8th Day: Fruit of the Spirit

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Galatians 5.22

This may seem like a misprint. Paul lists nine virtues and calls them fruit. Fruit, in the singular, refers to the heart. Not the heart of Adam—rebellious and made of stone, but the new heart of flesh—transplanted by the Holy Spirit. This verse could be read like this: But the heart of the Spirit is love, joy...  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36.26

Essentially, those who are born of the Spirit have a new heart and a new spirit. A new Spirit signifies a new mind, the mind of God. I Corinthians 2.16

As a result, this new heart comes with nine virtues that identify the character of God.

As a virtue of this new heart, love has nothing to do with the possessive, selfish and fleshly emotion that is so loved, admired and practiced in this world. Quite the contrary!

This kind of love, as well as the other virtues of the new heart, is like the Eternal One. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3.16

This kind of love has nothing to do with the love of this world. Without the transformation that comes along with the new birth, it is impossible to understand this.

The love of God was, and has always been sacrificial. It has nothing to do with emotion. Those who love with the heart of the Spirit of God sacrifice for their loved ones and vice versa. Like faith, love requires sacrifice. Those who love another person do not get married to make themselves happy, they get married so that their loved one will be happy. Anyone who loves the Lord Jesus Christ wants to please Him by having this sacrificial nature.