The fruit of the spirit

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Galatians 5:22-25
[22]But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
[23]gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
[24]Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.
[25]Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

Before we look at the fruit of the Spirit, let me at the outset state that Paul deliberately targets a single 'fruit'. We do not have the freedom to choose these qualities - they all must be evident in the life of a believer. If one is missing, we can assume that we are not Christians or that we are saturating the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In the fruit bearing nature is not an optional addition, it is the main purpose of the tree's life cycle. The fruit is the basic proof of the tree's inner life. If we are uncertain about the tree's identity, all will be revealed when it yields fruit. We decorate the Christmas tree, but we know that the decorations are not actually fruit trees - no one would buy apples from a jade and go and tie them on a tree in the garden because it bears its own fruit.

In contrast to the fleshly works leading to the exclusion of the Kingdom of God Paul counts the fruit of the Spirit (verses 22-23). There are 9 Christian graces that survey our attitude toward God, others, and ourselves.