October 14, 2026

“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 walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

Galatians 5:22-26

The Holy Spirit is involved in everything in the life of a believer, but he is often overlooked because the ministry of the Spirit draws attention to Christ. He bears witness about Jesus (John 15:26). The Spirit teaches us in a way that helps us remember the words of Christ (John 14:26). There’s a sense in which the more the Spirit is at work, the more unaware we are of him because we are so much more aware of Christ.

That is the role of the Spirit. He lives to magnify Christ who lives to magnify the Father, who loves to exalt his Son. It is a rather fascinating relationship and operation the Trinity is involved in. But think about this: The more the Spirit is involved, the less attention he draws to himself. And the Spirit is not bummed out about not being in the spotlight. In fact, in the happy land of the Trinity, the Spirit is delighted and satisfied in seeing his work of magnifying Jesus being carried out.

Therefore, wouldn’t it stand to reason that the more the Spirit is involved in your life, the less attention you will seek to draw to yourself? Verse 25 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Living by the Spirit simply means living as a follower of Christ. When you become a follower of Christ you start living in the Spirit. Your faith is from the Spirit. You are alive by means of the Spirit (regeneration – John 3:6) and you live in the realm of the Spirit. The Spirit is to your being what air is to your lungs. You take air for granted, yet it is critical to your existence.

Since you live by the Spirit, v.25 says to walk by the Spirit. That verb (“walk") means to follow a leader. So, following the leadership of the Spirit who does not draw attention to himself, means that walking in the Spirit will result in not making much of ourselves, right? (Re-read that last sentence because that is my BIG IDEA of this article.) That idea is supported by v.26. The natural effect of walking in the Spirit is that we will not be conceited. We will not be concerned with being a big deal, noticed, respected, having attention drawn to us. Conceit manifests itself in provoking others and envying others.

If we stopped provoking people and envying people, or trying to get people to envy us, I would guess that a good bit of social media would simply go out of business. This world is not a friend to grace, nor does it live in harmony with the Spirit. Following the leadership of the Spirit produces contentment because the Spirit does not need attention to be satisfied. Neither do we.

Grace and peace,

Bob

Sunday’s Text: Luke 22:39-46