In this series of articles dating back to the May-June 1974 issue we have considered each of the
nine types or aspects of spiritual fruit mentioned in Galatians 5:22,23. We have attempted, through
God’s help, to discover what each of these types of fruit really means and how they are (or should
be) manifested in our daily lives. Let us review one or two important lessons which we have
learned in connection with each type of fruit of the Spirit.

1. Love. The proper standard of our love to others is Christ’s love for us, manifested in giving
Himself for us (Eph. 5:2,25). Love is the opposite to seeking our own interests, reputation,
wealth, or honor (1 Cor. 13:5).

2. Joy. The Christian who is walking in the Spirit, feeding upon Christ, communing with the
Father, is able to have a deep, abiding, peaceful joy and gladness in the Lord, whatever the
surrounding circumstances might be. Sorrow and trial only serve to enlarge the capacity for joy
in the believer (Matt. 5:12; 2 Cor. 7:4; 2 Cor. 8:2; Col. 1:24; James 1:2,3; 1 Peter 4:13).

3. Peace. We are enjoined to be anxious for nothing, but to allow the peace of God, which passes
all understanding, to keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:6,7). Many things
in our lives irritate, anger, or worry us. We need to realize that God is at peace about these
matters_He knows how they are going to turn out and that they will be for our ultimate blessing
(Rom. 8:28)_ and He offers to share His peace with us.

4. Longsuffering. This is the ability to bear without loss of temper or retaliation the offenses,
provocations, and antagonism of other persons. Again, the Lord is our standard (2 Peter 3:9; 1
Peter 2:23).

5. Gentleness. We need continually to be reminded of the kindness and gentleness of Christ toward
us (Eph. 2:7; Titus 3:4) so that we may cultivate this same grace in our dealings with
others_particularly within our own families.

6. Goodness. This goes beyond righteousness. For example, we may have a perfect right to
complain about poor service or workmanship, bad behavior or habits, or whatever. But we will
find that by seeking to give words of encouragement and compliments we will be of greater help
to the person as well as having a better opportunity for effective gospel witness. (Handing a
waitress a tract and then complaining about her service goes a long way toward nullifying the
message of the tract.)

7. Faith. This is not simply the faith which we place in Christ for salvation, but the trust we place
in Him for every smallest detail of our lives. God often tries our faith (James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6,7)
to show us whether we are trusting Him for everything, or whether we are relying in any degree
upon our own abilities, wisdom, knowledge, or strength.

8. Meekness. This is the attitude in a person which receives reproof or insult or injury without
defending self and without retaliating or avenging the offense. But more than this, it is an attitude

of heart which goes out to the person who may have been the offender and seeks to draw that
person to the Lord.

9. Temperance. This refers to the control we should have over all our desires, habits, appetites,
thoughts, words, and deeds. With regard to the problem which most of us have with the tongue,
we need to make it a habit to pray with regard to every word we speak in every situation.

Now one may ask, "How can I manifest the fruit of the Spirit in my life?" First of all, you have
to be saved; that is, you must come to the Lord, owning your sinfulness and need of salvation, and
accepting the free gift of salvation made available through the work of Christ who died for our
sins. If you are truly saved, the Holy Spirit of God indwells you and is seeking, through the Word
of God, to "guide you into all truth" (John 16:13) and to lead you in following and imitating
Christ.

However, the Spirit does not automatically produce fruit in the believer’s life. Only if He is
allowed to fill or have full control of our lives (Eph. 5:18) will that fruit be manifested. If we
grieve the Holy Spirit by allowing unjudged sin in our lives (Eph. 4:30), He will be diverted from
His proper work of teaching us all truth and producing fruit in our lives, to a work necessary for
our deliverance from the sin and restoration to full communion with the Father.

Thus there is a great need in our lives for sensitivity and tender consciences with regard to
sin_especially our own sin. We need often to ask God to "Search me . . . and know my heart;
try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting" (Psalm 139:23,24). Along with this there is great need for confession of all known
sin (however insignificant we may regard any particular sin), and of self-judgment, that is, taking
the side of a holy God against ourselves and our sin. As we become increasingly aware that certain
attitudes, habits, and activities in our lives are not the fruit of the Spirit but rather the works of
the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21,26), let us be careful to name these things as God names them_SIN_and
confess them and seek God’s help to turn away from them. Only then will the positive fruit of the
Spirit begin really to appear in our lives.

There may be a danger with some believers of seeking, in their own strength, to produce
imitations of the Spirit’s fruit. Having read this series of articles one may, for example, set the
goal for himself of (a) controlling his temper the next time one provokes him, (b) complimenting
the waitress, (c) not worrying when things do not go according to plan, and (d) cutting down his
coffee consumption to two cups a day. Even if he succeeds in achieving this goal it may have been
accomplished through the flesh and not the Spirit. Let us avoid setting up for ourselves a rule of
life (see J. N. Darby’s Collected Writings, Vol. 10, pp. 27-29; also Words of Truth, Vol. 14, pp.
106-108). Such a thing will often lead to pride, self-complacency, and even condemnation of
others if we are successful in adhering to these rules; or it may lead to depression and doubts if
we fail to live up to the goals set for ourselves. Rather, let us seek to reckon ourselves dead to sin
and self and alive to God (Rom. 6:11). And may we truly desire that God, through the Holy Spirit
acting upon His Word, should make us grow unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fulness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). What spiritual fruit will be produced in our lives if
this be so!