Fruit of the Spirit

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.                                                                                        Galatians 5:22-26 (NIV)

Since today is Valentine’s Day, and today we talk a lot about love. I thought that it might be a good idea to look at what Paul said in his letter to the Galatians about love. He identified the “fruit of the Spirit”, meaning, that those who are living under the influence of God’s Spirit would naturally exhibit his characteristics. Actually, I have read that there are not nine fruits of the Spirit, but just one- love. That fruit is manifested in the following traits- joy, peace, forbearance (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

So, if one has the fruit of the Spirit, love, the rest of those characteristics are natural signs of the presence of love. It seems that there is only one fruit, and from it the rest of them flow.

Makes sense to me.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for your plan of giving us your Spirit, the Spirit of love, Amen.