The Fruit of the Spirit

“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

I'm sure your familiar with the fruit of the spirit. I first remember learning this verse when I was very little. But have you ever dug deeper into what means to be characterized by the fruit of the spirit?  Or have you ever broken down this verse and looked at each fruit individually?

I just finished reading a book about the fruit of the spirit. “A Young Women's Walk with God” by Elizabeth George. Not only did this book help me to understand each fruit of the spirit better but it just so happened that my pastor was also teaching a sermon series on the fruit of the spirit. I just love it when God puts these perfect little coincidences in my life. I knew without a doubt that God was speaking to me and he was telling me that He really wanted me to learn about the fruit of the spirit. And not only to learn about the fruit of the spirit but to grow in my walk with Him by learning about the fruit of the spirit.

And now here I am at the end of my study on the fruit of the spirit. I'm a little bit sad because I thoroughly enjoyed learning about this topic. I have learned so much and It wouldn't be fair for me to keep all of what I learned to myself so over the next few weeks I would like to share with you what I have learned.

As Christians we are to be defined by the fruit we bear. This is where the fruit of the spirit comes into play. In Paul’s letter to Galatians, before he writes the fruit of the spirit he list's things that a christian should not be characterized by (i.e. hatred, jealousy, selfishness...). He then says that instead we are to be characterized by the fruit of the spirit. 

 To better understand what it truly means to be characterized by the these christian virtues I would like to, over the next few weeks, look at each fruit individually.