The Fruit of the Spirit
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23a (NIV) Have you ever seen a tree with beautiful fruit growing on it? Maybe you’ve even picked apples or cherries or some other delicious fruit. That fruit didn’t just appear overnight! It started in Spring as little buds opened into flowers and then grew into fruit that ripened. After a season of growth, we are finally able to enjoy eating the fruit.
In this Bible verse, the Lord has given us a list of a special kind of fruit. These are virtues or qualities that should grow in our lives. When we are Christians, God’s Holy Spirit lives in us. His presence in us helps guide and lead us. As we grow in the Lord, the fruit of the Spirit should become more and more evident in our lives.
Let’s look briefly at each fruit. Love is mentioned first. It’s the foundation for our entire life in Christ. Love is caring for and seeking the well-being and highest good of another with no motive for personal gain. Real love is sacrificial; it gives of itself for the good of others.
Joy is gladness and delight, despite the circumstances. The Bible tells us that “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). We experience happiness when good things happen to us, but joy is deeper than happiness. Joy results from our nearness to the Lord and enjoying His presence.
Peace is a quietness of heart and mind. We are not disturbed or troubled when we trust the Lord and rest in Him. When difficult circumstances arise, we keep our eyes on Jesus and we know His peace.
Patience is also called long-suffering. It means to bear long with others despite how difficult they may be and to do so without complaining!
Kindness means to be considerate and helpful. It is love in action, doing good things to benefit others.
Goodness is similar to kindness but it also means to have a zeal for truth and righteousness.
Faithfulness means to be loyal, trustworthy and reliable.
Gentleness is sometimes called meekness. It does not mean weakness. Rather it is self-restraint coupled with strength and courage. A gentle person is gracious.
Self-control is mastering your own desires and appetites. It means using moderation and self-restraint.
Have you noticed that these qualities also describe God? He is faithful, loving, patient, good and kind. To practice these Christian virtues helps us grow to be more like Jesus.
The list may seem long to you and you may think there is just no way you can remember all of these! Fruit takes time to grow and ripen. That’s true of apples and cherries, and it’s true of the fruit of the Spirit.
The Lord will help us. Go to Him in prayer and ask Him to show you which areas you most need to work on. Ask your parents for help. It’s helpful to focus on one virtue at a time. You might write it on a piece of paper. Look up a Scripture that tells you something about the quality you’re trying to develop. Put the paper somewhere you will see it everyday as a helpful reminder.
Everyone, even adults, needs help to grow in Christian virtues. The Lord will help us and bring things to our attention, but it is up to us to practice the qualities we want to develop in our character so that we will bear lovely fruit.
Copyright, 2001, 2009 Laurie Latour.
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