48.How to Feed Your Soul and Grow Lasting Peace (Galatians 5:22)

Feeling overwhelmed, spiritually depleted, or stuck in survival mode—even though you're trying to follow God?

In this episode, Larissa Traquiar unpacks Galatians 5:22, exploring what it really means to grow the fruit of the Spirit, especially the peace of God, through intentional spiritual habits and biblical soul care. If you’ve ever wondered why peace feels out of reach—or how to truly feed your soul instead of your stress—you’re not alone. This practical, Scripture-rich conversation will guide you toward lasting peace and spiritual growth.

▶️ In this episode:

• What Galatians 5 teaches about peace
• How to stop feeding your stress
• The difference between striving and nourishing
• Practical ways to feed your spirit this week
• A personal story about grief, loneliness, and finding peace

🛎️ Subscribe for more Christ-centered encouragement, biblical soul care, and habits that lead to lasting hope.

📥 Download the free guide: Soul Care Made Simple

This beautifully designed PDF offers 14 simple practices to help you nourish your soul and experience deeper peace.

Have a takeaway from today’s episode? Drop a comment and share what habit you’re choosing to nourish peace this week.

Transcript

Speaker: Larissa Traquair

Ever feel like peace is something you're supposed to have, but can't seem to hold on to? Like you're watering everything in your life except your own soul? What if the problem isn't that you're doing life wrong, but that you're feeding the wrong part of you? Let's talk about how peace grows when we nourish the spirit and why what you feed matters more than you think. Hey friends, it's Larissa and welcome back to the Habits of Hope podcast.

I'm so glad you're here. I get to host this podcast with Ginger. I'm a live broadcaster known as the Grateful Chick on the socials, the founder of the Cultivate Community and Bulldog Mom to Samson. We're in the middle of our special summer series called the Habits of Peace. And these short episodes are designed to be a soul reset right when you need it most. So if your heart feels heavy, distracted or overwhelmed by the noise of daily life,

You're in the right place and I'm right here with you. Let's pause together, breathe deeply and make space for a habit that leads us back to peace because a deeper life starts now. Today's habit of peace is a simple but powerful one. Choose one thing that nourishes your soul today and do it with intention. We're not talking about adding more to your to-do list.

We're talking about giving your spirit what it truly needs so peace has room to grow. Let's explore how Galatians 5 helps us understand what peace really is and why it flourishes when we feed the spirit. In Galatians 5, 22 and 23 it says, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such things, there is no law. Let's take a few minutes to unpack what this verse really means, especially when it comes to peace. Because this isn't just a list of nice character traits. It's the evidence of a spirit led life. To understand verse 22 in context, we need to step back and see the full picture Paul is painting. Galatians five contrasts two ways of living.

Life by the flesh, which is our natural self-centered desires, or life by the Spirit, which is God's transforming work in us. In verses 19 through 21, Paul lists the works of the flesh, a sobering inventory of what happens when we follow our own way. Sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger,

These are behaviors that naturally grow when we live disconnected from God. Then comes the beautiful contrast. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Paul wraps up the section with this challenge. If we live by the Spirit,

Let us also keep in step with the spirit. That's verse 25. Living by the spirit is an ongoing dynamic process. It's not about trying harder. It's about walking in rhythm with God. So let's talk about some key concepts and some word definitions. The word for fruit here is Karpos, which is Greek, which means natural produce or result, something that grows

over time. It's singular, not plural. Paul isn't listing fruits like a grocery list. He's describing a unified character that the spirit develops in a believer. You don't get love without patience or peace without gentleness. They grow together.

Fruit is evidence of the Spirit's presence. It's not manufactured through performance. It's produced through connection to Christ. Peace in this verse isn't just the absence of conflict. It's a sense of wholeness and well-being. It's about harmony with God, others, and even yourself. Now I'm going to pronounce a Greek word and try to do it justice. So in Greek, it's Irenae.

and supposedly in English it's like Irene or Irene. So Irene or Irene also speaks to an inner calm that comes from trusting God's sovereignty and resting in his presence. This kind of peace isn't a passing mood. It's a fruit. It doesn't grow because life is calm. It grows because the spirit is active within you. Verse 25 says,

Let us also keep in step with the spirit. That phrase means to follow closely, like marching in line with a guide. It takes attentiveness and trust. Because here's the truth. We don't drift into peace. We walk in step with the spirit.

And as we stay connected, he grows peace in us. You can't grow the fruit of the spirit in the soil of the flesh, and you can't feed your soul with stress and expect the spirit to grow peace. So here's our heart check. What's growing in your life right now? And what does that say about what you're feeding your spirit and soul? God reveals so he can renew. Whatever this reflection shows you, it's an invitation, not an accusation. That's what I love about the Lord. So now we're gonna talk about feeding the spirit versus feeding the flesh. Let's take this a step further.

In the last episode, we explored the pull of the flesh, that default mode we all slip into when we rely on ourselves instead of the spirit. That striving, anxious energy, the inner pressure to control, react, prove, or escape. But today, we shift the focus. It's not just about resisting the flesh, it's about nourishing the spirit. And that's a completely different posture.

Trying harder not to react, not to worry, not to fall into old habits. Those efforts might help us manage for a moment, but they won't produce peace. And here is why. Because peace doesn't grow in the absence of stress. It grows in the presence of the spirit. So let's think about this. What are you feeding? Your soul is always being nourished by something. Every input

every conversation, every scroll, every soundtrack of your thoughts feeds either your stress or your peace. It feeds your flesh or it feeds your spirit. So let's bring this home. One thing I love about God is that we get to partner with him. One way we do this is by being aware of the Holy Spirit in our lives and cooperating with him. This combo of partnering with the Holy Spirit is a new one to me and it's been a beautiful one. The Holy Spirit has been reminding me a lot lately that I am feeding my stress by ruminating on past hurts and mistakes more than what God says about me.

Recently, I wrote three words or short phrases after a particularly hard day. These words were rejection, lonely, and not important to others or seen. We don't have time to unpack what triggered these words or phrases today. It's just what I was feeling in the moment. Now my feelings aren't wrong. There is much evidence in my life that these things are true. Remember, feelings aren't wrong or bad.

They are indicators and invitations to explore what is going on. And also, God's word is more true and way more helpful when I focus there. I have been rejected by man, but I am not rejected by God who created me. I am lonely. My husband died and my world imploded. And also, God is with me. Jesus and Holy Spirit are interceding on my behalf.

Since Bill died, I don't have the covering of a God-fearing man who makes me a priority and makes me feel seen. Praise God that I am seen by him, that I matter to God. All these things are true and God wants me to focus on His truth, to feed on His word and not focus on the world and my past. Galatians 5 invites us to keep in step with the Spirit.

not just in church or quiet moments, but in the everyday choices that form our rhythms, our mindset, our responses. And for me, that was a Friday afternoon. You're not striving to earn it. You're simply clearing space for the spirit to grow it. If peace feels missing, check what you're feeding because you can't nourish the spirit on a steady diet of stress. And before shame takes over, let's pause here.

This isn't about guilt, it's about growth. Let your reflection guide you, not condemn you. This is a moment of gentle honesty. So ask yourself, what's feeding my spirit these days and what's feeding my stress? What's helping peace grow? And what might be quietly choking it out? That's where the shift begins, not with striving, not with shame, but with awareness.

and a willingness to nourish what matters most. So what does nourish the spirit? And what does this look like? If peace grows when we feed what's good and lasting, then it's worth asking what habits help peace take hold in real life on a Friday afternoon when you're stressed. Let's get practical with a few ways you can intentionally make space for peace, starting right now. Slow obedience.

Sometimes the most powerful way to nourish your spirit is to quietly do the last thing God asked you to do. Not rushing ahead, not avoiding it, but simply returning to what he's already shown you and walking it out with a willing heart. Obedience roots peace deeply because we're aligning ourselves with God's will and there's no safer place to rest than in step with him. We know this based on John 14 27. Peace I leave with you.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Another one is curated inputs. Not everything is beneficial. And I think we all know this. Nourishing the spirit sometimes means turning down the volume on anxiety-inducing voices, whether that's social media, constant news, or even internal noise that's filled with fear or self-criticism. Peace needs space to breathe. Clearing mental clutter isn't just about minimalism.

It's spiritual wisdom. Another one is community that nourishes. We all need people who gently draw us toward Jesus, who refresh our faith, remind us of truth and help us stay rooted in hope. Think of the friend who prays with you. Are you thinking about her? The mentor who speaks life. I hope you have one or had one in the past. The quiet presence of someone who listens well. There's nothing.

Better than a listening friend, right? Peace grows stronger in a healthy community where grace and encouragement flow freely. Another one is whole person care. Your soul and your body are deeply connected. You are not just a mind or a spirit. You are a whole being created by God. Caring for your physical needs, getting enough sleep, nourishing food, joyful movement, rest.

This isn't selfish, it's stewardship. When your body is cared for, your mind is clearer and your spirit more receptive. It becomes easier to walk in peace when your body isn't constantly in survival mode. And the last one, practices of presence. Peace grows when we create space to be still with God. It could be as simple as stepping outside into the morning light and breathing deeply. That's a good one for you, nature peeps.

or pausing to notice beauty and take a picture of something meaningful each day. These aren't extras. They're quiet invitations to anchor your awareness in God's nearness. The more you practice presence, the more peace becomes familiar. So here's some closing thoughts. These are just a few ways to feed the spirit and nourish peace in your everyday life. You don't need to do all of them today. But what if you choose just one? Ask yourself, which one of these speaks refreshment to your spirit most right now? How can you work that one practice into your week or even your day? Don't underestimate the impact of one intentional choice to nourish your soul because peace doesn't grow by chance. It grows

where the spirit is fed. So where does this leave us? You don't have to overhaul your whole life to begin growing peace. Isn't that good news? Sometimes it starts with the smallest choice to feed your spirit instead of your stress, to tune your heart to God's voice instead of your own pressure, to say yes to what nourishes you instead of what numbs you. Every peaceful life is built from peaceful moments.

And every peaceful moment is shaped by what you feed your soul. So today, just start with one thing. So let's return to that question. What's feeding your spirit and what's feeding your stress? Then let the spirit lead you into the nourishment you actually need. And the journal in journal or in me says, write those things down, have a list. What's feeding my spirit and another list, maybe side by side. What's feeding your stress so you can see it.

in black and white. Super helpful for me. So be encouraged friend. You are not behind. You are not too scattered and you are not stuck. The Spirit of God is alive in you and he is faithful to grow what he plants. Even now, even here, he is cultivating peace in your life. One surrender choice at a time. Let that bring rest to your striving. Let it bring clarity to your noise.

Let it bring hope to your heart. If this episode stirred something in you and you're ready to take it further, I'd love to invite you to download Ginger's free guide titled, Soul Care Made Simple. This beautifully designed resource gives you 14 nourishing practices to care for your soul in everyday life. It's practical, grace-filled, and easy to use. Whether you have 10 minutes or an hour, you'll find simple ways to slow down

Reconnect with God and feed the peace your soul is hungry for. You can grab it for free at gingerherrington.com or just click the link in the show notes. Let's end with this truth. Lean in friend. Peace grows where the spirit is fed. Start feeding what you want to flourish. Thanks for spending this time with me today. Until next time friend, keep walking in peace, one habit at a time.

All done. Thanks Ginger.