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You have probably seen the list. Maybe on a fridge magnet, a church wall, or a bookmark. Nine good things in a neat row: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and the rest.
And if you are honest, the list might make you tired.
Because you have tried. You tried to be more patient with your kids, or your mother, or the person at work who talks over you. You tried to be kinder in traffic. You tried to feel joy on a Monday. Some days it worked. Most days you ran out by lunch.
So when people ask, “What are the fruits of the Spirit?” they usually want the list. Here it is. But the most helpful thing in the passage is not the list at all. It is one small word Paul chose right before it, and one small word he chose right after a different list. Those two words change how the whole thing works.
What Are the Fruits of the Spirit? The Short Answer
The fruits of the Spirit come from Galatians 5:22-23. In the King James Version it reads:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23, KJV)
That is nine qualities:
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Longsuffering (most modern Bibles say “patience”)
- Gentleness (often “kindness”)
- Goodness
- Faith (often “faithfulness”)
- Meekness (often “gentleness”)
- Temperance (often “self-control”)
Now look closely at the first line again. Paul did not write “the fruits of the Spirit are.” He wrote “the fruit of the Spirit is.” One fruit. Nine flavors of it.
Most of us say “fruits,” and that is fine. Nobody is grading your grammar. But the singular is worth slowing down for, because of what sits just a few lines above it.
The Other List: “Works,” Plural
Galatians 5 has two lists, not one. Most people only ever see the second.
The first list starts in verse 19:
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like…” (Galatians 5:19-21, KJV)
In Greek, “works” is erga. It is plural. And the word itself means things that are done, made, or produced. Effort words. Factory words.
Then verse 22 turns with a “But.” And the word Paul uses is karpos, fruit. Singular. Something that grows.
So Paul sets two things side by side:
- Works (many) that a person produces.
- Fruit (one) that grows out of a life.
To be fair and honest: in Greek, as in English, “fruit” can be a group word. You can say “a bowl of fruit” and mean apples, pears and grapes all together. So the singular alone does not prove a big point. Bible scholars do not all lean on it the same way. But the contrast with “works” is right there on the page, in the same breath, and that contrast is Paul’s own choice. Whatever else is going on, he did not describe the good list with the same kind of word he used for the bad one.
Two Details Almost Everyone Reads Past
This is where the passage gets really interesting.
First, look at how each list ends.
The works list ends with “and such like.” In other words: and so on. It is open-ended. That list never finishes. There is always another thing to add, another thing to manage, another thing to fight.
The fruit list ends with “against such there is no law.” No rule forbids these things. But there is a second, quieter meaning too. No rule can make them either. You cannot pass a law that forces someone to feel joy. You cannot write a rule that produces real peace. These things are outside the reach of rules, in both directions.
Second, remember why Galatians was written.
The whole letter is Paul pushing back against a group telling new believers they had to add rule-keeping to their faith to be fully right with God. Paul spends five chapters saying no, you cannot earn this. So when he gets to this list near the end, it would be very strange for him to hand them a new set of nine rules to keep. That would undo the whole letter.
He does the opposite. He ends by telling them where the good things come from: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25, KJV).
Live there. Walk there. Stay close. The fruit is what shows up on a life that does that.
A Few Words That Mean More Than They Look
The King James words can feel old, so here are two worth a second look.
Longsuffering. The Greek word is makrothumia. It is built from “long” and a word for temper or strong feeling. It is patience in a very specific sense: a long fuse. Not “never feeling angry,” but taking a long time to go off. If that is where you are struggling, you might find this prayer for patience helpful.
Faith. The word is pistis. Here it is less about believing the right things and more about being someone others can count on. That is why many newer Bibles say “faithfulness.” It is the quality of a friend who shows up.
One more small surprise. The King James Bible has the phrase “fruit of the Spirit” a second time, in Ephesians 5:9: “(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;).” Most modern translations read “fruit of the light” there instead, because the oldest Greek copies they follow say “light.” Either way, Paul keeps using the same picture. Good things in a person are something that grows, not something that is built.
The Turn: You Were Never Meant to Manufacture This
Here is what that means for a tired person on a normal Tuesday.
Most of us treat the fruits of the Spirit like a to-do list. Nine items. Check your score. Love: okay. Joy: not great. Patience: failed twice before breakfast. Then we try harder. Grit our teeth. Promise to do better.
But that is the “works” way of doing it. It turns a fruit into a factory job. And factory jobs wear people out.
Jesus used the same picture, and He was very plain about how fruit happens:
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5, KJV)
A branch does not strain to make grapes. It is not working late. It is not reading a list about grapes. It stays attached to the vine, and the grapes come. Slowly. In season. Sometimes you do not notice them until one day they are just there.
That does not mean you do nothing. Staying attached is a real choice, and you make it every day. But the effort goes into staying close, not into forcing results. If you want to go deeper on what that staying looks like, this piece on what “abide in me” means in John 15 walks through it.
So if you are exhausted from trying to be more patient, kinder and calmer, hear this gently: the answer is probably not more trying. It is more time near the source. God gives what you have been trying to make.
People sometimes mix up the fruit of the Spirit with the gifts of the Spirit, and it is an easy mix-up. Gifts are different for different people. One person teaches, another serves, another encourages. Fruit is meant for everyone. If you are curious which gifts fit you, our free Spiritual Gifts Assessment is a good place to start. But the fruit is not a talent. It is what grows in anyone who stays close.
Actions to Take
- Change one word. Next time you catch yourself thinking “I need to be more patient,” change it to “I need to stay closer.” Say it out loud if you can. It takes five seconds, and it moves your effort to the right place.
- Take a two-minute branch break. Set a reminder for the middle of your day. When it goes off, stop wherever you are and read John 15:4-5 slowly, once. No planning, no fixing. Just reconnect before you go back to work.
- Look for fruit you did not force. Tonight, think back over the day and find one moment where you were kinder, calmer or more patient than usual without trying hard. Write it down in one line. That is what growth looks like. Start noticing it.
Journaling Prompts
- Which of the nine qualities have you been trying hardest to produce by willpower alone? What has that effort cost you?
- When in your life have you felt closest to God? What was different about your days back then?
- What would change in you if you truly believed you did not have to earn God’s closeness?
A Prayer
God, I am tired of trying to make myself good. I have been treating love and patience and peace like a list I keep failing, and it has worn me out. I want to stop straining and just stay close to You. Grow in me what I cannot make on my own, in Your time, even when I do not notice it happening. Amen.
Discussion Question
Why do you think so many of us turned the fruit of the Spirit into a checklist, when the passage points so clearly the other way? Share your thoughts in the comments below. We would love to hear from you.
Share This
- Paul wrote “fruit,” not “fruits.” One thing that grows, not nine things to manufacture. I needed that today.
- I have been treating love, joy and patience like a to-do list I keep failing. Galatians 5 says they grow on a branch that stays attached to the vine. Stop straining. Stay close.
- The “works” list in Galatians 5 ends with “and such like,” so it never ends. The fruit list ends with “against such there is no law.” No rule can forbid it, and no rule can force it.
Questions About the Fruits of the Spirit
What are the 9 fruits of the Spirit?
The nine fruits of the Spirit, listed in Galatians 5:22-23, are love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith (faithfulness), meekness (gentleness), and temperance (self-control). The King James Version uses the older words, while most modern translations use the words shown in brackets.
Is it “fruit of the Spirit” or “fruits of the Spirit”?
The Bible says “fruit of the Spirit,” singular. In Galatians 5:22 the apostle Paul uses the Greek word karpos, meaning fruit, in the singular, followed by the singular verb “is.” Many people say “fruits of the Spirit” in everyday speech, and that is a common and understandable phrasing, but the original text describes one fruit with nine qualities.
What is the difference between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit?
In Galatians 5:19-23, Paul lists the “works of the flesh,” a plural word (erga) for things people produce, such as hatred, strife and envy. Then he contrasts them with the “fruit of the Spirit,” a singular word for something that grows, such as love, joy and peace. The contrast suggests that good character grows from staying connected to God rather than being produced by human effort alone.
How do you grow the fruit of the Spirit?
According to Jesus in John 15:4-5, fruit grows when a branch stays connected to the vine: “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” Growing the fruit of the Spirit is less about forcing yourself to be more patient or kind, and more about staying close to God daily through prayer, time in scripture, and honest reliance on God.
What is the difference between the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit?
The gifts of the Spirit, described in passages like Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, are different abilities given to different believers, such as teaching or serving. The fruit of the Spirit, described in Galatians 5:22-23, is a set of character qualities meant to grow in every believer, such as love, joy, peace and patience.
