The Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Notice that this verse says the “fruit” (not “fruits”) of the Spirit is love, which is described/characterized by joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Love is so important in our Christian walk. If we truly love God and love people, everything else will work out.

Fruit in this verse is singular, not plural. This verse doesn’t say, “But the fruits of the Spirit are….”, rather it says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love”.

If we’re completely honest with ourselves, this verse is a very convicting verse. In your daily walk, do you exhibit love toward others, even non-believers? Do you have joy no matter what you’re going through in life? How about peace? Do you have the peace of God and peace with God? I love the bumper sticker, “Know Jesus, Know Peace. No Jesus, No Peace!” Are you patient toward others? How about when you get stuck behind traffic, or you’re behind a lot of people at the grocery store? Are you impatient with your spouse and children? Or are you impatient and stressed out? Are you kind and do you show goodness to others no matter how they treat you? Do you have a spirit of forgiveness or a spirit of unforgiveness? Do you encourage/edify others, or do you gossip about them? Are you faithful—do you “let your yes be yes and your no be no”? Can you be counted on when you say you’re going to do something? Do you have a spirit of gentleness, or are you rude, heartless, cruel, harsh, violent, or offensive? Do you have self-control, or do you fly off the handle easily?

Notice that every one of these attributes of love fit our Savior Jesus Christ to a tee. And we’re commanded to be Christ-like, Amen? You know, fruit doesn’t exist for itself. It exists for others. When you walk into the produce department at Shaw’s or Hannaford’s, you don’t see the apples, peaches, and oranges hanging out, all bored, and waiting for the day to end so they can go home. No! They’re waiting to be bought by us so that we can eat them when we get home! That fruit at the grocery store exists to be eaten so that it can nourish us and keep us healthy.

So often, we want the fruit of the Spirit so that we can be satisfied, but the purpose of fruit is to satisfy and spiritually nourish/edify others. It’s so true! The secret of life is fruit-bearing—not so much for our own benefit, but so that others might be nourished from the fruit produced in, through, and so often in spite of us! When we focus on ourselves, we’re miserable. The best way to fight depression, discouragement, or PMS (Poor Me Syndrome) is to get our eyes off our problems and to look for ways to bless others.

And to truly bear the kind of fruit that brings a smile to God’s face and blessings to His kids, we need to abide in His Son Jesus Christ, the true Vine that sustains us. God Bless you!