this is just how I am.” Those who walk in resurrection power don’t make peace with their thorns. Nailing persistent sins to the cross isn’t a one-time event but daily surrender. Freedom comes when we stop excusing patterns Jesus died to destroy and start agreeing with the Spirit’s transforming truth. [29:07]

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NLT)

Reflection: What “I’ve always been this way” excuse have you tolerated that contradicts your crucified identity? What step of surrender can you take today to live from your new self in Christ?

Sermon Summary

Paul in Galatians 5 says, let the Holy Spirit guide your life, and he assumes two things at once: those in Christ already have the Spirit, and those same people must choose whether to walk with the Spirit or neglect him. The text puts a name to the ache everyone feels: a tug of war. One world is led by the Spirit and leads to life. The other is the flesh, that inward bend that prefers self over God, and it pulls toward death. The winner will be the world that is tended, fed, and nurtured. If the Spirit is heeded, the Spirit wins. If fleshly desires are gratified, the flesh wins.

Paul then shows what neglecting the Spirit grows. Sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, hostility, jealousy, outbursts of anger, division, envy, drunkenness. That catalog deals with two big arenas many try to dodge: sexual integrity and how people treat each other. Those living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom, not because God is petty, but because life over there does not want what the kingdom is. Why would someone who keeps watering weeds want the harvest of the Spirit’s garden?

Then the text shifts. The Spirit produces fruit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Fruit, not instant results. The garden image says growth takes time, tending, and trust. The Spirit alone causes fruit to grow, but disciples can help or hinder. Neglect brings bugs and weeds. Tending multiplies fruit. Love shows up as action that seeks another’s good. Peace and joy hold steady because the future is held by God. Patience learns to bear with people who press every button, remembering that someone else is bearing with one’s own buttons. Self control does not mean being taken over; when the Spirit fills a person, that person is most in control, like Jesus.

Paul then shows how to help, not hinder. Remember the gospel. Those who belong to Christ have nailed the flesh’s passions and desires to the cross. A real death has happened, and a new creation has begun. Pull every weed. Do not ask for fruit while watering anxiety, rehearsing bitterness, and entertaining temptation. Repent when the Spirit taps a shoulder. Use wise safeguards and honest accountability without turning prudence into legalism. Finally, keep in step with the Spirit in every part of life. As he moves, follow. As he asks, yield. The right question lands plainly: Am I helping or hindering the Spirit’s work? The Spirit’s finger does not condemn; it transforms.

Key Takeaways

1. The Spirit grows, disciples tend The Spirit alone produces the fruit, but daily choices either help or hinder what he is doing. Neglect invites weeds that choke love and peace, while attention multiplies fruit. Cooperation is not manufacturing virtue; it is removing what blocks the Spirit’s life. [23:55]
2. Two worlds fight within daily The text names a real war between flesh and Spirit, with desires that are opposite. The life of Jesus is not gained by a thump on the head or a pop a pill shortcut, but by choosing which world gets fed. The one that is tended will win out. [10:57]
3. Works of the flesh expose neglect Sexual compromise and harsh, divisive treatment of people are not random slips; they are the harvest of a neglected garden. Those patterns reveal what is being watered beneath the surface. Such a life does not even want the kingdom’s life, so it does not inherit it. [13:22]
4. Fruit grows slow like a garden Fruit is not instant; it matures through time, pressure, pruning, and steady light. Tending looks like repentance, safeguards, and listening when the Spirit taps the shoulder. Those small obediences clear space for love, patience, and self control to ripen. [20:52]
5. Remember the cross and pull weeds Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh’s passions; that is the ground of hope and the power to change. Remembering the gospel breaks shame and sends people to uproot what they have been secretly fertilizing. Repentance keeps in step with the Spirit’s leading. [31:59]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:45] - Wishing growth was instant
[02:27] - Sanctification through circumstances
[05:35] - Tension as evidence of the Spirit
[07:23] - Let the Spirit guide your life
[10:07] - The tug of war within
[12:08] - The world you tend will win
[13:22] - Works of the flesh named
[17:43] - Fruit of the Spirit introduced
[19:36] - Fruit grows slowly, not instantly
[23:55] - Help or hinder the Spirit’s work
[29:07] - Remember the gospel at the cross
[31:16] - Pull every weed with repentance
[36:25] - Keep in step in every part
[40:20] - Search me prayer and humility

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Galatians 5:16-25 (ESV)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Observation questions

What two opposing forces does Paul describe in Galatians 5:17, and what is their relationship?
According to the sermon, how do the "works of the flesh" (Galatians 5:19-21) reveal neglect of the Spirit’s work? [13:22]
The sermon compares spiritual growth to tending a garden. What specific actions help or hinder the growth of the Spirit’s fruit? [20:52]
What does Paul mean by "crucifying the flesh" in Galatians 5:24, and how does the sermon connect this to daily choices? [29:07]

Interpretation questions

Why does Paul contrast the "works of the flesh" with the "fruit of the Spirit" in this passage? What does this reveal about the nature of spiritual growth?
The sermon states, "The world you tend will win." How does this idea align with Paul’s warning about inheriting the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21)? [12:08]
How does the metaphor of fruit growing slowly (like a garden) challenge common misconceptions about instant spiritual transformation? [19:36]
Paul says believers must "keep in step with the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25). What might this look like practically in relationships, habits, or decision-making?

Application questions

Identify one area where you’ve been "watering weeds" (e.g., anxiety, bitterness, temptation) instead of nurturing the Spirit’s fruit. What step could you take this week to uproot it? [31:59]
The sermon mentions accountability as a safeguard. Who could you invite to ask you honest questions about areas like anger, purity, or kindness? [34:58]
How might "keeping in step with the Spirit" change your response to someone who consistently "pushes your buttons"? What would patience or gentleness look like in that situation? [25:27]
Reflect on a recent moment when you felt the "tug of war" between flesh and Spirit. How did you respond, and what would cooperation with the Spirit look like next time? [10:57]
The sermon warns against normalizing sinful patterns. What habit or attitude have you grown blind to, and how could you humbly seek God’s clarity about it? [40:20]
Paul ties self-control to being "most in control" through the Spirit. Where do you need to surrender control to God rather than relying on willpower alone? [26:42]

Sermon Clips

Or you may be let me put it this way. You may be praying for purity, but you're entertaining temptation every time you go to that device. You may be praying for kindness, but in your mind, you are rehearsing bitterness over and over and over again. So when the holy spirit comes and taps you on the shoulder and says, hey. I've noticed this one area of your life where it looks like you've been watering and fertilizing the weeds more than the fruit. prayer for you as your pastor is that your response would be repentance. [00:32:21] (52 seconds)

You don't try to explain it away. You don't try to justify your behavior. Well, it's so and so's fault if they would just do this or I couldn't help myself. I'm only human. If you start to do that, you know what Paul says? You give the devil a foothold, you start to give him the opportunity to continue throwing out seeds that are contrary to what the spirit's trying to produce in your life. So you repent. You bring it to light. You uproot that, and you allow God to do his work in your life. [00:33:14] (46 seconds)

Humble enough to listen to the people in your life that are closest to you and humble enough to listen to the spirit when he calls. And so the question isn't necessarily what sins do I struggle with. The question is also holy spirit, what am I blind to? What do I not see? David prayed it this way, search me, o God, and know my heart. See if there is any offensive way in me. Do you hear that prayer? David assumed something that there are things in him that he couldn't see. And maybe one of the most mature things that you can do, one of the most bold and honest prayers that you can pray this morning is, God, would you show me what I've stopped noticing? [00:40:12] (47 seconds)

Because one of the hardest things about spiritual growth is that sometimes it's very obvious to everyone else, but it's very hard for us to see in ourselves. And you know why it's so hard for you to see in yourself? Because we normalize what we live with. In other words, it's like a smell that you start to get used to over time. Everyone else can smell it, but you can't because you've got so used to it. Sometimes, spiritually, the people closest to us see the things in our lives before we do, which is why you have to be humble enough to listen. [00:39:27] (45 seconds)

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5.31.26 | 11am | Why Am I Still Struggling | Pastor Michael De Haan | Wanamaker Woods Nazarene Chrch