Summary and Conclusion
OCTOBER 12, 2007 (FRIDAY) – The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness
and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23).
1. You may have noticed, there are three groups in this fruit.
(1) Graces that cause us to think of God:
  Love, Joy and Peace,
(2) Graces that cause us to think of other people:
  Patience, Kindness and Goodness,
(3) Graces that cause us to look within:
  Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control.
The groupings are not perfect; they overlap. You may know of a
better way to describe the groups. Three groups might be built
around the words, Upward, Outward, Inward. The outlining or
grouping of them in some way helps in remembering them.
2. Another thing you may have noticed as we discussed the fruit of the
Spirit: the word, “fruit,” is singular. The fruit is a cluster, like grapes
on a vine. Each type of fruit goes together with the rest of the fruit.
The fruit produced by the Spirit is in reality the Christian life. The
Christian life is lived as a whole – the Lord does not want you to pick
and choose which part of the Christian life you want. Each type of fruit
enables and enhances the other types of fruit.
3. The “works of the flesh” (KJV), or “the acts of the sinful nature” (NIV),
(Galatians 5:19-21) must also be studied, especially when considering
the fruit, “self-control.” But it is not good for us to dwell on spiritual
darkness very long. The longer we spend in the dark, the more
accustomed to it we become. It tends to “rub off” on us.
4. The “fruit of the Spirit” is for everyone who is in Christ. The “gifts of
the Spirit,” however, are for the church, and are given to individual
Christians for the benefit of the body as a whole. Different gifts are
given through different people. When thinking of the two groups, gifts
and fruit, just remember they are not the same thing. They are two
separate subjects.
I consider the “fruit of the Spirit” to be of paramount inportance when
seeking guidance for living the Christian life. I hope these little articles
have been of some help to you.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
(Galatians 5:22-23 NIV).