The Fruit of the Spirit
The Path That Leads to Loving as Jesus Loved
by
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The nine traits that Paul identified as the fruit of the Spirit are not nine separate, independent abilities. Rather, they are interrelated and interdependent. No single trait stands alone. That’s why Paul spoke of them as the fruit (singular) of the Spirit rather than the fruits (plural) of the Spirit. The fruit (singular) of the Spirit stands in contrast to the works (plural) of the flesh.
These nine traits are the same traits we find in the life of Jesus. Thus, they show us what Christ-like spirituality looks like. In producing these traits in us, the Spirit is working to make us to be like Christ and empowering us to love as Jesus loved. They are the indicators of the Spirit’s work in us, leading us into spiritual maturity.
The fruit of the Spirit is not a level of maturity we attain once for all. It can become the perspective from which we live as we grow spiritually, but this Spirit-empowered way of relating must be chosen over and over again. The fruit of the Spirit is how the Spirit empowers us to relate in the midst of any given relationship, in any situation, at any given time.
The nine traits identified as the fruit of the Spirit fall into three categories that correspond to the three categories of the works of the flesh identified in Chapter 1. The first three traits describe the spirit out of which one lives: love, joy, peace. The ability to love as Jesus loved is the goal of the Spirit’s work. Self-giving, servant love is rooted in and flows out of joy and peace. As long as we live with anxiety, fear, and anger, our ability to love will be thwarted. This spirit of love, joy, and peace is diametrically opposed to the self-indulgent spirit that is a part of the works of the flesh. The next five traits are all relational terms. They describe what love looks like in human relationships. Moving beyond anxiety, fear, and anger into a spirit of love, joy, and peace sets us free to relate to others with patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and gentleness. Grace and forgiveness shape the way we live in relationship. This grace-based way of relating is diametrically opposed to the alienation and broken relationships that are a part of the works of the flesh. The final trait is the key trait that makes the other eight traits possible: self-control. The Spirit teaches us to recognize and manage the anxiety and fear that drive our emotional reactivity, thereby leading us to experience joy and peace in the face of the anxiety and fear. Living out of joy and peace, the Spirit-empowered follower of Jesus is in a position to choose to live out of patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and gentleness. In other words, the Spirit empowers the follower of Jesus to love in that particular moment, situation, and relationship. This spirit of self-control is diametrically opposed to the grasping for power and control (idolatry, sorcery) that is a part of the works of the flesh.
The Spirit sets us free from the power of our self-serving, what’s-in-it-for-me spirit, empowering us to love as Jesus loved.
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About the Book
Jesus and the apostle Paul both identified love as the distinguishing mark of the follower of Jesus. In his description of the fruit of the Spirit, Paul described how it is possible to love the way Jesus loved. But how do we love in this profound way?
The Fruit of the Spirit explores the nine interrelated traits of the fruit of the Spirit as the path that leads to loving the way that Jesus loved. The nine traits Paul identified—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—are interrelated and interdependent. Love is the number-one trait and the goal of the Spirit's work. Joy and peace are the inner disposition out of which love flows. The next five traits describe what love looks like in relationships. The final trait, self-control, is the key that make the others possible.
By learning about the interrelation between these traits and the barriers to them that are inherent in our human nature, you, too, can understand how the Spirit moves between these barriers—what Paul called "the flesh"—and empowers us to love as Jesus loved.
About the Author
Steve Langford—also known as Pastor Steve—has given his adult life to the study and teaching of scripture in the local church, and he has served as a pastor for over forty-five years, first as a Baptist minister and then as an ordained elder in the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. He has a bachelor's degree in biblical studies from Howard Payne University, and he received his master and doctor of divinity degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Pastor Steve is married to Etta, his wife of forty-eight years, and they have three adult sons and four grandchildren.