What’s the Difference Between Acts of the Flesh and Fruit of the Spirit? Part 1
Walk by the Spirit: Practical guidance from Galatians 5 for relationships
This episode unpacks Galatians 5 and translates first-century biblical instruction into modern, actionable insight about how faith should shape daily relationships. Carrie Abbott frames the passage around two polarities: the "deeds of the flesh" that destroy connection and the singular, life-giving "fruit of the Spirit" that produces love, joy, peace, and self-control in community.
Why spiritual behavior matters for your witness and relationships
The host emphasizes that faith is judged most honestly by those closest to us. Strangers can be impressed by surface courtesy, but family, co-workers, and friends gauge whether spiritual beliefs are real by observable behavior. The episode argues that genuine Christian testimony includes humble service and consistent love, not legalistic rule-following or hypocrisy.
Defining the deeds of the flesh and their impact
Carrie lists the specific categories Paul names—sexual immorality, idolatry, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, drunkenness, and more—and explains how these behaviors corrode trust and prevent churches and families from being life-giving. She connects contemporary struggles like addiction, pornography, and escapism with scriptural warnings about gratifying the flesh.
Understanding the fruit of the Spirit as unified divine love
Rather than isolated virtues, the "fruit" is presented as one unified output of God’s agape love: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Carrie explores original-language nuance and agricultural metaphors to help listeners see these traits as natural results of a Spirit-led life—visible, relational, and transformative.
Action steps: live differently, restore gently
Practical takeaways include choosing humility over conceit, restoring those caught in sin with gentleness, carrying one another’s burdens, and intentionally cultivating spiritual fruit through prayer, discipleship, and community. The show also calls listeners to re-examine cultural narratives around masculinity and fatherhood and to recover a robust view of God the Father.
Whether you want to strengthen marriage, improve family dynamics, or be a more credible witness at work, this episode offers biblical frameworks and language to help you evaluate behavior, foster spiritual fruit, and protect relationships from the corrosive deeds of the flesh.
