What Are the Fruit of the Spirit and How Do We Grow Them?

We may have heard the phrase “the fruit of the spirit” in church before, but never truly understood the meaning of the verses found in Galatians 5:22-23.

In these, Paul lists nine attributes of the Holy Spirit, which appear in Christians when they are indwelt by him. In other words, when God indwells us, and we spend more time with him, we begin to emanate his attributes. This is just like when we spend more time with a person, we begin to look and sound like them. 

But why are these singular? In other words, why isn’t it the “fruits” of the Spirit? Why these nine, and why does this bear an importance on the church today?

What Are the Fruits of the Spirit?

The nine hallmarks of the spirit working in a Christian’s life are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Love heads the list. Because God is love (1 John 4:7-21). Love is the most important out of these nine. Without it, our good works have no use on earth (1 Corinthians 13:1). 

But what about the others? Why did Paul choose these in the list and not other admirable attributes?

Let’s break each of them down. 

Joy, first of all, goes deeper than a mere happiness, says Ellicott’s Commentary. As it further explains, joy comes from the radiance, the brightness of God himself. In such a presence of brightness, we can experience comfort during difficult trials (Psalm 94:19). Peace goes hand in hand with this attribute. As mentioned in the Candle of Advent article found on Christianity.com, peace extends to others and our inner selves. With it, we have comfort in knowing God heal this broken world.

Love, joy, and peace appear to go together. It shows our relationship with God. When we spend time with God, we are full of love, full of heavenly joy, and full of peace. 

The next three, according to MacLaren Expositions, get lumped into a triad: patience, kindness, and goodness. These especially manifest themselves in our relationships with others (opposed to the first three showing up more in our relationship with God). Instead of choosing to be revoked or choosing to retaliate, we endure sufferings and choose to love others. We refuse to add to the fire of antagonism. 

Our final triad: gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control, refers to how we handle opposition. 

When we face temptation or people who attempt to sway us from righteous living or from Christ himself, we lean on these three virtues. 

So why “fruit of the spirit” instead of “fruits”? 

As Christians, we may get tempted to focus on one fruit at a time. “Today I’ll work on patience. Tomorrow, self-control.” But the Holy Spirit doesn’t work like that. When we submit to God fully and allow him to transform us, all of this fruit should appear in our lives. We are more patient with our dealings with others, joy fills us more, we exercise more self-control, etc. 

Real-Life Examples of Each Fruit of the Spirit

Love: Show love by checking in on friends or family members who might be going through a tough time, offering them support and a listening ear.

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8).

Joy: Express joy by celebrating small wins in everyday life. Smile at others, share laughter, and maintain a positive attitude even in mundane moments.

"I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels" (Isaiah 61:10).

Peace: Promote peace by resolving conflicts calmly, avoiding gossip, and focusing on reconciliation and forgiveness when disagreements arise.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27).

Patience: Practice patience by responding kindly when someone takes longer than expected, such as waiting calmly in traffic or being understanding with slow service.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27:14).

Kindness: Demonstrate kindness through small acts, like holding the door for someone, helping a neighbor, or offering a compliment.

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:4-5).

Goodness: Act in goodness by choosing to do what’s right, such as returning extra change given by mistake or standing up for someone who is being treated unfairly.

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21).

Faithfulness: Show faithfulness by honoring commitments, staying loyal to friends and family, and being reliable in your work or responsibilities.

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much" (Luke 16:10).

Gentleness: Be gentle by using kind words, especially in stressful situations, and handling others’ feelings with care, like speaking softly to calm someone down.

"To slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone" (Titus 3:2).

Self-Control: Exercise self-control by managing impulses, like not reacting in anger during a heated moment or resisting the urge to indulge in unhealthy habits.

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).

How Do We Grow Fruits of the Spirit?

We can often have the misconception that they have to earn the fruit of the Spirit. Maybe if they gave more at church or spent more time doing community service, then they will learn patience, or gentleness, or goodness.

This is simply not the case.

We must first go to God and spend more time with him. We must analyze Scripture and learn all we can about our Creator. We’ll see his love, joy, peace, etc. and how he has blessed us. When we do so, we cannot help but love others. We cannot help but exercise faithfulness. Because we see a good God, and we allow that good God to change us from the inside out.

Inside out. Not the other way around. 

We must second surrender ourselves to him. Even if we have made a lifelong commitment to him before now, we need to surrender ourselves to his will daily. This means allowing him to transform us, even when it hurts.

Christians must stop trying to “polish up” their lives before submitting to the Spirit, writes Vern Nicolette for Active Christianity. 

Trying to grow fruit without the Holy Spirit is like trying to grow fruit on an uprooted tree. We need the Holy Spirit to water us and sustain us before we can start producing fruit. 

The Importance of the Fruit of the Spirit

Christians don’t always succeed at growing fruit. We can stumble into sin and lose sight of the character of Christ in our actions.

However, we should be seeing a steady growth. When looking back on our formative Christian years, we should see how we’ve grown to be more patient, kind, joyful, loving, etc. 

If we see a lack of growth over a long period of time, it may be time to spend more time with God and seek him earnestly.
 
"By their fruit, you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them" (Matthew 7:16-20).

One song always stood out to me at church: “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love.” 

Many people don’t know Christians by their love. As pointed out in the Case for Faith by Lee Strobel, the Christians of the early church managed to convert so many to the faith because of their kindness. They loved the unloved, cared for the marginalized, and emulated Jesus. 

Others saw Jesus in them and wanted to have the same hope, the same joy, and the same peace they experience. As believers, we want nonbelievers to see the same in us. We do so by spending more time with God. 

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/IngridHS

Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.