Now, what are the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’? The Bible says in Galatians 5:22-23 this:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

The Spirit that these verses are talking about is the Holy Spirit. When do you get the Holy Spirit? That’s right, the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, or become saved. So, in order to have the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ we must be a Christian. What are the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’?
They are:

1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Longsuffering/Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8.Gentleness
9. Self-Control

First, let’s look at what God says about everyone of these fruits individually.
Love:
In 1 Corinthians 13:13 the Bible says:
“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
So love is the greatest commandment and, fittingly, one of the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’. If you think about it, it’s no wonder love is of the Holy Spirit and the greatest commandment because Jesus died of the cross to save us, not because of anything we did, but out of His wonderful grace and love.

Second, Joy:
In Proverbs 17:22 the Bible says:
“A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.”
As we all know, joy also means being joyful. And God says in this verse that being joyful is good medicine. Think about it, most people who have heart problems is because they’re uptight and full of stress. So, of course being joyful is a ‘Fruit of the Spirit’.

Third, Peace:
In Philippians 4:6-7 the Bible says:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
In this verse, God tells us that we get peace by praying. That’s an easy one. But we also, when in the Spirit, (We’ll cover what being in the Spirit means and how to be ‘In the Spirit’ later on) have a peace in our lives knowing that we are right with God and where God wants us to be. Also, all Christians, in the Spirit or not, can have a peace that they know that they’re going to heaven and spend eternity with Jesus our Lord.

Fouth, Longsuffering:
In James1:2-4 the Bible says:
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trails, knowing this, that the trying of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
In this verse, God says that when we fall into trails that we should be joyful. Why should we be joyful? Because, as the verse stated, it produces patience. Patience is a synonym of longsuffering. How do we become patient? Through trials. So when trials come, remember that God sent you this trail to grow in Him and to help develop the fruit of patience.

Fifth, Kindness:
In Ephesians 4:32 the Bible says:
“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
God says in this verse that we are to be kind to each other. If you’ve ever been kind to someone who wasn’t kind to you, then you know it can be hard to be kind. But that’s where God and the Holy Spirit come in. You see, it’s impossible to fulfill this commandment on our own. That’s why God gave us the Holy Spirit and ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ to help us. Just remember, when you’re kind to someone who knows that they don’t deserve it, they will take notice…. Especially when you’re in the Spirit.

Sixth, Goodness:
In Psalm 31:19 the Bible says:
“Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which you have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!”
God said in this verse how great His goodness is which He has laid up for everyone who obeys Him. God has given His goodness in many ways: He gave us Jesus to die for our sins, He gave us life, He gave us the Bible, and He have us the Holy Spirit which gives us the ‘fruit’ of goodness with the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’. But in order to experience all of God’s goodness and goodness of the Spirit, we must obey Him.

Seventh, Faithfulness:
In Psalm 119:90 the Bible says:
“Your faithfulness endures to all generations….”
This verse says that God’s faithfulness is unto all generations. That means that all the promises He’s made, like supplying all of our needs(Phil 4:14), He will hear our prayers(Jer 33:3), and many more. But one promise that we can look at here is that Jesus said that He would send a Helper after He died. Which He did, and that Helper is the Holy Spirit which gives us the ‘fruit’ of faithfulness.

Eighth, Gentleness:
In 2 Timothy 2:24 the Bible says:
“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all…”
This verse is saying that a servant of the Lord needs to be gentle. Once again, it’s no wonder that gentleness is one of the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’.

Ninth, Self-Control:
In 2 Peter 1:5-6 they Bible says:
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control…”
Paul tells us in these verse that we need to add to our faith, (Which is what we do when we trust God) next Paul tells us to add to our knowledge; (Which is what this Bible study is here to do) then Paul said that after we add to our knowledge, that we should add to our self-control. It’s easy to have self-control when we’re in the Spirit.

How To Be ‘In the Spirit’

Now then, I’ve said that we need to be ‘In the Spirit’ in order to practice these ‘Fruits’ the way God wants us to. You might be wondering, “ What in the world does ‘In the Spirit’ mean? And how can I be ‘In the Spirit’ to have the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’?” First and most important, ‘In the Spirit’ does not mean that someone slaps you on the forehead and you drop to the ground and start to wiggle and jiggling like someone with a fish down their pants. When you see someone doing this, it pretty much means that that is not from God. You see, God is a God of order, not of confusion. Just look at the way the earth rotates around the sun every single day. Look at how we can set our clocks by the sun. Look how we can find our way home from the stars. Talk about not confusing. Since God is a God of order, He would never want anyone to get up there and be ‘slain in the Spirit’ and jiggle life a fish. So what does ‘In the Spirit’ mean? In the Spirit means being right with God, wanting His will, not our own, and having totally given your entire self to Him, not just second best. In other words, being ‘gung-ho’ for Christ.( Sorry, but I couldn’t think of a better saying)
Since I’ve told you what being ‘In the Spirit’ means, how do we get in the Spirit? First, like I already said, we have to be saved and given over our lives totally to God and wanting His best, not our own. Second, we need to be out of something in order to be in the Spirit. In Galatians 5:16-17 the Bible says:
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
So to walk in the Spirit is to be out of the flesh because the Spirit and the flesh are contrary to each other. The ‘Flesh’ this verse is talking about is not our humane flesh, but rather is the old desires of the flesh we had before we became saved. In other words this ‘Flesh’ is sin.(Gal 5:19) When you’re ‘in the flesh’ then that means you’re in sin. So whenever we’re ‘in the flesh’ and know it, then we’re not ‘In the Spirit’ and the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ won’t flow. So to be ‘In the Spirit’ we have to be out of sin and be in God. That means reading our Bibles, praying, searching for God’s will, and wanting Him. It’s as easy as that. “Out of the flesh and into the Spirit” is my new motto.

How to practice the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’

Now since we’ve looked at the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ and how to be ‘In the Spirit’, let’s look at how we can practice these fruits in our everyday lives.

How can we practice love?
Love. This is one of the most over used words in the English language. This word is so deep that it would take me forever and a day just to scrap the top of how to practice love. First, we should have brotherly love. The Bible says that if we say that we love God and hate our brother, that that person is a liar!(1 John 4:20-21) This just doesn’t mean your physical brother that you’re related to, this means everyone! But how can we ‘love’ our brother? Here are some little things we can do: When we see someone who needs our help, whether spiritually, physically, or finically, we should try to help them to the best of our God given ability. Also, in 1 Corinthians 13:3-8, Paul gives us a long list of what love is and how to practice it. Of course, always go to the Scripture for examples of love. So remember, love one another just as Christ loves you!

How can we practice joy?
In the dictionary, joy is defined as this: “The emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something good or satisfying”. All Christians, especially in the Spirit, should be joyful because of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins to save us! Talk about ‘something good’! Also, as you go through the day, if you’re a Christian, you can have joy because you’re know that you’re going to heaven. When doing a task, no matter how easy or hard it might be, have a joyful attitude. When ‘In the Spirit’ it will be easy to have joyful heart and attitude when you’re joyful, even if something bad has happened, people will take notice. Not only will they take notice, but some might even come up to you and ask how in the world you’re joyful when something bad has happened to you. At that time, you can tell them about Jesus Christ and how He gives you joy and died for you. Remember, ‘rejoice always’!

How can we practice peace?
When you’re ‘In the Spirit’, you’ll have a peace over you that’s life nothing in the world! You’ll have this peace even when faced with rough times. ‘In the Spirit’, you can bring God’s peace to others with words of comfort and love. And with the peace of the Lord and Spirit with you, you can calm hectic situations. But remember, the moment you we start to rely on ourselves and not God, that’s the moment that we’ll fall and no longer have the ‘peace of the Spirit’ with us.

How can we practice longsuffering/Patience?
When you’re ‘In the Spirit’, you’ll have longsuffering with you. This means that not only will you have joy and peace when God sends you a something to help you grow in Him; but you’ll also be able to take what God is giving you, with the Spirit’s help, knowing that God is molding and refining you into His holy and wonderful likeness! With the patience you develop for the longsuffering, you’ll be able to have patience waiting for the Lord to show you what you need to do or not do. Also, when you’re ‘In the Spirit’, you’ll have patience with people. Say like you’re witnessing to a person; you’ll be able to have patience with this person knowing that God will reach Him if it’s His will either through you, or another person. So, be patient.

How can we practice kindness?
When you’re ‘In the Spirit’, you’ll be full of kindness. How can we practice being kind? First, remember that God says that we’re supposed to be kind to one another and forgiving. One way you can be kind is forgiving someone. You can also be kind by forgiving someone whose done something wrong to you even though they have never asked for forgiveness. Also, you can be kind to your mom and dad. You can be kind to you brother(s) and sister(s). Be kind to people who don’t know Christ. And for the hardest of them all, be kind to me, please!!

How can we practice goodness?
Here’s an easy question for you: what is the opposite of good(ness)? That’s right, bad. When you’re ‘In the Spirit’, goodness will flow. You’ll have goodness in your mind, goodness in your speech, and goodness in all of your conduct (But be sure to watch out for sin). Also, as you go through your day, look and see how you can be good to someone rather then being ‘bad’ and seeking revenge. Goodness also goes along with kindness. Add the two together and you have a great witnessing tool!

How can we practice faithfulness?
First, we should be faithful, not just ‘In the Spirit’, everyday just like God is. God was faithful in sending His Son. Likewise, we should be faithful to Him. That means listening to Him and His Word. Also, when ‘In the Spirit’, we should be faithful to each other in our lives. How? Well, if you make a promise, keep it. If you said you would do something, do it. This may mean that you will have to break a promise to keep one that you’ve already made, because being faithful also means not showing favoritism(James 2:1). Be faithful.

How can we practice gentleness?
Remember what God says about gentleness? That’s right, if we’re going to be a servant of the Lord we need to be gentle. So, of course, one of the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ is going to be gentleness. When ‘In the Spirit’, we’ll be gentle. So how can we be gentle to people? Well, if a staying Christian or a non-Christian comes to you for help, don’t scold them and yell at them because they’re not seeking God. They came to get help, not yelled at. Rather, be gentle with them and show them Christ’s love through you. Also, be gentle with your words. Don’t say harsh things that will only hurt them and drive them farther away from God. So, once again, be gentle and good in your conduct to everyone.

How can we practice self-control?
When you’re ‘In the Spirit’, self-control will become easier because you have God’s Spirit helping you. So in your life, you can practice self-control by watching your language, your attitude, your anger, and everything else that goes along with self-control. But remember; always let God and the Holy Spirit be in control, not you.

And that’s what God sys about the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’, how to be ‘In the Spirit’, and a little on how to practice them. In closing, I would like to think you for reading this Bible study. I know it was a long one, but this is a very big subject. I think you for having the Spirit’s patience to finish this study. Also, I would like to thank you for voting for this Bible study on my Polls Page. Writing this study was no simple task, and I thank the Lord for giving me the words and insight to be able to write this. It was only because of God and His grace that this study was written. My prayer is that God has spoken through this study to you. I hope this study has helped you learn and, at the very lest, made you think. Finally, strive to be ‘In the Spirit’ and follow God above all else! Believe me, from personal experience, there’s no worse feeling then being ‘Out of the Spirit’ and away from God and His Word. Please, if you’re not a Christian, I urge you to come to know Him. And for the Christians out there, seek God! If you’re not, please give your life back to Him! You’ll never want to go back!