What are the Fruits of the Spirit?
We all have a list of things we want to change about ourselves, whether it’s to be more patient or less selfish. But what if I told you that God has already given you everything you need to become your best self? He did this by giving us the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
The fruit of the Spirit is love
If you’re familiar with the fruit of the Spirit, you might have noticed that love has a lot in common with joy. Both are commonly associated with God’s love for us; both are typically found in our relationships with other people (including God); and both seem to be tied to our emotions.
Why is this so important? Well, it’s because when we look at how Jesus taught about these two fruits of the Spirit—love and joy—it helps us understand what they mean and how they can be used to guide our lives.
So what makes love different from joy? As we’ve seen before, joy is an emotion; it’s something that happens within us as we experience things outside ourselves that make us feel good or happy. Love is similar but different: It involves actions taken toward others as well as positive feelings toward them as well.
The fruit of the Spirit is joy
The fruit of the Spirit is joy
If you’ve ever felt like a little part of your soul has been filled with a sense of joy, it’s probably due to the Holy Spirit. The word “joy” refers to a feeling or emotion that makes us happy and content. Joy is different from happiness because it doesn’t depend on circumstances or external events; joy is something that comes from within us, even when we’re surrounded by sorrow and suffering in our lives (Romans 5:3). Joy results from having faith in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins so that we could be forgiven for them and receive eternal life (John 3:16). God wants everyone who believes in Him to have this inner peace and contentment—and He promises His children an abundance of blessings if they will place their trust in Him instead of themselves!
The fruit of the Spirit is peace
Peace, as you may know, is the state of being at peace. In this sense, it’s the opposite of war and conflict. It’s also the opposite of violence and stress and worry, anxiety, etc—all things that we would all like to experience less frequently in our lives.
Peace can be a tricky concept because what we think of as peace often involves an absence of something else: no fighting or arguing or arguing over who gets to fight whom. But that kind of peace isn’t always possible; sometimes there has to be some kind of conflict before true calm can reign supreme. The fruit-of-the-Spirit kind of peace is different from this—it doesn’t come after a struggle but instead precedes it. If your goal is to promote good relationships with others through peaceful living (and why wouldn’t it be?), then practicing each one of these fruits will help you achieve this goal every day!
The fruit of the Spirit is patience
Patience is the ability to wait for something good to happen. It’s not the same as tolerance, which is more about putting up with something unpleasant. Patience involves bearing a burden or suffering because you know waiting will bear fruit.
Patience means being content when you don’t get what you want right away and being able to sustain yourself through difficult circumstances until that good thing finally arrives (or at least until God answers your prayer).
The fruit of the Spirit is kindness
Kindness is a form of love that’s positive. It’s important to remember that when we talk about love, we’re not talking about romantic love or sexual attraction. Love isn’t just a feeling; it’s an action and a decision made by the will. We choose to give up our own desires for the sake of others—that’s what kindness does! Kindness is how we show others how much we care about them and value their lives as much as our own.
When you are kind, you are also being sacrificial because asking someone else before yourself means committing yourself to putting another person first over your own needs and desires (1 Corinthians 13:5). Kindness shows its face in even more tangible ways like giving up time or resources so that others may be helped (2 Corinthians 8:14), taking care of someone who cannot take care themselves (Romans 12:15), offering comfort during times of trouble (1 John 4:18), and working hard on behalf of those around us who need help most desperately but don’t have the resources available themselves (Galatians 6:2).
The fruit of the Spirit is goodness
The fruit of the Spirit is goodness. You might be thinking, “What does that mean?”
Well, goodness can be defined as:
- being fair and honest in your dealings with others
- doing what is right even when it costs you something to do so
- caring for someone else more than yourself
Jesus was the ultimate example of goodness. He lived a life filled with love and compassion for others, despite their rejection of Him. In fact, His death on the cross made sure that there would always be an opportunity for us to have fellowship with God again! Jesus’ life demonstrates how we should treat each other—with love, kindness, truthfulness and forgiveness.
The fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness
The fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness, and it’s a quality that shows up in your everyday life. It’s this: if you are faithful, then you are willing to stick with a person or relationship even when it’s hard. You keep showing up because you have chosen loyalty over rejection, commitment over convenience, perseverance over giving up. Faithfulness means that you know what matters most to God and that you desire above all things to be like him (Matthew 5:48).
The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness
Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit. It’s a quality of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. It’s also a quality of the church. And it is also one that each believer should strive to possess as well.
Gentleness is something we all aspire to have in our lives and relationships with others—and for good reason! Gentleness doesn’t mean being weak or timid; rather, it refers to having patience and kindness when dealing with those around us. This means that even though you might be dealing with someone who has wronged you or hurt your feelings, you still treat them kindly instead of reacting angrily or critically toward them.
The fruit of the Spirit is self-control
The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. In the Bible, it’s called “self-control” (Galatians 5:23), “restraint” (1 Thessalonians 4:11), and “self-discipline” (2 Timothy 3:2). It’s also called “moderation” (1 Corinthians 9:25), which means you’re able to keep yourself in check and not overindulge in things that are bad for you.
Self-control is the ability to control your feelings, actions, and urges—and it sounds like a difficult thing to do! But this doesn’t mean that we should never be angry or tempted by something bad; it just means that we can choose how we respond to them instead of giving in to them without thinking about it first. For example, when someone cuts you off on the road or bumps into your shoulder at school—do you yell at them? Do you hit their car? Or do you try speaking calmly with them so they know what happened so there won’t be any confusion on either end later on down the road? If someone gives you a compliment about something great about yourself—do they make fun of themselves afterwards because they think no one else will notice their mistake if they don’t point it out themselves first? Or do they give another person credit where credit is due without any hesitation whatsoever before moving onto bigger things like trying new foods at restaurants rather than worrying too much about getting fat from eating too many french fries while waiting for their food order!
all these qualities come from God.
The fruit of the Spirit comes from God. It’s part of His nature, and if you want to have it, you need to receive Him into your life. Since He is the source, it makes sense that when we experience these qualities in our lives, we should thank Him for making them possible through His power.
If you want to know more about how Jesus can change your life for good—and what kind of fruit will grow in your life as a result—the Bible has all the answers!
The fruit of the Spirit is a gift from God that helps us live the Christian life. We can’t earn these qualities by our own effort, but we are able to grow them by spending time in God’s word and prayer and trying to be faithful witnesses of his love through our words and actions.