God's Holy Fire: 'God's Spirit Does the Growth Work'

Friday, October 3, 2025

Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others — ignoring God! — harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.
— Galatians 6:7-8 MSG

Key Thought

While we must commit to following Jesus as Lord, the power to bring growth in us comes from the Holy Spirit. Real life, the life that grows and matures and reproduces itself, is the work of God's Spirit going on inside us. The Spirit produces God's fruit in us and brings in God's ultimate harvest: "real life, eternal life." This growth work comes from the Spirit!

Today's Prayer

Father, I love you and want to honor you with righteous character and holy compassion in my life. Yet I confess, the more I try to produce this character and compassion on my own - without depending on your strength, your word, and your Spirit - the more I fail. I find myself prideful of my accomplishments or resentful of others and their accomplishments, or I just simply fall back into my sinful and addictive behaviors. So I offer my heart, my body, and my mind to love you, and I offer myself as a living sacrifice. As I do this, I ask that you fill me with your Holy Spirit and empower and guide me by your Holy Spirit, who brings true life. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

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10 Related Resources by Heartlight

Galatians 6:7-8
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"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the..."
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"Dear Father, Keep me from sowing seeds from my sinful nature, for I do not want to reap the crop they will produce. May I not invest my time, money,...."
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"Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will..."
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"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."
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Illustration

Illustration of Galatians 6:7-8 MSG — But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

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About This Devotional

God's Holy Fire is a daily devotional about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The Thoughts and Prayer for God's Holy Fire are written by Phil Ware.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked MESSAGE are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

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