The fruits of the Spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. GALATIANS 5:22,23

This scripture tells us that when the Holy Spirit is in full control of your life, this is what you’re going to be like. These nine characteristics are interlinked, and the fruit produced is this package. It’s like a tree that bears nine different kinds of fruit. If we are walking in the Spirit, there will be agape love, which is the love of the will. It’s not the love of emotion or physical attraction or a family bond. It’s the love of willful self-sacrifice. And there will be a deep-down satisfaction of joy and an inner calm of peace that results from the Spirit of God superintending everything. There will be the longsuffering or the patience to endure irritation and difficulty, and a kindness or tender concern toward others. There will be goodness, moral and spiritual excellence. There will be faithfulness, loyalty, and trustworthiness. And there will be gentleness or humility and self-control, the restraining of passions. Paul adds that “against such there is no law.” Even if you had an external law, you couldn’t force somebody to have this kind of character. You can’t use the law to produce this. This fruit only flows up from within by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And so how grateful should we be for that wonder-working Spirit, and how eager should we be to manifest that fruit as we walk in obedience to His revealed Word!