Galatians 5:22–23
The fruit of the Spirit
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control: nine marks of a life joined to Christ. Each page below explores one fruit, with the Scripture, the meaning of the word, three simple practices, and a prayer.
“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 (King James Version)
Nine fruits
- Loveagapē
Self-giving love that seeks the good of another, as God has loved us in Christ. The root from which every other fruit grows.
1 John 4:19Read more → - Joychara
A deep gladness in God that does not depend on circumstances, because it rests in his presence and his promises.
John 15:11Read more → - Peaceeirēnē
The wholeness of a soul reconciled to God: a quiet confidence that guards the heart and mind in Christ.
Philippians 4:7Read more → - Patiencemakrothymia · KJV “longsuffering”
Patience that bears long with others and with trials, slow to anger as God is slow to anger with us.
2 Peter 3:9Read more → - Kindnesschrēstotēs · KJV “gentleness”
Kindness of heart, shown in tender and generous dealing with others, as God has been kind to us.
Ephesians 4:32Read more → - Goodnessagathōsynē
Uprightness that acts: a heart set on what is right, doing good to others even at a cost.
Romans 15:14Read more → - Faithfulnesspistis · KJV “faith”
Steady trust in God that becomes loyalty, dependable to him and to one another.
Lamentations 3:23Read more → - Gentlenessprautēs · KJV “meekness”
Strength yielded to God: a humble, teachable spirit that does not insist on its own way.
Matthew 11:29Read more → - Self-controlenkrateia · KJV “temperance”
Self-control by the Spirit: desires and habits ordered toward God rather than ruling us.
2 Peter 1:6Read more →
One fruit, not nine
Paul writes “fruit,” not “fruits.” Just before this, he lists the “works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19), many separate things that pull a life apart. The fruit of the Spirit is one life, made whole, with nine flavors. We cannot pick the ones we like and leave the rest. They grow together, because they all come from the same Spirit.
How fruit grows
“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 (King James Version)
A branch does not strain to make grapes. It stays joined to the vine, and the fruit comes. In the same way, these nine are not a checklist to achieve by effort. They grow as we stay close to Christ in prayer, Scripture, worship, and love of our neighbor. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).
Twelve in the Catholic tradition
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, following the Latin Vulgate, names twelve: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity (CCC 1832). The nine pages here follow Paul's Greek, which Anglicans and Catholics share.
Why AgileFruit
AgileFruit reflects the two defining parts of our founder’s life: two decades in software building SaaS applications guided by Agile principles, and a blossoming personal faith.
Together, these paths taught the same essential lesson: agility is the grace to meet life’s challenges and disappointments while staying true to God and remaining in His service.
As sanctification transforms us, the fruit of the Spirit flourishes in a life connected to Christ, the vine. Our mark, nine grapes on a single vine, represents these nine fruits and serves as the standard by which we measure all our work.
Closing prayers
Anglican
Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that the words which we have heard this day with our outward ears, may, through thy grace, be so grafted inwardly in our hearts, that they may bring forth in us the fruit of good living, to the honor and praise of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Catholic
Come, O Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of thy love.
℣. Send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created.
℟. And thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
O God, who by the light of the Holy Ghost didst instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Spirit we may be truly wise, and ever rejoice in his consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Keep praying with us
New prayers, rosaries, and teachings with sacred art on YouTube, and the Daily Office read aloud in the free MyOratory™ app.
