Rotten – In a culture of brokenness, bear something better.

Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control.

Reality #1: There is an Unseen Realm

“The devil’s strategy is to destroy the unity of God’s people and the credibility of God’s gospel. His weapons are deceit, division, and discouragement. And unless we take spiritual warfare seriously, we will always underestimate our enemy.”
-John Stott

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”
-C.S. Lewis (The Screwtape Letters)

Reality #2: God Creates, Satan Manipulates

God creates angels → Satan twists them into demons.

God creates truth → Satan manipulates it into lies

God creates freedom → Satan bends it into slavery.

God creates intimacy → Satan warps it into lust.

God creates joy → Satan manipulates it into addiction.

Rest/Laziness

Work/Workaholism

Money/Greed

Reality #3: There Are Two Cultures at Play

· Rebellion makes you unrighteous
· Religion makes you self-righteous

Lean Rebellious… “I’ll do what I want.”

Lean Religious… “I’ll follow all the rules so I look good.”

Neither rebellion nor religion will save you. Both leave you empty. Both keep you from the joy of the Father’s house.

· Love when hate comes easy.
· Joy that isn’t chained to circumstances.
· Peace when the world is chaos.
· Patience in a culture addicted to instant.
· Kindness when cruelty is the norm.

· Goodness when compromise would be simpler.
· Faithfulness when quitting feels easier.
· Gentleness when everyone else is shouting.
· Self-control when everything in you says, “Do whatever feels good.”

Don’t settle for rotten fruit. Don’t fake it. Don’t coast. Decide now that you’re going to lean in, let the Spirit lead you, and bear something better.

Action Steps for this Week:

If this world is rotting, and the Spirit wants to grow something better in us, then we can’t just hear this and walk away unchanged. We’ve got to move. Here are three ways to start this week:

Action Steps

1. Name the rot.
Be brutally honest about the “fruit” that keeps showing up in your life… anger, envy, lust, selfishness, and pray, “Lord, I nail this to the cross.”
(Gal. 5:24)

2. Ask for better.
Each morning this week, pray one bold prayer: “Holy Spirit, grow Your fruit in me today.” Expect Him to show up in your words, your reactions, and your choices.

3. Let someone see it.
Live in such a way that someone in your world… a coworker, a neighbor, a friend, notices something different. Let the Spirit’s fruit be the evidence that points them to Jesus.