Category: The Fruit of the Spirit

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” –Aesop After patience, the next fruit of the Spirit is kindness. Interestingly, Paul lists kindness right after patience in another list as well. In 1 Corinthians 13:4, Paul starts listing the characteristics of love by saying, “Love is...

If you have ever been stuck in a traffic jam or waited in line to get your driver’s license renewed or been within ten feet of a two year old having a temper tantrum, you might have noticed that patience is in short supply these days – maybe even...

Why is it that when life becomes complicated or hard, we yearn for “peace and quiet”? I know sometimes it is tempting to try to find a cave to dwell in and get away from people forever. Some days I  think to myself how nice it would be to...

Joy is one of the most misunderstood fruits of the Spirit. Often it is confused with happiness, but in some ways, it is actually the opposite of happiness. For example, happiness is a fleeting emotion; joy is a permanent state of mind. Happiness is dependent on your circumstances; joy...

Paul begins the list of virtues with “love.” One reason why it is listed first is that all of the virtues that follow require love working with them in order to be evident in a Spirit-led believer’s life. This is alluded to when Paul writes “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision...

By contrast, the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. (Galatians 5:22-23) When I was younger, I was told to memorize this verse. Unfortunately most of the translations are inadequate and make things more...