Fruit of the Spirit

Let’s remember it’s the fruit of the Holy Spirit, the third person of what we call the Trinity (only in linguistic formulas, not in reality, because there is no “order” or “hierarchy” in the Godhead). It’s not the fruit of our spirit, or spiritual expression.  So the whole basis of it is holiness, not power or personality.

Second, it’s fruit, not fruits.  Not pears, apples, grapes, peaches,etc.  One fruit.  I interpret this as a package deal.  We want to separate them out and say, “I have one and not another,” but if the source is the Holy Spirit, then they all come together.  I would say this is true about a lot of spiritual truths—what we want to separate out, take “cafeteria style” for our own convenience—is meant to be all or nothing.

Third, they aren’t about us and our personalities or our reputations.  A choleric person can have patience through the Holy Spirit.  A person who is naturally reticent or introverted or calm may seem to have the fruit of the Spirit called “peace,” but I know from experience that those folks can be as torn up spiritually as anyone. 

Fourth, the purpose of the fruit of the Spirit is glorification of God and sanctification of our lives, not happy-ization of our everyday walks—or self-fulfillment.