But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… (Galatians 5:22,23 ESV)
Ripen
When we think of this list, we often think of them like commandments. Love! Be Joyful! Have peace! Be Patient!
But while those are great commands, here they are called fruit.
Fruit is a natural result of a fruit tree. The nature of the tree brings fruit.
And the nature of Christians, when we are grafted into Christ, results in fruit.
We naturally (because it is our new nature in Christ, NOT because it is easy) love, find joy, know peace, are patient, are kind, are good, are faithful, are gentle, and have self-control.
Perhaps because God chose the illustration of fruit to help us understand this, we can glean some other ideas. Our spiritual fruits develop like fruit. They ripen like fruit. They are aimed at someone ELSE, not ourselves (apples do not consume apples…). They have seeds that can grow and develop in other people, other situations, other communities.
How ripe is your fruit?