“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5: 22-23 NIV
The fruit of the Spirit is the manifestation of Christ’s life in us. It is evidence of God’s conforming us to the image of Christ. Of our growing sanctification.
There are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity. It takes time to be holy. Today’s weakness becomes tomorrow’s strength. Jesus predicted Peter would deny Him three times, Peter twice insisted that he would never deny or disown the Lord. But he did. But then, in the early chapters of Acts, Peter became the epitome of boldness. A weakness matured into a strength.
Fruit Of The Spirit, A Compendium:
- Affection for others (love);
- Exuberance about life (joy);
- Serenity (peace);
- Willingness to stick with things (forbearance);
- Sense of compassion (kindness);
- A conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people (goodness);
- Loyal commitments (faithfulness);
- Not needing to force our way (gentleness);
- Able to marshal and direct our energies wisely (self-control).