Galatians 5:22-23

Devotional
Jesus said that we would know a tree by its fruit. That's because what is happening inside eventually begins showing up outside. What's happening in your heart eventually shows up in your words. And more importantly, it shows up in your actions. The Holy Spirit doesn't simply want to live in you. He wants to produce something through you. Paul calls it the fruit of the Spirit. Notice that Paul doesn't say “the fruits” as though these are nine separate assignments we have to manufacture. He says “the fruit.” It is one healthy life being produced by one Holy Spirit. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. This fruit becomes evidence of what God is doing inside of us. Holiness looks like something. It looks like patience when you used to lose your temper. It looks like forgiveness when you used to hold onto bitterness. It looks like self-control when you used to give in. It looks like faithfulness when walking away would be easier. It looks like love even when someone doesn't deserve it. The question isn't simply, “Do I know Scripture?” The question is: “Is the Spirit producing His fruit in my life?”
 
Read the Context
Galatians 5 NIV
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
 
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
 
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
 
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
 
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
 
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
 
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
 
Footnotes:

• Galatians 5:13 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 16, 17, 19 and 24; and in 6:8.
• Galatians 5:14 Lev. 19:18
• Galatians 5:17 Or you do not do what

 
Make it Personal
Which fruit of the Spirit do you see God developing in your life? Which ones still need growth?
 
Practical Application
Choose one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit and intentionally practice it today.
 
Talk to God
“Holy Spirit, produce Your fruit in me. Let what You are doing inside of me become visible in the way I speak, respond, serve, forgive, and love. Make me more like Jesus. Amen.”