Have you ever considered which of the fruit of the spirit you excel at and which ones you need need to work on? Here’s the list of nine from Galatians 5:22-23: 

  1. Love
  2. Joy
  3. Peace
  4. Patience
  5. Kindness
  6. Goodness
  7. Faithfulness
  8. Gentleness
  9. Self-control

There are days that I’m really good at showing love, and then there are days I am really bad a being patient. Am I the only one that feels that way? Probably not. But notice what the text says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The text does not say fruits but notice that it says fruit. Why would the Holy Spirit write fruit (singular) but then list out multiple characteristics of what one who has the Spirit would produce? I’ve often wondered about that. Have you? Well, here is a pretty good answer.

The Greek word that is used here is [karpos] and is its a singular noun that has specific intention behind it. The idea is that Paul is not listing out a variety of kinds of fruits that the Holy Spirit provides when one is a Christian but instead he is describing the different Christ-like characteristics that the Spirit is working in you. So the problem is not which one of the fruits do you need to work on and which one have you mastered. The idea is that Paul is teaching that these characteristics should be found in the life of someone who is a Christian. Paul understands that fruit is not produced all at once is grows and matures and has different stages and so he wants us to understand that these are all characteristics of Christ we should be working on all the time. Since we have the Spirit these are the products we should be producing because of His life changing indwelling. 

Now, I still believe you and I should look to discover ways how we can be more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlling. You might try to work on all of them at different times. But how can one be more loving without being more patient. Or how can one be more kind with out being more gentle. How can one be more faithful without controlling self more. See they are all related you can’t have one without the others. Therefore this list is a list of the “fruit” of the Spirit of God. 

The challenge is for us, in this textual context, to purge the works of the flesh and concentrate on being Christians who produce the fruit of the Spirit as we walk according to the Spirit and not according to the fleshly world around us. 

For the Lord, 

Alex Mills