The Fruit Of The Spirit

Veda Constançon

Gal 6:22 – 23 “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self–control.” (Emphasis mine)

The Fruit of the Spirit is 1 fruit – not 9 ‘fruits’.

  • The Scripture reads that the fruit of the Spirit is not are!
    • the fruit of the Spirit has 9 ‘segments’:
      • Love; Joy; Peace; Patience; Kindness; Goodness; Faithfulness; Gentleness; Self–control.
    • You cannot separate the segments.  They are connected: 
      • e.g. If you were to lose your self–control in an incident i.e. you get angry & frustrated and ‘let off steam’, you immediately affect your peace; your patience is ‘out the window’; your kindness and gentleness would cease to be evident; you have no joy nor are you showing any love and you certainly would not be seen as good.

So, how should we pray – for more patience, or just simply more fruit?

My grandfather used to teach it this way: 

“I have never seen a Pear tree struggle to bear pears.  If it has good soil, light and water, it just bears pears!  That is its natural outcome.  If we grow deeper in the Lord, feed on the water of the word and bask in the sunshine of the Lord’s presence we will automatically bear good fruit.” (Milton Chetwynd Talbot)

Whether the tree is old and stable or a young tender shoot, its needs stay the same.  It must have good soil, water and sunlight.  It is essential to stay rooted in the Word of God, feeding on the Water of His Word and continually wanting to be more like Jesus.  The rest will happen naturally.  God always has and always will keep His promises.  We can rest in Who He is.

A Vision

While sitting on my couch praying about fruit in my life, I heard these words: “You are a cannibal”.

I couldn’t believe it and thought I’d heard wrong.  I then heard the phrase a second time.  Then in front of me, on the couch opposite of where I was sitting in my living room, I saw a vision of an anorexic woman lying on my couch.  I heard the Lord ask: “What’s wrong with her?”  I responded, “She’s anorexic, Lord.”  He then asked me, “How do you know?”  I said, “I can see it.  Look, she’s emaciated.  She’s too thin and sickly.  It’s obvious to me.”  I then heard the Lord say to me “Feed her a peach.”  I reached up, took the peach that I saw and gave it to her and she ate it.  Then I heard the Lord say, “Feed her another peach.”  I repeated the procedure and fed her a second peach.  The Lord continued, “How many peaches must she eat before she looks like a peach?”

“She will never look like a peach, Lord”, I replied.

To this the Lord said, “So why are you so intent on trying to produce fruit that the Spirit produces?  It is ‘The Fruit of the Spirit’ is it not?  Why are you trying to produce fruit?  Is it for others to feed off you?  If you are feeding off others then you are a cannibal.”

The vision then faded…

Immediately I started doing research and I suddenly realized that the results of feeding on ‘The Fruit of the Spirit’ changes how we ‘look’ as human beings.  We need to learn to feed on God’s Fruit, which will automatically cause others to ‘see’ fruit in us.  It will be a natural outcome because it is the fruit of the Spirit – not our fruit.  We feed on His fruit and rely on Him.

What do we partake of when we feed on The Fruit of The Spirit?

His LOVE causes use to love Him in return: “19 We love him, because he first loved us.”  (John 4:19)

His JOY: “10 …for the joy of the Lord is your strength”.  (Nehemiah 8:10b)

His PEACE: “14 …For he is our peace, who hath made both one…”  (Ephesians 2:14a)

His PATIENCE brings us to salvation: “15 And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation…”  (2 Peter 3:15a)

His KINDNESS leads us to repentance: “4 … realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”  (Romans 2:4b)

His GOODNESS: “1 Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.”  (Psalm 73:1)

Strong’s Concordance: the word good (photo by Veda Constançon)

His FAITHFULNESS: “1 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.”  (Psalm 89:1)

His GENTLENESS*: “18 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.”  (Psalm 18:35)

*meaning of ‘gentle’: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gentle; https://www.dictionary.com/browse/gentle

  • Gentle – definition:
    • To make smooth, cozy or agreeable.
    • Stroke soothingly
    • Cause to be more favorably inclined, gain the good will of; “She managed to mollify the angry customer”.
    • Marked by moderate steepness; “an easy climb”; “a gentle slope”.
    • Having little impact; “an easy pat on the shoulder”; “gentle rain”; “a gentle breeze”; “a soft (or light) tapping at the window”.
    • Having or showing a kindly or tender nature; “the gentle touch of her hand”; “her gentle manner was comforting”; “a gentle sensitive nature”; “gentle blue eyes”.
    • Quiet and soothing; “a gentle voice”; “a gentle nocturne”.
    • Soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe; “a gentle reprimand”; “a vein of gentle irony”; “poked gentle fun at him”.
  • Royalty – definition:
    • Well-born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble.
    • To make genteel; to raise; to ennoble.
    • Give a title to someone; make someone a member of the nobility.
    • One well born; a gentleman.
    • Belonging to or characteristic of the nobility or aristocracy; “an aristocratic family”; “aristocratic Bostonians”; “aristocratic government”; “a blue family”; “blue blood”; “the blue-blooded aristocracy”; “of gentle blood”.
  • Trained – definition:
    • A trained falcon. See Falcon-gentil.
    • To make kind and docile, as a horse.
    • A compellative of respect, consideration, or conciliation; as, gentle reader.
    • Soft; not violent or rough; not strong, loud, or disturbing; easy; soothing; pacific; as, a gentle touch; a gentle gallop.
    • Quiet and refined in manners; not rough, harsh, or stern; mild; meek; bland; amiable; tender; as, a gentle nature, temper, or disposition; a gentle manner; a gentle address; a gentle voice.
    • Not wild, turbulent, or refractory, quiet and docile; tame; peaceable; as, a gentle horse.
    • Easily handled or managed; “a gentle old horse, docile and obedient”.
    • A dipterous larva used as fish bait.

His SELF-CONTROL produces our clothing – the Armor of God:  

“8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober [g or self-controlled], having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:8)

The grace of God teaches us how to live self-controlled lives: 

“11 For the grace of God has appeared, [f]bringing salvation to all men, 12 [g]instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of [h]our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”  (Titus 2:11–14)

I then wondered if the teaching/understanding I had regarding the ‘Fruit of the Spirit‘ was wrong.  The Lord showed me that because we are created in His image, we will start to look like that on Whom we feed and we will begin to exhibit the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ in our lives, but we are not to judge the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ of someone else’s life.  That is The Lord’s business.  However, we can ‘judge’ (look and compare what they used to be to what they are now) what that fruit produces. We can look at a person and learn of the changes God has accomplished in their lives as we find out about their testimony.  He is the Author and the Finisher of our faith in every sense.  We are free in Jesus and He Who began a good work in us will perfect it!

What will we produce when we feed on The Fruit of The Spirit?

LOVE:

When you meet someone, who loves God and His Word and delights in the Holy Spirit and shows mercy, forgiveness, grace, compassion and is slow to anger yet is still willing to bring correction (even if it offends you), it is because they have been feeding on God’s LOVE.

STRENGTH:

When you meet someone, who is strong in their faith and sure of what they believe and is able to endure suffering without wavering in their faith, it is because they have been feeding on The Holy Spirit’s JOY!

GUARDING OBEDIENCE:

When you meet someone, who accepts discipline and believes in the strength of unity, is able to guard their heart and mind (Philippians 4:7) and has subjected their own will to the Will of God and has no issue with being a slave to righteousness, it is because they have been feeding on The Holy Spirit’s PEACE.

n. b. Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) and will rule with a rod of iron! (Psalm 2:9).

When a home is ruled strongly there is peace in that house.

SALVATION:

When you meet someone, who is ‘saved’ by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, to whom God has shown mercy, it is because they have been feeding on The Holy Spirit’s PATIENCE.

REPENTANCE:

When you meet someone whom you often hear praying for forgiveness of their own sin and the sin of their nation, who believes in restoration and reconciliation and has an attitude of gratitude because their eternal lives have been spared eternal damnation, it is because they have been feeding on The Holy Spirit’s KINDNESS. 

PROVISION: 

When you meet someone, who does not waiver from the Word of God, even if it contradicts what has been taught in churches or what is accepted by society and the law books, who has confidence (Psalm 27:13), knows their calling (2 Peter 1:3), is free from their own prison (Psalm 142:7) and is competent to instruct (Romans 15:14), it is because they have been feeding on The Holy Spirit’s GOODNESS. 

TRUSTWORTHINESS:

When you meet someone who keeps their promises, is able to keep secrets secret, does what they say they will do and is careful to ensure their ‘yes’ is a ‘yes’ and their ‘no’ is a ‘no’ – even if it causes offense, it is because they have been feeding on The Holy Spirit’s FAITHFULNESS. 

GOOD MANNERS:

When you meet someone, who knows how to behave themselves, who understands that they are royalty in the Kingdom of God (Revelation 5:10), who have been well trained through rigorous discipline (2 Samuel 22:35; Psalm 18:34; Psalm 144:1), it is because they have been feeding on the Holy Spirit’s GENTLENESS.

WELL–DRESSED:

When you meet someone, who is spiritually well-dressed and has the following attributes:

“12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”  (Colossians 3:12-14), 

it is because they are feeding on the Holy Spirit’s SELF-CONTROL.

“5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.”  (2 Peter 1:5–9)

Fruit is often coupled in Scripture

Love & Faithfulness: often coupled in Scripture producing FELLOWSHIP: 2 Corinthians 13:14; Psalm 86:15; Psalm 61:7; Psalm 98:3

Love & Peace: 2 Corinthians 13:11; Ephesians 6:23

Kindness & Love:  Titus 3:4

Joy & Peace: Romans 15:13; Romans 16:20

Kindness & Patience:  Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 6:6

Faith & Patience:  Hebrews 6:12

Goodness & love:  Psalm23:6; Psalm 69:16; Psalm 109:21

Gentleness & Self–Control (implied): 2 Corinthians 10; Philippians 4:5–7; Colossians 3:12–13; 1 Timothy 6:11–12; 1 Peter 3:15–16

Fruit & gifts linked: Ephesians 2:9; Ephesians 3:14–21; Ephesians 5:1; Ephesians 6:23

“Pursue these things” (1 Timothy 6:11) is another way of saying ‘PURSUE CHRIST!’