Read Galatians 5: 16, 22-23 and Revelation 21: 1-5

• In the Galatians passage, who produces the fruit? 
• What is the role of the Spirit? Of people? 
• In the Revelations passage, what does God do? 
• How do these two passages relate? 

In Rev. 21 we see the Holy City coming down out of heaven from God, as a bride for 
God. It is a place of peace, where the old order of death, mourning, crying and pain 
are gone. Everything is new! But it is a city; God has transformed some of the work 
of human hands and has incorporated it into the new creation. 
In our current old order of things, we might have lofty ambitions to change the 
world that might be frustrated. Or, we might have opportunity to do great things, 
but we do them out of our sinful natures (e.g. selfishness, pride, fear), or we fail to 
grasp the opportunity. We are broken, and the world is broken. In the midst of this 
brokenness, Paul invites us to live, not out of our sinful nature, but by relying on and 
cooperating with the Holy Spirit. We are called to this both when we have great 
opportuni ties before us, and when our hopes and ambitions are frustrated. If we live 
by the Spirit, scripture promises that we will bear the fruit of the Spirit, fruit that we 
know will last (John 15:16). It is this fruit that we can know for certain will be taken up 
by God into the new creation, and this fruit is evident when we look at the new 
Jerusalem. God’s economy is not restricted by our brokenness. When we depend 
upon the Holy Spirit and say “yes” to his leading, we will get to contribute towards 
the buildin g of the new creation!

Go and do

As you anticipate your first job, where is God inviting you to let go of the flesh, 
selfishness, your sinful nature (and we all have it)? Where is God inviting you to let 
go and to embrace the leading of the Holy Spirit? 
 

The next time you are going to class, sitting down to study, or starting a shift at 
work, pray and ask God to produce the fruits of the Spirit in you. Ask the Lord to 
show you how you could contribute towards love, joy and peace (and other fruit of 
the Spi rit) flourishing in your class, study group or workplace. As you do this, you’re 
partnering with the Godhead in the renewing of all of creation through your work.
 

Reflect on what you learned

• Did the Lord reveal a specific fruit of the Spirit to produce in your studies or 
  job?
• Did you observe any differences in how you did your work? Any examples of 
  positive fruit that God produced in you or your relationship ?
• How might God want to give you vision for using a future career for the 
  flourishing of all creation