Renewing: It Starts With Us - Mending So All May Know

Jim Curtis (Mosaic Baptist Church Evatt Elder)

We live in a broken world, and our lives are testimonies to this brokenness. Yet, amid this reality, we find hope. Our mending God doesn’t discard us due to our fractures; instead, God desires to use us, broken as we are, transforming our wounds into wellsprings of empathy and strength. In Galatians 5:16–17, 22–26, we discover that this transformation begins within us, as we are renewed daily by the Holy Spirit, learning to live, look, love and lead more like Jesus. We renew through depending on the Holy Spirit, cultivating the fruit of the Spirit, and through building community in the Spirit.

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. [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.

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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!

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. [26] Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

 Gal 5:16-17 and 22-26 [NLT].