Black, White, and the Red Letters
Two guys. Friends. Brothers. Pastors. Jesus freaks. One's a black 14-year Army veteran. The other? A lily-white ex-Jewish dude. Together, they tackle culture head-on with raw, real, unapologetic Jesus conversations—minus the churchy fluff.
Black, White, and the Red Letters
Joy That Survives The Storm
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In Part 2 of our walk through Galatians 5:22–23, we get into the “middle fruit” that shows up where real life hurts: joy, peace, patience, kindness, and goodness. We talk about why joy isn’t the same thing as happiness, how peace can show up in the worst moments (even cancer and funerals), and why patience is often just the Spirit giving you that split-second pause before you clap back. Then we bring it down to street level: your witness rises or falls on how you treat people—especially the ones who can’t give you anything back. Bottom line: you can’t manufacture this fruit with willpower. Abide in Christ (John 15), and the Spirit grows what you can’t fake. #FruitOfTheSpirit #Galatians522 #AbideInChrist
You know, we have a guy in our church whose father died uh uh a week ago, week and a half ago, and uh from the time we were recording this podcast. He his father died, and he he and his wife and his mama and a cousin, I think I've got the group right, were around the bed when the f and the father was it was rough at the end. And he had been on morphine, a morphine drip or something, and had been pretty much unconscious for the last day or two up to this point. And they're around his bed in the house. I think they were in the house, I think hospice was coming into their house, I believe. But they were around the bed, and his dad just opened his eyes like he was completely alert, looked at them, and then looked up at the ceiling of the room, but he was looking up, held his hands up and said, Oh God, oh God, oh Jesus, it is so beautiful, it is so beautiful, this is so beautiful. Closed his eyes and died.
SPEAKER_01:Two guys were friends, brothers, pastors, and Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00:One's black and one is painfully white. We'll let you guess who's who.
SPEAKER_01:I'm Jay, 14-year Army veteran, been through war zones overseas and spiritual ones at home. Still fighting battles, just not with poets.
SPEAKER_00:And I mean that. I used to be Jewish, but now I'm 100% sold out for Jesus and still asking way too many questions.
SPEAKER_01:Every week we sit down and rustle with culture, faith, and real life stuff.
SPEAKER_00:No sermons, no sugar coating, no fluff. Just two guys sharing real stories and unapologetically talking real Jesus in real ways.
SPEAKER_01:With raw and honest conversation that won't bore you or baptize you in churchy cliches.
SPEAKER_00:We're digging into the red letters and how they still flip tables and change lives every day.
SPEAKER_01:If you're hungry for truth and tired of plastic religion, or just curious what happens when two guys with nothing in common but Jesus sit down and talk.
SPEAKER_00:Pull up a seat. We ain't polished, but we are real. This is black, white, and the red letters.
SPEAKER_01:But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law. Guys, we are picking up from our last episode, or we kind of talked about um, I don't know, one dare say two schools of thought on uh the fruit of the spirit, fruit being singular and plural at the same time. But we ended the last episode talking about um love um and Ed Ed read through uh was it First Corinthians? Yeah, first Corinthians 13. And and and what love and the description of love that Paul kind of gives us. Um but we're gonna we're gonna pick up from today and go into into into joy.
SPEAKER_00:And Jay pointed out in that last episode that the words Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 13, some of them, a few of them are identical, but most of them are not identical to to Galatians 5, but they absolutely are in sync with Galatians 5. And just so we are clear too that um we in English use the word fruit and and it and that word can be sometimes singular, it can sometimes be plural. In the Greek that's used in Galatians 5, it it is singular. And the word uh the verb that's used for to be is it's is the fruit of the spirit is. It doesn't say the fruit of the spirit are, and it doesn't say the fruits of the spirit are. So it in in Greek it's all singular. So you just kind of gotta know that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'm not gonna, me personally, I'm not gonna put my finger in Ed's chest and say, You said fruits. P.S. That's what he's done to me a couple of times. But it's fruit of the spirit if we're we're being proper, right? It's fruit of the spirit. Um, and then it's it's however we see it, all wrapped in together, like we we mentioned before, with all the fruit that's that's depicted as in it's together in one basket. Um it's it's labeled as fruit, they're all together. So joy. How do we describe joy?
SPEAKER_00:I'll give you my little definition uh that it is an an inner, an internal. I know you're not supposed to use the word when you define a word, but I'll use a derivative of the word. It's an inner rejoicing that's that lasts, that remains, that abides despite external circumstances. It's not dependent on circumstances. I don't want to use the word happy, right? Because happiness does depend on external circumstances.
SPEAKER_01:I can be happy right now, I can be sad right now, but my joy is consistent. Yes. Yes. Well, how can that be? How can that be?
SPEAKER_00:Well, if the fruit of the spirit is of the spirit, the joy, because it doesn't come from, it's not rooted in uh satisfaction with what's going on in my life, it's a result of being indwelt with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Joy is the presence of God, is the presence of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00:So I can be joyful, I can have joy even in the midst of being unhappy. Yes. Now that's probably weird to say, but uh but it's just a fact.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, for sure.
SPEAKER_00:You know, joy is this deep, nourishing, fulfilling satisfaction that continues on, maybe on an even keel, even when a life situation feels empty and unsatisfying. I still have the satisfaction whose core is a result of being indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Yes. That was that was well said.
SPEAKER_01:I gotta give you one. Every now and then you throw up.
SPEAKER_00:Don't ask me to say it again.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, joy is produced uh by the spirit, uh, not by circumstances, to your point. Um, happiness is a is a circumstantial thing, joy is produced by the spirit, and I think really that's why why why Paul lists joy as this sounds weird, as a fruit. Because it grows from the same, it grows from love, it grows with joy, it grows with joy, excuse me, it grows, it grows with love and peace and and all the others because it grows from the spirit, it's produced by the spirit.
SPEAKER_00:You know, if you think about our relationship with God, which I grew up never really uh, never really even thinking that I had nor could have a personal, intimate relationship with God. So that was foreign from my whole school of thought for the first 35 years of my life. But now at least beginning to understand to some degree that uh that it that we can have a relationship with God, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit changes it really changes everything. And so then the relationship with God through Christ remains or abides even in the most barren deserts and the deepest valleys of life. Yes, yes, the only way, and we've probably talked about this on a podcast before, but you would, and all of us have probably seen some video on YouTube or on the news or something of a mama who's at the trial of the murderer of her son. And she says something or does she openly prays in the courtroom for that person who murdered her son or husband or whatever. And I was I've seen that before, and I've thought, there is absolutely no way that you could do that without being indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Yeah. Because she would be in the that this mama that we're talking about, she would be in the deepest valley imaginable. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You know, it it reminds me of my great-grandmother. Um, her daughter passed away um probably about five years before my great-grandmother. And at her daughter's funeral, she ain't shed a tear. She was just fine. And I remember my brother asking my grandmother, like, what's up? And my my great-grandmother, her her words were, I'll see her soon. And it was, it was today. I understand, shit was so peaceful. It was joy. It was I'm good with with life here. I'll see her soon. Um, because she had joy. I think that it's not circumstantial, it's an outward look. It is what's on the horizon, it's joy in her heart, grounded, you know. Paul writes about joy from prison, not because you know, prison was a a f a great thing, because it was joy on the horizon. It was it was centered in Christ.
SPEAKER_00:And your great-grandmama believed that what she believed was really real. For sure. Really real.
SPEAKER_01:I'm telling you, she didn't drop a tear.
SPEAKER_00:Whew. You know, we have a guy in our church whose father died uh uh a week ago, week and a half ago, and uh from the time we were recording this podcast, he his father died, and he he and his wife and his mama and a cousin, I think I've got the group right, were around the bed when the f and the father was it was rough at the end. And he had been on morphine, a morphine drip or something, and had been pretty much unconscious for the last day or two up to this point. And they're around his bed in the house. I think they were in the house, I think hospice was coming into their house, I believe. But they were around the bed, and his dad just opened his eyes like he was completely alert, looked at them, and then looked up at the ceiling of the room, but he was looking up, held his hands up and said, Oh God, oh God, oh Jesus, it is so beautiful, it is so beautiful, this is so beautiful. Closed his eyes and died.
SPEAKER_01:Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_00:I talked to him three days ago and he told me that. He said to me, it was the most life-changing thing I have ever witnessed. Wow. Wow. Yeah, it's real, y'all. Yes, it is real, and so he could have my friend, he could have I know, right? He could, when he told me that story, I'm like, oh my gosh. And I almost a friend of mine who uh probably five years ago, her dad died, and the the whole family was around the bed. And when she told me what happened in that moment, it was oh my, and I can't remember exactly her words, but it to the best of my recollection, her dad did and said the exact same thing. Like, it is real, he is real, yes, yes, um, and so she and not that they didn't uh and I don't I don't know they did or didn't. I assume they cried when he died, and and my friend Jay, uh different Jay, whose dad passed away, um he had joy because he knew what your great-grandmama knew. Yeah, it'd come a day in the blink of an eye when they'd be together. Yep. And he knew it's not cliche, he's in a better place. If you believe that what you believe is really real, he is really in a better place. Right. Um, no pain, no tears, scripture would tell us. No pain, no tears, just in the arms of the Lord for eternity. So you can have joy in that. Yes, in that what the world would say is the deepest valley ever. Yep. You could, it's that song, Highlands.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, yeah. I'm telling you. Highlands and the heartaches, yeah. And what we just got finished talking about for the last you know five or ten minutes, all kind of had this gloomy kind of feel to it. But what we're talking about is joy. And we're like, well, how can joy exist in all of those circumstances we just talked about? Because joy is is it's rooted in Christ, it's it's rooted in God's character, uh, not our circumstances, right? It's not optimism, it's it's trusting who the Lord is, it's it's having a firm foundation in the character of God.
SPEAKER_00:And then he says, peace, love, joy, peace. Yes. Peace. What does he say about how would you define peace? You know, how would you say Paul defines peace?
SPEAKER_01:I think on the spot, who wants to be a millionaire? I get the phone call. Jay, describe Paul's peace. Um I just think probably more than anything, it is not um, it is not being swayed by the chaos of of whatever life is. It's it's um it's having a having trust, faith, and the spirit, knowing that no matter what happens, that God is central, that that God is is who he says he is, and you're guarded by that. I think I think Paul will just will would describe it as the feeling that happens when you're aligned with God. I think that's that's peace. I think that's how Paul would describe peace.
SPEAKER_00:So it's a little bit of a cousin to joy.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, for sure.
SPEAKER_00:Um, I think it is, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I think I took a little bit a while to get that out, guys, but I think that that wasn't pretty good. I feel good with that one out.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And there's an when when when you when you have peace, when you can display peace, and I dare I say can't when you when you feel peace, it is like this internal um quietness and trust that God is in control, yes, that he's sovereign, that he's just, that he's all loving, that he's all knowing, even in the face of adverse circumstances. That's why I said it's probably a cousin to Joy.
SPEAKER_01:Um Yeah, it goes back to my great-grandmother. It how she's sitting at her daughter's funeral, not shedding a tear, but but okay. She's got peace.
SPEAKER_00:That's right.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And so when we say she has she has peace, when I say my friend Jay had peace, yeah, my uh my friend Christy had peace when both of them that watch their fathers pass away, there it's almost like that peace that happens is a declaration of agreement with the truth that God, not we, remain in charge of the universe or remains in charge of the universe. Yes. Um, you know, Paul writes in in there's a promise in Philippians chapter two, and he says, Don't be anxious about anything, but but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and here comes the promise. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And it is a peace that just defies comprehension.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:Because it would be a situation where you have peace when the world would look at you and say, How could you possibly have peace? When the doctor looked at me and told me I had cancer in 2017, I immediately had peace. And I was shocked. Yes. Susan immediately had peace. She was shocked. Well, that's the only explanation could possibly that could possibly exist is that that peace was provided by the Holy Spirit. Absolutely. Nothing we did. Nothing. We we brought nothing to that. It was just a result of being indwelt with the Holy Spirit. It's an amazing sort of life-defying thing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, the world uh kind of defines peace as everything's going right, right? There's there's no dogs, dogs barking, everything's going right. Uh, but I think scripture would would really paint a different picture of it being held steady um when when things kind of go wrong. Like you're not shaken when things go wrong, you're at peace.
SPEAKER_00:And it is it is interesting. We we talked about love, and love is going to permeate every all of this, but we talked about love distinctly in the last podcast, and then we just talked about joy and we just talked about peace, and we kind of said, at least we think that they're cousins, love, uh, peace, and joy. But those first three that are listed in Galatians 5 are really in internal and can and obviously come from God alone. But the the next three, um, patience and kindness and goodness, kind of concern believers our our uh as believers, our relationships with other people. I think that's true. We've got to talk through it and see if and see if Jay says, nope, you're wrong.
SPEAKER_01:We'll come back to that shortly.
SPEAKER_00:But because I still would say it all comes, it's all a result of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01:For sure.
SPEAKER_00:But at least the the the patience or your Bible translation may say long suffering. Um but I think they do for sure concern at a minimum concern our relationship with other people.
SPEAKER_01:It's really good. Patience, kindness, and goodness, yeah, those really do kind of point toward uh your neighbors, um, and and to self, but to your your relationship with with your neighbors. Uh, because patience think of patience with um with wrongdoing. Think of patience with reconciliation. Um yeah, I think that is very relationship guided. But patience, I think, is it's difference between passive waiting, right? Just hanging around with nothing to do. I think I think that's different. But you know, having true patience and and trust while in the valley. I think that's that is um disciplined, long-suffering, disciplined uh endurance. I think that's that's a big difference between passive waiting and grounding in in faith.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and you said he's he's not really talking necessarily about patience in the sense of waiting. For an outcome. I think it's more just get black and white in the world that we live in. You know, it's putting up with people, it's more than this, but it's putting up with people that irritate us.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You know, when you when you fall down and cry out, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner, Lord, I want you to save me, and he saves you. Do you get some in imputed with some thing that some characteristic that nobody's ever going to irritate you? Well, of course not. But your your reaction to their irritability, yeah, is that a word? It is a word.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know if you used it right, but it's a word.
SPEAKER_00:If you put up with people who are uh or your ability to put up with people that irritate you, that that's part of it. Folks gonna irritate you, but how you're gonna react to it. That's right. You if you're saved, probably your reaction's gonna be different than it was um before.
SPEAKER_01:That's right. That's right. Again, even just a little bit, even just small fraction of a pause and let me think about it. You know what? I'm gonna turn, I'm gonna, I'm gonna move away. I'm not even gonna respond to this comment. I'm gonna move away.
SPEAKER_00:And the old you would have dropped a Stephen A. Smith meme that said, come on, man.
SPEAKER_01:I can't believe this person and have at it. Even just that slight pause shows that there's there's change happening. Patience.
SPEAKER_00:It happened to me just the other day. I'm talking about four or five days ago. Had a social media post that uh garnered a uh a bunch of engagement. I mean, a like a bunch of engagement, thousands and thousands of engagements. Um and probably about two percent of them maybe were really, really ugly. I mean, ugly, dropping all kind of cuss words and just really, really ugly stuff. And the arguably the ed of five years ago, for sure ten years ago, maybe even five years ago, I would have just come back at every one of them. Yeah, and I didn't come back at any of them because you can't fix stupid and it's a life sentence. That'll be the title of this podcast. But the truth is, I'm me personally, you know, and I I'm I'm I wouldn't even say that I'm patient, but I'm more patient than I used to be.
SPEAKER_01:There it goes. There it goes. I think that's the central theme for uh for the fruit of the spirit showing up in a in a Christian. It's I may not again back to the bar scale, I may not be at the top, but I'm I'm I'm moving up. It's increasing, and it's better than what I used to be.
SPEAKER_00:Think about it. The Holy Spirit's work in us increases our endurance.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, for sure.
SPEAKER_00:In in all of it.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, that was good. Yeah, it was good. That was good. Yes, that was good. All right, everybody stop. Don't give it that much credit. Everybody just stop.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, so patience. And then what about uh what about the next one? Is is uh Christotase, kindness. Kindness.
SPEAKER_01:You know, kindness is that's a that's an that's a real good one because I think kindness is what we see daily. Um interactions. Maybe it's it's tough to see uh love, maybe it's tough to see uh joy and peace and patience, but you can see kindness on someone. Uh you can you can interact with someone and feel the kindness. I think kindness is the one that for sure you deal with on the surface level every single day. You can look at someone, you can see how they behave, you can look at yourself and see how you behave. I think we come into contact with kindness more. Um when we we see there's a there's a pastor, um I'm don't know his name, don't know his church, but he is so mean. So mean. So mean, and he he talks to people like he's yet not uh when I preach, I can I can get very excited and loud. Not the same. This guy says mean things to people about their position in life, and I'm like, dude, pastor or not, that's not how we behave. Wow, it's I'm I'm telling you, and I'm not even gonna, I don't want you to go click on his stuff because I don't want his stuff blown up. But how can we I take I take it back only because this guy may used to be a jerk 10 years ago, and he's just a little less of a jerk. Just a little less, but again, kindness is what we see daily, and I think that's the one that that the world will really see from us. Here's a Christian that's kind. I think that may be the very first indicator that a person sees on us.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and I'm gonna say this about kindness, but this is absolutely one billion percent true about the patients, too. That I'm I'm gonna give a little ed definition of kindness, and it's it's acting uh charitably and it's acting benevolently towards other people around us as God did towards us. Patience, to go backwards for just a second. Oh my gosh, was God patient with you? Yes, still, where would we be? Yeah, yeah, me too, bro. Where would we be? If God was not long suffering, we would all be in hell. That's right. Bottom line. So if we want to be Christ-like, we need to be patient. If we want to be Christ-like, we we need to be we need to be kind. Kindness matters, yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01:And uh this goes to uh those love languages things, it's nothing to do with it, but being an intentional, kindness, I think, is an intentional thing. It is uh go back to our point again, pause for a second, and this is how I'm going to react. This is how I'm gonna respond. Kindness is intentional.
SPEAKER_00:You said respond. We said the same thing about being patient, didn't we? We said if somebody irritates us, I'm in I'm in control in some sort of a way, or I'm relinquished the control to the Holy Spirit, but but my reaction is different, should be different on the good side of the cross than it was on the bad side of the cross.
SPEAKER_01:That's right.
SPEAKER_00:The same thing holds true with kindness. I can react, respond to external stimuli, something somebody said, or whatever, I can respond with kindness, or I could respond with hate. That's right. And a giant part of it for a believer is my wife's words ring in my ears. Did what you said, um, did it move someone a little closer to Jesus or a little further away?
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Kindness matters. It does. Being unkind can just crush your witness. That's right. People look and say, That dude's a jerk. That's what being a Christian's about. Count me out.
SPEAKER_01:That's right. And like I said, to this pastor, right? What is that doing to the lost world? And like what is that doing to the lost world? That's not helping them, that's not showing them the love of Christ. That's I want nothing to do with that stuff.
SPEAKER_00:Ooh, yeah. I mean, kindness, um, you said intentional.
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:You know, kindness takes the initiative in responding to other people's needs. Again, when we do in our in our homeless ministry, a very vibrant uh homeless ministry that we are part of, I mean, very vibrant. Hundreds and hundreds of meals out in the in the community every week, and medical care and clothes and um life's necessities, tents, sleeping bags, everything. The the number one principle in the training that we do with people, and it's literally uh printed on a pit on the page of the manual, and it it and it kind of overlays, it's kind of the umbrella on top of everything, is two words. Kindness matters. Because it does. It matters in everything. And it matters, yes, it matters in the relationship with that person, but it also matters in your witness. Yes. Um, because our that ministry is of course providing life's necessities to people that are are living in the woods somewhere, but it also the why is if they don't know Jesus, we want them to come to know Jesus. That's correct. Kindness is part of that.
SPEAKER_01:Like I said before, it being the first thing that people see from us. If you are trying to witness to someone and you are, I don't know, the opposite of kind, we'll just keep saying jerk, you're a jerk. You you've closed you, you have a wall-up. That person has a wall-up against you. You're not you're not penetrating that with harsh words and uh, you know, strong posture. That's not helping. So kindness, you know, kindness matters, and kindness presents an opportunity.
SPEAKER_00:And Jay said it's not helping. Um, it's it's not even neutral. Yes, it's detrimental.
SPEAKER_01:That's right.
SPEAKER_00:It is detrimental to the gospel.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. Yep. I think, you know, the I think we said them before. I may have combined them, but I think they're two separate words, respond and react. I think reacting is on a negative side of things. We react quickly. Um, you know, it it possibly something comes out your mouth that you used to say that doesn't help a situation, and kindness being a response, patient and be thoughtful, responding. I think respond, I think responding embodies probably patience, and then what the outcome may be kindness. That's a weird uh equation, but I think it works.
SPEAKER_00:And you know, where we said um a few minutes ago that peace was a cousin to joy, um, I I think that uh because the next one on our list is goodness, yeah. I think goodness is a cousin to kindness.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Ooh, how could they not?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Um because if if I'm kind, my there's gonna be goodness in my response. That's right. Yes. It won't be a reaction, it'll be a response. That's right. Reaching out, you know, what is goodness? Um re reaching out to do good to other people, even if we determine they don't deserve it. And of course, I would probably put in parentheses around that. Who am I to determine that they don't deserve it? For sure. Right? Where where was I when it wasn't me that hung the moon in the stars, right? But we all do that. For sure. Well, he he don't deserve that. Yeah. Go back to the homeless ministry. People, friends of mine, like you're enabling. Well, give me a break. What would Jesus do? That's right. They're hungry. Feed them. Feed them. That's right. That's right. Feed them, love on them. Deal with the issue that, if you can, deal with the issue that resulted in their homelessness, but goodness is gonna respond. Kindness and goodness is gonna respond. Do you see I use the word is and not are? That was intentional, is gonna respond regardless of that. Yes, yes. If it was a drug addiction that caused it, well, okay, let's work on that. I'm still gonna be kind and I'm still gonna be good as a response to the situation that they're in. You know, goodness doesn't react to evil, but sort of absorbs the offense and responds with a positive action. That's right.
SPEAKER_01:That's right. You know, and it's really interesting that you know, we've we've been kind of walking through all of these, but we keep going back, we keep going back, and we keep going back because they're all connected. It's really cool. They're all connected. As we slowly walk through this process, you see, oh yeah, they are. They all are all, I said are all a part of the same vine.
SPEAKER_00:It it's popped a little John 15 in there.
SPEAKER_01:It's all right there, and you know, goodness being um intentional, right? Goodness being um a byproduct of of how we're how we're walking in this life with the Holy Spirit. When you are good to someone, you have again, you have an opportunity, but when you're good to someone, what is that doing for the witness? Um, when you're kind to them, you have the opportunity to be good to them. You have an opportunity then to to speak with them, then to find out what the what the addiction is and all those things. But we show up on the scene and we're you know, we're not kind and and you know, we don't give a crap about what happens to them. I'm here to to take pictures of me being here to show the world that I'm doing something, that stuff doesn't matter. That nothing, you're not nothing's being produced.
SPEAKER_00:And if you're and if you just if you're unkind to them and and you're and you're and and you're don't you don't display goodness in what you're doing, or you're a jerk or belittling or condemning or shaming or whatever those things would be, and and we keep using this homeless example, but if I do, if I do that, and then I bust out the Bible and said, for God so loved the world, right? That person's looking at me like, Absolutely, what are you talking about? Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know anything about the Bible, but I know that's off.
SPEAKER_00:That's right.
unknown:That's right.
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:So if the fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us, which I think we would agree that that it is, then the Spirit produces these sort of character traits that are found in the nature of Christ. So it's this is Christ-likeness. They are the byproducts, we said result or con not consequence, the result or the byproduct of Christ's control, and we can't obtain them, we can't get them by trying to get them without his help. It ain't about nothing about us trying to get them. So if we want the fruit of the Spirit, all of the fruit, to grow in us, we gotta join our lives to his life. Yes. You mentioned John 15, or referenced John 15 a minute ago, uh, verses four and five in John 15. Um, John 15, verses four and five. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear what? Fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you, Ed, neither can you, Jay, unless you abide in me, Jesus. I'm the vine, you're the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears just fruit. No, it says much fruit. Yes. And he says, For apart from me, you can do nothing. Nothing. So we must know him, we must love him, we must remember him, we must imitate him. And as a result, we're gonna fulfill the intended purpose of the law. It's all what Paul was talking about in Galatians. If we do that, if we're abiding in him, remaining in him, we're gonna fulfill the intent of the of the law. Yes, which is to love God and love neighbors.
SPEAKER_01:And the fruit of the spirit will be evident by itself.
SPEAKER_00:That's right.
SPEAKER_01:Naturally. There's nothing that you can do, but it's gonna happen and you'll bear much fruit staying connected.
SPEAKER_00:That's right. Drop the mic on that. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:Guys, thanks so much for joining us uh this week. Um, we got three more we're gonna run through faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Uh, we'll we'll catch up next uh next time on the next episode. So stay locked in and we'll we'll to be continued this episode. Guys, thanks so much for joining us on Black, White, and the Red Letters.
