Wednesday in the Word

Kindness, as a fruit of the Spirit, is not mere politeness or being “nice.” It is a deliberate choice to work for the good of others—especially when they don’t deserve it, don’t appreciate it, or even oppose us—because we have begun to grasp how lavishly God has treated us in Christ. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How the New Testament uses “kindness” to describe actively pursuing someone else’s good, not just refraining from anger or retaliation
• The way God’s kindness is displayed in salvation: washing, renewing, and justifying foolish, hostile sinners by His mercy in passages like Titus 3 and Ephesians 2
• How God’s ongoing kindness sustains our daily lives now while also holding out a future hope of eternal riches in Christ
• Paul’s picture in Romans 11 of both the kindness and severity of God—and why real kindness doesn’t mean He overlooks sin or abandons justice
• How Jesus’ teaching in Luke 6 and His parable of the two debtors in Luke 7 show that understanding how much we’ve been forgiven fuels genuine kindness toward others
• Paul’s call in Ephesians 4 to put away bitterness and wrath and instead be “kind…tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you”
• Why Christians are often perceived as unkind, what part of that charge is unfair, and where it may reveal a drift into self-righteousness or a shallow grasp of the gospel
• How the Spirit slowly grows kindness in us over a lifetime, moving gospel truth from theory to the practical choices we make with spouses, coworkers, neighbors, and even enemies

After listening, you’ll see kindness not as a personality trait for naturally “nice” people, but as a Spirit-produced response to the staggering kindness God has shown you in Christ. 

 Series: Fruit of the Spirit

Patience, as a fruit of the Spirit, is not quiet politeness or simply “putting up with” hard things. In this episode, Krisan Marotta unpacks the biblical idea of longsuffering.

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why the New Testament word often translated “patience” is better captured by the older word longsuffering—being “slow to anger” and willing to endure over a long time
• The two main ways Scripture uses this word: persevering through difficulties with hope, and forbearing with the sins and failures of other people
• How biblical patience is rooted in belief, not temperament: it flows from trusting who God is, what He has promised, and where He is taking history
• Jesus’ parable of the sower and the “rocky soil” as a picture of faith that lacks longsuffering and withers when trouble comes
• Abraham, Job, and the prophets as examples of those who “patiently waited” for God’s promises, like farmers laboring in hope for a future harvest
• James’s call to be patient “until the coming of the Lord,” and how that future-oriented hope reshapes how we interpret present trials and injustices

After listening, you’ll have a clearer picture of what patience really is—and is not—as a fruit of the Spirit.  

Series: Fruit of the Spirit

Peace, as a fruit of the Spirit, is not a quiet life with no problems and no difficult people. In this episode, Krisan Marotta explores what Scripture means by “peace” and why, in Galatians 5, it is especially about believers learning to live at peace with one another. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Different biblical uses of “peace”: peace with God instead of war (Romans 5:1), peace as the end of all trouble, peace of mind in a broken world, and peace as the opposite of strife among believers
• Why “peace with God” is the foundation for all the fruit of the Spirit—but not the specific “peace” Paul lists in Galatians 5
• How Jesus’ words in John 16:32–33 promise real peace in Him even while His followers still face tribulation in the world
• What Philippians 4 shows us about both peace of mind (freedom from anxiety through prayer and trust) and peace between believers (Euodia and Syntyche learning to agree in the Lord)
• How Galatians 5 connects peace to life in the church: moving away from biting, devouring, rivalry, and factions toward humble, gospel-shaped relationships
• Paul’s vision in Ephesians 4 of “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” and what it means to see fellow believers as those with whom we will share eternity, across all lines of background, culture, and personality

After listening, you’ll come away with a richer, more concrete understanding of what “peace” looks like as the Spirit’s work in real communities: less anxiety as you rest in God’s promises, and a growing willingness to live at peace with other believers. 

 Series: Fruit of the Spirit

Joy, as a fruit of the Spirit, is not a constant emotional high or the absence of sorrow. In this episode, Krisan Marotta explores joy as a deep, steady confidence rooted in the promises of God. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why “joy” in Scripture can coexist with sorrow, loss, and hardship—and how Paul can say he is “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” 
• The difference between happiness (pleasant circumstances, upbeat feelings) and biblical joy (confidence in a good outcome God has promised) 
• How passages like 2 Corinthians 6, 2 Corinthians 8, and James 1 show believers rejoicing right in the middle of affliction, poverty, and trials
• A working definition of joy: the settled delight and satisfaction that comes from knowing something truly good is coming our way in Christ
• How Jesus’ parables—the hidden treasure, the lost sheep and coin, and the picture of a mother after childbirth—illustrate joy in the result, not in the struggle itself
• Why joy is tied more closely to hope than to ease or comfort, and how Romans 12:12 and Romans 15:13 connect joy, peace, hope, and the work of the Holy Spirit
• Paul’s call to “rejoice always…pray without ceasing…give thanks in all circumstances” and how this invites us to relate everything we face back to God’s purposes

After listening, you’ll have a clearer, more realistic understanding of what joy is and what it is not—freeing you from the pressure to feel cheerful all the time and inviting you instead to anchor your heart in the sure hope of the gospel. 

 Series: Fruit of the Spirit

Love as a fruit of the Spirit is not only about how we treat all people made in God’s image—it also has a particular shape in the way believers treat one another. In this episode, Krisan Marotta explores the special bond Scripture describes between followers of Jesus, showing how our attitude toward other believers reveals what we truly think of Christ, His gospel, and our shared hope. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How Galatians 5 connects the fruit of the Spirit to real moral transformation, not to personality traits or instant spiritual experiences 
• Why love is rooted in seeing our essential equality before God—equally created, equally guilty, and equally in need of grace
• Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 10 that receiving His apostles and His people is ultimately receiving Him, and how that shapes our view of fellow believers
• What Jesus means in John 13:34–35 when He says the world will recognize His disciples by their love for one another—not by a “glow,” but by concrete, sacrificial care
• How the “sheep and goats” scene in Matthew 25 shows that serving “the least of these my brothers” is really expressing love for Jesus Himself
• Paul’s descriptions in Ephesians 1 and Colossians 1 of faith in Christ and love for all the saints as twin evidences of genuine hope in the gospel
• Peter’s call in 1 Peter 1:22–23 to love one another earnestly from a pure heart as the outworking of new birth and obedience to the truth

After listening, you’ll see more clearly how love for other believers is not an optional “extra,” but one of the clearest fruits of the Spirit and signs of real faith.  

Series: Fruit of the Spirit

Love is the first fruit of the Spirit. In this episode, Krisan Marotta shows that this fruit is not a warm, passing feeling. It is a changed way of seeing God, ourselves, and other people: learning to live as those who stand equally guilty and equally loved before Him, and then acting for the good of others the way we would want them to act for us. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• What Paul means by “fruit”: not instant transformation or spiritual mood, but the long-term result of the Spirit’s work in us through struggle, trials, and growing understanding 
• Why the fruit of the Spirit are not feelings, but perspective changes that come as the Spirit reshapes our worldview and teaches us to see truth more clearly 
• How 1 Timothy 1:5 shows that love flows from sincere faith, a pure (undivided) heart, and a good conscience rooted in genuine understanding of the gospel 
• The biblical command to “love your neighbor as yourself” in Leviticus 19:18, and how it forbids vengeance and grudges while calling us to act with the same patience and forgiveness we would want if the roles were reversed 
• How 1 John 3:16–18 and Luke 6 teach that love is action, not talk—doing good, blessing, praying, giving, and seeking another’s welfare even when they do not treat us well in return 
• The difference between biblical equality before God and modern ideas of equality, resentment, and victim/oppressor categories—and why love grows from knowing that we are all equally in need of mercy 
• Why learning to love this way is both our present struggle and our future hope: evidence that the Spirit is at work now, and a promise that one day we will love as Christ loves, easily and fully 

After listening, you’ll have a richer, more concrete understanding of what “love” really means as a fruit of the Spirit—and why it is so much more than being naturally kind or emotionally warm. 

Series: Fruit of the Spirit

Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 is not a set of personality goals—it is the visible result of God’s Spirit at work in people who have been forgiven and made new in Christ. In this introductory episode, Krisan sets the stage for the whole series by walking through the message of Galatians: why Paul wrote it, what crisis the Galatian churches were facing, and how the gospel—not the law—solves both our guilt and our deeply rooted corruption. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• The background of Galatians: Paul’s missionary journey, the young churches in Galatia, and the arrival of the Judaizers
• Who the Judaizers were, what they taught about keeping the law, and why Paul calls their message “another gospel”
• The two great human problems the gospel addresses: our guilt before a holy God and our inward bent toward sin and selfishness
• How the cross of Christ answers both problems—removing our guilt and reconciling us to God so He can give us His Spirit
• Why the law can diagnose sin but can never heal it, and how legalism produces rivalry, pride, and division rather than true holiness
• Paul’s contrast between the “works of the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5, and what each list reveals about the heart
• What it means to “walk by the Spirit,” “crucify the flesh,” and “keep in step with the Spirit” in everyday Christian life
• How this list—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control—serves both as a promise of God’s work and a challenge to what we truly desire 

After listening, you’ll have a clear grasp of how the fruit of the Spirit fits inside Paul’s larger argument in Galatians and why it matters for your own spiritual growth. You’ll be better equipped to see the difference between rule-keeping and real transformation, and to approach this series looking not for quick techniques, but for the gracious, lifelong work of the Spirit who changes our hearts from the inside out. 

 Series: Fruit of the Spirit

Have you ever wondered what Paul meant by love, joy, peace and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23? Listen to the next podcast series!  We will explore what Scripture teaches about these concepts and why Paul put them on the list. You’ll discover life-changing truths behind each fruit.

I’d love to hear from you.

In this episode, we come to Paul’s final words in Galatians 6:6–18, where he urges believers to invest in truth, sow to the Spirit rather than to the flesh, and boast only in the cross of Christ. Paul closes the letter by contrasting teachers who seek approval and comfort with those who bear the costly marks of following Jesus, and by reminding us that what ultimately matters is becoming a “new creation.” 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How Paul’s final exhortations in Galatians tie together the whole letter’s message about justification by faith alone
• What it means to “share all good things” with those who teach the Word—and why this is about embracing the same gospel, not just financial support
• Paul’s warning that “God is not mocked” and the sobering principle that we reap what we sow, whether to the flesh or to the Spirit
• How to discern between teachers who flatter our desires and those who faithfully teach hard but life-giving truth
• Why pursuing teachers who entertain us or minimize sin leads to spiritual corruption, while seeking truth leads to eternal life
• Paul’s call not to “grow weary of doing good,” and how perseverance in doing what is morally beautiful fits with our hope of final reward
• The priority of doing good “to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith,” and what that means for our relationships in the church
• Paul’s critique of the Judaizers’ motives—desiring to “make a good showing in the flesh” and avoid persecution for the cross of Christ
• Why Paul refuses to boast in anything except “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and how that redefines what counts as success or status in the Christian life
• The meaning of being a “new creation,” the “Israel of God,” and how God’s peace and mercy rest on those who walk by this rule of faith in Christ
• Paul’s closing confidence that God’s grace will keep straying believers and bring them back, even through seasons of doubt or wandering

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer sense of how Galatians calls you not just to believe the gospel but to plant your whole life in it—to seek truthful teaching, resist messages that cater to your pride or comfort, and keep sowing to the Spirit through steady, sometimes costly, obedience. 

 Series: Galatians: Living by Faith

Paul’s teaching in Galatians 5:25–6:5 shows that walking by the Spirit is not just an inner experience, but something that reshapes how we treat one another, especially when someone stumbles. Instead of comparison, competition, and spiritual pride, Paul calls believers to humility, gentle restoration, and a shared commitment to bear each other’s burdens while honestly owning our own sin before God. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• What it means to “live by the Spirit” and “keep in step with the Spirit” in the context of real church life, not just private spirituality
• How comparison and law-keeping can fuel conceit, envy, and rivalry within a congregation
• Paul’s instruction to restore a brother or sister “caught in any transgression” with gentleness rather than superiority
• The practical meaning of “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ,” and how that reflects Jesus’ command to love one another
• Why Paul warns that thinking we are “something” when we are “nothing” is a form of self-deception that makes us vulnerable to temptation
• How to “test your own work” instead of grading yourself against other believers, and why God does not grade on a curve
• The difference between helping others with their burdens and taking full responsibility for our own “load” before God
• What this passage implies about the kind of honest, interdependent community Christians are meant to form—where we can admit failure, ask for help, and offer real encouragement

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer picture of how a gospel-shaped community responds to sin: not with denial or harsh judgment, but with humility, truth, and Spirit-led care. 

Series: Galatians: Living by Faith