You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do what ever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Galatians 5:13-26
During 2026, Peachtree Church is inviting everyone into Cultivate, a churchwide discipleship plan centered on the fruit of the Spirit and the kind of life God longs to grow in us. Throughout the year, we’ll explore how love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control take shape in everyday life through the Spirit’s work. Cultivate brings together worship, Scripture, group guides, and meaningful practices designed to meet you where you are and support growth in ways that fit your season. These twice-weekly devotionals are one way to stay connected, offering reflection and grounding for daily life with God. Whether you engage in many ways or just one, you’re invited to be part of this shared journey of becoming more rooted in who God has created and called you to be.
Devotional
I often get asked whether my new book, Cultivate, inspired our upcoming sermon series or whether the sermon series inspired the book.
So, as we begin this new year together, I want to let you in on a little secret.
This congregation inspired it all.
When I sat down this past summer to pray and plan about where God might be leading us as a church in 2026, I knew one thing for sure. I did not want us to simply do more. I wanted us to grow more, not in activity, but in depth. Not just in knowledge, but in transformation.
Over the past few years, we have been on a meaningful journey together. We grounded ourselves in Scripture through Quest and Dwell. We leaned into spiritual practices during Overflow. Now, as we enter this new season, I sense God inviting us into something both simpler and more demanding: a shared commitment to becoming more like Christ.
The Apostle Paul gives us a beautiful and challenging picture of what that kind of growth looks like. Writing to the church in Galatia, he says that those who walk in step with the Spirit begin to bear a certain kind of fruit: love, joy, peace, patience (forbearance), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are not traits we manufacture through effort alone. They are the natural outgrowth of a life rooted in God’s Spirit.
Just before Paul lists this fruit, he names its opposite: a life curved inward, driven by self-interest and disordered desire. If we are honest, those tendencies have not changed much from the first century to now. The times are different, but the human heart is remarkably consistent.
Who among us does not long to be less reactive and more peaceful? Less self-focused and more outwardly loving? More rooted, more whole, more free?
This year, Cultivate is our shared journey toward that kind of life. Not a quick fix. Not a checklist. But a slow, faithful, communal practice of tending the soil of our hearts, trusting that God is the one who brings the growth.
My prayer is that, by God’s grace, we will look back on this year not just remembering what we learned but noticing who we have become.
Let’s grow together this year.
May it be so.
For Reflection
- Think about a season when you experienced real spiritual growth. What people, practices, or rhythms were part of that growth, and what does that reveal about how God tends to shape you best?
- As we enter this year together, where might God be inviting you to practice growth in community rather than on your own, and what would it look like to stay present to that process even when it feels slow?
Prayer
Lord, you are the source of all life and growth. As we begin this new year, we offer ourselves to you again. Tend the soil of our hearts. Where we are weary, bring rest. Where we are distracted, bring clarity. Where we are self-focused, turn us outward in love.
Teach us to walk in step with your Spirit, trusting that transformation is your work in us. Shape us into a people marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. May our lives bear fruit that reflects your grace in the world.
We place this year in your hands and ask you to cultivate in us all that leads to life eternal.
Amen.
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Devotionals