But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
OK, so you have memorized, or tried to memorize, today’s text, so you should get this question right: how many fruits of the Spirit are there? A quick calculation, and most will come up with nine. And most would be wrong. According to our text, there is only one fruit of the Spirit. Read, or recite, it again and see: ‘The fruit of the Spirit is…’ The noun ‘fruit’ is singular, and so is the verb ‘is’. Only one! Yes, there are nine graces listed in our text, all wonderful attributes for us as Christians to have and to display as evidence of the Holy Spirit dwelling with us. But they are a package deal. Just as it takes all of the segments of an orange to make up the orange, so it takes all nine of these graces to fully produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. And don’t forget, this is not your fruit, but the Spirit’s fruit; you are just the vessel in which the Spirit produces the fruit.
The first three of these are the result of the Spirit’s presence and power in our own soul. The other six are the evidence that others around us can see of the Spirit working in and through us. And if we look at the Christians around us, we will notice a difference in the display of each of these six. In fact, some saints will be outstanding in their display of one or more of them. And some will be sadly lacking in their display of one or more of them. But if there is only one fruit of the Spirit, then all nine of these attributes of the fruit are available to every one of us. That is encouraging, because as we look at this list, we can all see areas where we need improvement.
If we return to the analogy of an orange, if I were to present you with the peel of an orange, you would be right to tell me that I had not given you an orange. In the same way, we cannot be said to be displaying the fruit of the Spirit if we display only one or two of the attributes of the fruit. As we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18), we will develop those attributes that may be lacking. If you have not yet memorized our text, do so. And as you recite it, take a look into your soul and see whether you can detect the development of each of these attributes.
Our Lord desires that we might bear fruit for Him. He is looking for the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. – Jim MacIntosh